North America

USA

"Under the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, when OSMRE receives information from a citizen of a possible violation that is not an imminent harm situation, the state regulatory agency implementing the act in that state is given 10 days to take inspection and enforcement action to correct the violation, or must provide good cause why it didn’t do so.  If the state doesn’t act or provide good cause, OSMRE is to take necessary enforcement action to fix the violation. The Ten Day Notice Rule finalized in April 2024 reverses changes made by the Trump administration that had delayed correction of violations, and restores the requirement that all violations, even those caused by state agency failures in permitting, are to be subject to inspection and needed enforcement action.

“The Ten Day Notice process is a critical tool that allows communities impacted by coal mining pollution to secure meaningful and effective federal oversight when state regulators are unable or unwilling to enforce the law,” said Bonnie Swinford, Campaign Organizing Strategist with the Sierra Club. “Our groups are intervening to defend the Biden-Harris Administration’s rulemaking to restore important protections stripped away under the Trump Administration.”" - Conservation groups defend in court the ability of citizens to report problems with coal mines to federal authorities