The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Thursday publicly released a report finding that the Department of the Interior lacks data on how long it takes mine operators to fully reclaim non-producing coal mines.
When a mine stops producing coal, operators are required to reclaim the land to mitigate risks, the report said. Unreclaimed mining sites pose environmental, health, and safety hazards. Delaying the return of lands to other productive uses can also negatively affect local economies, according to the GAO.
As of spring 2025, data showed more than 5,000 permitted coal operations across 25 states and four Tribes, the GAO reported. More than half of those permits had no associated coal production since 2000, and hundreds of those sites remain unreclaimed. About 35 percent of all permits were associated with sites actively in the process of being reclaimed.
The Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement oversees the programs, which were created under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. While the office uses four performance measures to evaluate progress, the GAO found it does not measure the length of time it takes to complete reclamation. The report stated this information is necessary to identify which mines pose the greatest environmental risks or create financial exposure for the federal government.
The oversight office’s staff decreased by 35 percent between 2024 and May 2026, dropping from 408 to 265 employees. The GAO attributed this reduction to an executive branch hiring freeze, deferred resignations, and restructuring within the department. Interior officials told the GAO they did not develop a strategic workforce plan before the number of employees fell.
In addition, the office has not issued a statutorily required annual report on the oversight program since 2020. Office officials told the GAO they have had other priorities since that time. By missing these reports, the agency is forgoing an opportunity to provide Congress with information on nationwide program performance, the GAO said.
The GAO issued four recommendations to the Interior Department. The agency recommended conducting strategic workforce planning, developing performance measures to track reclamation time, improving the timeliness of review processes, and resuming the publication of annual reports. The Interior Department did not provide comments on the report.