Petition To Initiate Rulemaking; Use of Explosives on Surface Coal Mining Operations

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE or OSM), are announcing our final decision on a petition for rulemaking that was submitted by WildEarth Guardians. The petition requested that we revise our current regulations to prohibit visible nitrogen oxide clouds during blasting. The Director has decided to grant the petition in principle, and although we do not intend to propose the specific rule changes requested in the petition, will instead initiate a rulemaking to address this issue as discussed more fully below.