Making good on a promise made back in April, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) will begin holding a series of open houses to accept public comments on Stream Protection Rule revisions currently in development by the agency.

The proposed revisions are intended to change stream protection in regards to surface mining, with regulating mining activities in and near streams, cracking down on monitoring of surface and ground water quality during and after mining, and revising approximate original contour restoration requirements among the items on the table.

OSMRE will hold nine separate open houses in mining heavy states, including West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, New Mexico and Texas.

Open houses will take place at the following locations in July:

July 19, 2010, 3 p.m. – Carbondale, IL, Southern Illinois University Student Center
July 20, 2010, 3 p.m. – Evansville, IN, Holiday Inn Conference Center North
July 20, 2010, 3 p.m. – Fairfield, TX, Fairfield Elementary School
July 22, 2010, 3 p.m. – Birmingham, AL, Embassy Suites Birmingham – Hoover
July 26, 2010, 3 p.m. – Hazard, KY, Hazard Community College
July 27, 2010, 3 p.m. – Beckley, WV, Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center
July 27, 2010, 3 p.m. – Farmington, NM, Farmington Civic Center
July 28, 2010, 3 p.m. – Morgantown, WV, Mylan Park
July 29, 2010, 3 p.m. – Gillette, WY, Campbell County Library

If you are unable to attend an open house, be sure to submit your comments via email to sra-eis@osmre.gov. Comments will also be accepted via mail, hand delivery, or courier. Send comments to:

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Administrative Record
Room 252–SIB 1951
Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20240

OSM will post updated information as it becomes available via Twitter and on the OSM web site. For additional information on the Stream Protection Rule, see OSM’s special section entitled “Building A Stream Protection Rule.”

Thanks to the folks at Powder River Basin Resource Council for the alert!