Browse regulations

Establishes procedures for federal, state, and tribal acquisition of land adversely affected by past coal mining practices using Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund monies. Requires findings that acquisition is necessary for reclamation and that land will serve recreation, conservation, or other public purposes. Allows acquisition by purchase from willing sellers or condemnation, with compliance with uniform relocation assistance act. Provides for management, use, and disposition of acquired lands, including transfers to governments and public sales.

This regulation enables federal takings of private property through eminent domain using taxpayer funds, violating core property rights principles. The 'public purpose' standard is elastic and prone to mission creep—expanding government land ownership beyond truly necessary reclamation. It crowds out private solutions (tort liability, bonding, market-based reclamation) and creates a permanent bureaucratic apparatus with incentive to acquire more land. The program federally usurps what should be state and local police-power functions under the Tenth Amendment, while forcing all Americans to fund reclamation of localized mining problems through a centralized hidden tax.

This regulation establishes procedures for federal, state, and tribal agencies to enter private property for coal reclamation activities, including nonconsensual entry with notice requirements and emergency provisions when public health/safety is threatened by past mining practices.

This regulation grants government agencies the power to forcibly enter private property without owner consent, violating property rights and due process. Even with notice requirements, it establishes a dangerous precedent of government intrusion justified by 'public welfare' claims, creating potential for abuse and undermining the fundamental right to exclude others from one's property.

This regulation establishes eligibility requirements and procedures for states and Indian tribes to conduct noncoal reclamation projects using federal Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funds under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). It defines certified vs. uncertified programs, sets land eligibility criteria (mined prior to 1977, no continuing responsibility, extreme danger to public health/safety), outlines funding priorities, and imposes contractor eligibility requirements.

This represents federal overreach into land use and reclamation—properly a state/local concern under the Tenth Amendment. The program creates a costly bureaucratic apparatus to redistribute federal tax revenues for problems that should be addressed through state programs, private liability, or market mechanisms. The certification requirements, funding priorities, and contractor rules add layers of compliance costs while distorting incentives. States could handle abandoned mine reclamation more efficiently through their own systems without federal mandates and conditional funding. The regulation also expands federal regulatory presence by applying coal mining permit requirements to noncoal reclamation contractors, increasing barriers to entry.

This regulation governs the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program under SMCRA, establishing eligibility criteria for reclaiming lands/water affected by coal mining (primarily pre-1977 abandoned sites), setting reclamation priorities (public health/safety first, then environmental restoration), and outlining procedures for state/tribal use of federal AML funds. It includes requirements for contractor eligibility, coordination with mining permits, and liability protections.

This federal program perpetuates moral hazard by socializing cleanup costs that should be borne by mining operators through strict liability and bonding. The compliance bureaucracy ($2T+ regulatory burden nationally) distorts incentives, making states dependent on federal funds rather than enforcing robust state-level reclamation bonds and penalties. It violates constitutional federalism—abandoned mine remediation is a traditional state land-use/health-safety matter—and the subjective priority system replaces market price signals with political allocation. The unseen cost is a permanently entrenched federal agency and compliance apparatus that crowds out private solutions, state innovation, and true polluter-pays accountability.

Establishes procedures for collecting reclamation fees on coal production, reporting requirements, and calculation methods for excess moisture deductions, applying to surface and underground coal mining operations with specific exemptions for small-scale or incidental extraction.

This regulation imposes a federal tax on coal production that distorts market signals, creates compliance costs exceeding the revenue collected, and represents federal overreach into state-regulated mining operations. The complex moisture calculation requirements and reporting burden disproportionately harms small operators while creating opportunities for regulatory capture and bureaucratic expansion.

This regulation establishes procedures for assessing civil penalties against coal mining operators for violations of federal enforcement actions (cessation orders and notices of violation). It mandates a point-based system evaluating violation history, seriousness, negligence, and good faith to determine penalty amounts, with mandatory penalties for high-point cases. The rule includes due process protections like notice, conferences, administrative review, and judicial review, and allocates collected funds to land reclamation projects.

Deleting this federal penalty regime eliminates costly compliance burdens, restores state authority over local mining impacts, and reduces hidden taxes on energy consumers. The unseen costs of retaining it include regulatory capture, disproportionate harm to small businesses, and the erosion of federalism. States can adequately enforce environmental standards through tort law and tailored regulations without the excessive bureaucracy and one-size-fits-all federal approach.

Establishes enforcement procedures for the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, including violation notices, cessation orders for imminent danger, pattern-of-violations show cause orders, and permit revocation processes. Covers service rules, 30-day expiration with hearing requirements, review/appeal mechanisms, and Federal oversight of State programs.

OSM bureaucracy and compliance impose massive hidden tax burden exceeding $2T nationwide, duplicating tort law. Federal land-use regulation violates 10th Amendment federalism and enables regulatory capture through pattern-of-violations discretion, protecting incumbents. Knowledge problem prevents efficient site-specific decisions, chilling investment and reducing coal supply, raising energy prices for all Americans.

This regulation (30 CFR Part 842) establishes comprehensive federal inspection procedures for surface coal mining operations, including mandatory inspection frequencies (monthly partial, quarterly complete), citizen complaint triggers, ten-day notice process for state enforcement failures, public record access requirements, and broad inspection powers for federal agents.

The regulation imposes heavy compliance costs and federal overreach that undermine state authority under the Tenth Amendment. Mandatory inspection frequencies create a bureaucratic one-size-fits-all regime disconnected from actual risk, while the ten-day notice process allows federal override of state programs. Citizen complaint provisions invite duplicative inspections and harassment. These unseen costs—borne by mining operations, energy consumers, and taxpayers—outweigh any marginal benefits, as environmental and safety oversight could be more efficiently achieved through state regulation with limited federal intervention reserved for genuine interstate harms.

The regulation sets minimum federal standards for state-run surface coal mining inspection and enforcement programs, mandating monthly partial and quarterly complete inspections, aerial surveillance, right of entry without notice, public record access, and penalties consistent with federal standards.

It unconstitutionally federalizes state responsibilities, imposes significant compliance costs on miners and states that are passed to consumers, stifles competition, and relies on prescriptive command-and-control rather than market-based or state-level solutions, violating principles of limited government and federalism.

Wyoming bituminous coal mining regulation covering pre-1972 mines and post-1977 adjacent developments, requiring compliance with state program and Wyoming statutes/regulations.

State-level regulation already covers these mining activities; federal oversight creates duplicative bureaucracy and imposes additional compliance costs on Wyoming's coal industry without providing benefits beyond what state regulation already achieves.

The Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) allows eligible individuals and small entities to recover attorney fees and expenses when they prevail against the Department of Labor in Mine Safety and Health Review Commission proceedings, or when the Secretary's demand is substantially excessive and unreasonable. It includes net worth/employee caps, a $125/hour fee limit (adjustable for cost of living), and requires the government's position to be 'not substantially justified' for prevailing parties to collect.

This is not regulatory overreach but a necessary check on government power. Without EAJA, the vast resources of the federal government would dwarf private citizens and small businesses, making meaningful challenge to agency actions impossible except for the wealthy. The threat of fee awards deters agencies from bringing weak or excessive enforcement actions. Removing it would create a de facto barrier to justice and immunize regulatory overreach from effective challenge—the exact opposite of limited government. The modest costs (paid only when government loses or acts unreasonably) are a small price for preserving accountability and the rule of law.

OSHA safety and health standards for shipyard employment on navigable waters, covering ship repairing, building, breaking, and related work. Establishes requirements for confined spaces, hazardous atmospheres, hot work, personal protective equipment, and incorporates by reference numerous private industry standards (ANSI, NFPA, ASME, etc.). Requires employers to designate 'competent persons' for testing and inspections.

These regulations impose massive compliance burdens—documentation, competent person certification, mandatory PPE, atmospheric testing protocols—on shipyard employers, costs ultimately borne by workers through lower wages and consumers through higher prices. Small shipyards face disproportionate per-employee costs, protecting larger incumbents from competition. The safety outcomes could be achieved more efficiently through market forces: shipyard owners face strong incentives to maintain safe operations (expensive accidents, insurance premiums, worker recruitment/retention, tort liability). Private standards (ANSI, NFPA) already exist and could be adopted voluntarily or required contractually without federal mandates. The 'competent person' regime creates a costly bureaucratic layer that distorts labor markets. Federal intrusion into this specialized industry violates constitutional federalism—these are local concerns properly regulated by states under their police powers. Regulatory capture is evident in the decades-old incorporated standards that lock in specific products and vendors, stifling innovation. The unseen costs include reduced capital investment, delayed projects, and barriers to entry that protect established shipyards from competition—all while providing minimal additional safety beyond what rational actors would implement voluntarily given the high stakes of workplace accidents in this already-dangerous industry.

Establishes a continuing program in the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to provide career part-time employment opportunities for positions through GS-16, including policies for implementation, benefits coverage, and reporting requirements.

This regulation creates unnecessary federal bureaucracy for employment scheduling that should be handled by individual agencies based on their specific needs. Part-time employment arrangements are a basic HR function that doesn't require federal oversight, and this regulation adds compliance costs without meaningful public benefit.

These procedural rules implement the Equal Access to Justice Act for DOJ adversary adjudications, allowing eligible prevailing parties (individuals with net worth ≤$1M, or businesses/organizations with net worth ≤$5M and ≤500 employees) to recover attorney fees capped at $75/hour and reasonable expenses, unless the government's position was substantially justified or special circumstances apply. It covers DEA hearings, civil rights cases, and certain grant proceedings under 5 U.S.C. 554.

Deletion would eliminate a critical check on government overreach, allowing agencies to use unlimited taxpayer resources to exhaust small businesses and individuals through litigation attrition, thereby undermining due process and creating a system where only the wealthy can afford to challenge government actions. The modest fee recovery levels the playing field and deters agencies from advancing weak or unjustified positions, protecting liberty from bureaucratic abuse.

This regulation implements a rewards program for original information about illegal diversion, attempted diversion, or conspiracy to divert special nuclear material or atomic weapons, administered by the Attorney General with interagency review and presidential approval for awards over $50,000.

Americans would be far worse off without this program because it provides a critical incentive for private citizens to report nuclear smuggling and proliferation activities that government agencies might otherwise miss; the catastrophic consequences of undetected nuclear material diversion—mass-casualty attacks or nuclear weapons falling into hostile hands—justify this targeted intervention, and no market-based alternative could replicate the intelligence-gathering function for such a sensitive, high-stakes national security threat.