Two environmental groups are asking the federal government to take over Utah's state coal regulatory program, on the ground that the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining has failed to protect human safety and the environment.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club petitioned the federal Office of Surface Mining to take over the regulatory program. The state division uses a $1 million yearly grant to administer coal rules on both federal and state lands, the groups said.For several years, federal oversight reports by the Office of Surface Mining "consistently lambasted the state for its poor performance," said SUWA's Stephen Koteff. The state failed to inspect mining operations and enforce permit requirements, he said.
Koteff, staff attorney for SUWA, said federal reports indicate that in the past four years, the state failed to cite more than 90 percent of permit violations uncovered later during federal oversight investigations.
Mark MacAllister of the Sierra Club charged that the division's performance, coupled with its opposition to strengthening rules on coal-haul roads "suggest the agency to be firmly in the grasp of the industry."