Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued an order on Monday (11/28) postponing the proposed consolidation of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In October, Secretary Salazar announced plans to merge OSM, which regulates coal mining and reclamation, with BLM, which oversees federal lands and energy leases, effective as of December 1 of this year, in order to improve efficiency and reduce agency resource needs. The new order gives the US Department of the Interior (DOI) officials until February 15, 2012, to meet with stakeholders and provide a written report concerning the potential effects of the merger on those impacted by coal mining, including industry, tribes, state regulators and local communities. Monday’s order also states a new effective date for the merger will be set following the issuance of the February report.
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