West Virginia Regulatory Program

What it does

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are publishing this final rule to amend the existing Federal Lands Cooperative Agreement between West Virginia and the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department). The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act) and the Federal regulations authorize a State with an approved permanent regulatory program to enter into an agreement for the State regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on Federal lands. West Virginia's existing cooperative agreement with the Department was adopted in February 1984, to allow for the State regulation of SMCRA on Federal lands within West Virginia under its approved permanent regulatory program (the West Virginia program).

The Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

30 CFR 948

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office has published 21 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 24 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

The effective date is March 23, 2026.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket OSM-2014-0006 on Regulations.gov
• Title 30 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register