“We are happy to welcome Secretary Zinke to the Interior family,” said OSMRE Acting Director, Glenda Owens. “We at OSMRE stand ready to help our Secretary balance the nation’s need for continued domestic coal production with protection of the environment.”
Part of Zinke’s portfolio as Secretary includes OSMRE and the implementation of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, or SMCRA. SMCRA established OSMRE and provides for regulation of active coal mining in the United States, reclamation of those mine sites after mining is completed, and reclamation of mine sites abandoned prior to 1977, when the Act took effect.
