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Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia

Basic Information

Learn about mountaintop mining
  • What is surface coal mining in Appalachia?
  • Environmental impacts

What EPA is Doing

What EPA is doing to reduce the adverse impacts of mountaintop mining
  • Interagency and cross-program guidance
  • Under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)
  • Under the Clean Water Act (CWA)
  • Enforcement activities
  • Research
  • Partnership programs

Federal Resources

Links to federal resources about surface coal mining
  • U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE)
  • Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and related laws, regulations and guidance
  • US Army Corps of Engineers, Directorate of Civil Works: Regulatory Program and Permits
  • All federal resources

State Resources

State resources about surface coal mining in Appalachia
  • Pennsylvania Bureau of District Mining Operations
  • Virginia Division of Mineral Mining
  • West Virginia Division of Mining and Reclamation
  • All state resources
Related Information
  • EPA has published a draft document, Field-Based Methods for Developing Aquatic Life Criteria for Specific Conductivity.
  • Links to all EPA regulations that apply to the Mining (except Oil and Gas) Sector (NAICS 212)

Major EPA Activities that Apply to Mining other than Coal Mining in Appalachia

  • Abandoned Mine Lands Program
  • Enforcement of requirements for federal entities to clean up abandoned mines
  • Effluent guidelines:
    • Mineral Mining and Processing
    • Ore Mining and Dressing
  • NPDES requirements to control wastewater discharges from mining operations (includes information about Good Samaritan Initiative)
  • Exclusion of mining and mineral processing waste from regulation under RCRA Subtitle C
  • RCRA legislative and regulatory timeline for mining waste
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on March 14, 2022
United States Environmental Protection Agency

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