The Illinois Office of Mines and Minerals is coping with state budget cuts as it struggles to resolve its biggest backlog of applications for new coal mines in a decade. Joseph Angleton, the agency's director, told Platts last week he is searching for a solution to speed up the sluggish permitting process. "The continuation of fiscal problems has led to an inability to backfill people when they leave," he said. "We're having a hell of a time meeting our mandates because we're just understaffed."
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