SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT: A UTAH PERSPECTIVE |
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| Authors: | Dianne Nielson |
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| Institution: | Dianne Nielson is Director of the Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining for the State of Utah. She received her Ph.D. in Geology from Dartmouth College in 1974. She has worked for the Anaconda Company as a Consulting Geologist, and as Senior Geologist, Utah Geological and Mineral Survey. She has also served as a member of the Utah Board of Oil, Gas, and Mining. |
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| Abstract: | The authority to regulate the coal industry a t the state level, under state statute and rules, the importance of the coal industry to the state, the importance of an environmentally sound regulatory program, and the benefit of a state-managed abandoned mine reclamation program, in short the ability of the state to manage its own natural resources, make state primacy a necessity, not an option.
Implementation of SMCRA cannot be measured in the myriad of oversight statistics. Effectiveness means cost-effective, timely reclamation of abandoned sites; consistent, workable rules and regulatory practices; responsive program management; and compliance which is internalized in the mine's operations. |
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