West Virginia Regulatory Program

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 30 CFR Part 948 [SATS No. WV-124-FOR; Docket No. OSM-2016-0012; S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 232S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 23XS501520] AGENCY: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior. ACTION: Final rule; partial approval of amendment. SUMMARY: We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), approve in part an amendment to the West Virginia regulatory program under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act). This amendment makes changes to the West Virginia Code of State Rules (CSR), authorized under the West Virginia Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act (WVSCMRA), relating to bonding requirements for operations seeking permit renewals, topsoil, inactive status, and contemporaneous reclamation. DATES: Effective January 2, 2026. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Justin Adams, Field Office Director, Charleston Field Office, Telephone: (304) 347-7158. Email: osm-chfo@osmre.gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background on the West Virginia Program II. Submission of the Amendment III. OSMRE's Findings IV. Summary and Disposition of Comments V. OSMRE's Decision VI. Statutory and Executive Order Reviews I. Background on the West Virginia Program Subject to OSMRE's oversight, section 503(a) of the Act permits a State to assume primacy for the regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on non-Federal …