Montana Environmental Information Center Comments

November 16, 2011 Jeffrey Fleischman, Director Caspar Field Office Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Caspar, Wyoming E-mail: jflieschman@osmre.gov RE: Opposition to Docket ID OSM-2011-0011 Dear Mr. Fleischman, The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of Montana’s natural environment. MEIC is extremely concerned about the dramatic increased interest in Montana’s coal resources and the desire of many companies to develop mines in Montana to send coal to distant Asian markets. There will be pressure on these companies to decrease transportation costs. This could lead to coal preparation or beneficiation plants at or near mine sites. It is essential that they receive a high level of regulatory scrutiny regardless of ownership. MEIC opposes Montana’s June 7, 2011 submittal requesting OSM approval of proposed changes to the Montana Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act. The myriad of proposed changes would violate federal law by eliminating important regulation of coal beneficiation plants, strip mines, and underground mines, and would do a grave disservice to those living near these types of facilities. The Montana proposal attempts to do a variety of things that exclude much activity from the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act. First, it attempts to differentiate coal preparation plants by ownership. This will lead to a shell game by companies who want to avoid important regulation of potentially harmful activities. The definition of “surface coal mining operations” in SMCRA clearly does not allow this type of arbitrary differentiation: (28) “surface coal mining operations” means (A) activities conducted on the surface of lands in connection with a surface coal mine or subject to the requirements of Section 1266 of this title surface operations and surface impacts incident to an underground coal mine, the products of which enter commerce or the opera