The Department of Interior opted not to extend the public comment period or hold a public hearing on changes to the process for reporting coal mining violations. Interior denied requests from two dozen non-governmental groups to extend public participation options on the change. Although presented as a simple “clarification” of coal-mining oversight, the proposed change would entirely revamp the reporting process for mining violations, requiring citizens to report to state instead of federal agencies, making such reports more complicated to file, and removing any sort of response deadline. Currently, federal regulators must respond to a report within 10 days. Status: Pending. Public comment period closed June 15, 2020.
