Cooperation and Conflict: Regulating Coal Production

摘要

The document is a report of the Regulatory Council Coal Project, which was initiated in response to industry charges that regulatory overlap and conflict adversely affect coal production. In resolving such problems, the Council staff concluded: problems from overlapping and inconsistent regulations occur more frequently between federal and state agencies than between federal agencies; a significant portion of the overlap and inconsistency arises in enforcement; coal operators have been affected by disagreements between the Office of Surface Mining and state agencies on how to implement the new surface reclamation regulatory program; and overlapping reporting requirements and redundant permitting requirements are significant problems.