OSM NEWS U. S. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining For release: April 13, 1999 Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719 jchildre@osmre.gov OSM TAKES LEAD TO COORDINATE VALLEY FILL PERMITTING PROCESS OSM SENDS TEAM TO ASSIST WEST VIRGINIA IN PROCESSING VALLEY FILL MINE PERMIT APPLICATIONS Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining (OSM) announced today that an OSM team will go to West Virginia this week to provide temporary technical assistance to the State's Division of Environmental Protection (WVDEP). This assistance comes as WVDEP makes a transition in the review process for mountaintop coal mine applications affected by the partial settlement of a lawsuit filed by a group of West Virginia citizens, and the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. The partial settlement involves the Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements for large valley fills affecting streams. In addition to agreeing to provide assistance to West Virginia, Karpan, during a meeting April 7 with Congressman Nick Rahall, Senator Robert Byrd, and representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and WVDEP, agreed that OSM would take the lead in efforts to improve interagency coordination of mountaintop permit applications. OSM also agreed to provide a monthly progress report to the West Virginia congressional delegation on the status of the permitting process. Karpan said that Rahall convened the April 7 meeting "to urge the agencies to move forward the processing of mountaintop permit applications to meet the higher environmental standards under the Settlement Agreement in the West Virginia lawsuit." The five agencies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to carry out the terms of the settlement. Under the MOU, the agencies will more closely coordinate and integrate the review of Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and CWA permits. There are currently 38 West Virginia permit applications which will be processed under the provisions of the MOU. "At the meeting, I volunteered OSM to be the lead agency in carrying out the MOU because the regulation of surface coal mining is our agency's central mission and because the SMCRA permit process is the best vehicle to coordinate all the legal requirements associated with mountaintop mining," Karpan said. "OSM has developed an Action Plan which explains how we can integrate SMCRA and CWA requirements in order to better coordinate decisions on permit applications," Karpan added. According to Karpan, the first OSM staff will go to West Virginia on Wednesday, April 14. "They will work shoulder to shoulder with State staff to help effect the transition in permitting caused by the settlement. The OSM staff can be helpful because OSM is familiar with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis required as part of the CWA 404 process. OSM will work with WVDEP and the other agencies to use the SMCRA requirements as the foundation for the CWA permits. The COE, EPA and FWS will also designate staff people to work as part of the interagency team," she said. In order to mine coal, an operator must receive from WVDEP a SMCRA mining permit, and a CWA pollution discharge permit. In addition, a CWA "dredge and fill" permit is required from COE. EPA has oversight authority over all CWA permits and FWS has the authority to study and comment on a surface mining permit application's potential impact on fish and wildlife resources. Copies of the Action Plan or MOU are available from OSM's Charleston Field Office, telephone (304) 347-7158, or the OSM home page, www.osmre.gov. -OSM- OSM news release and other information may be downloaded from OSM's Homepage at: (http://www.osmre.gov.). Frequently requested information about OSM is available 24 hours a day by Fax-on-Demand at: (202) 219-1703.