The Indianapolis Area Office is the OSM office responsible for coordinating between OSM and State Regulatory Authorities, citizens, the coal industry and environmental concerns in the States of  Indiana and Illinois.   State coal regulatory and abandoned mine land programs are monitored to ensure that surface coal mining operations and the surface effects of underground coal mining and the reclamation of abandoned mine lands are conducted in an environmentally sound manner.

The Field Office Director (FOD) is responsible for all activities of the Indianapolis Area Office and for financial management and property and acquisition management. The IAO consists of the Director, two program specialists, two program assistants, two inspectors, a secretary, a computer specialist and a hydrologist.

 PROGRAM FUNCTIONS

The IAO Program staff is responsible for gathering data about coal mining and reclamation operations in each of the states, assisting the states under the IAO jurisdiction in improving inspection and enforcement activities and recommending actions needed to address program deficiencies. The accomplishment of these tasks will assist the States in the implementation of programs and ensure proper reclamation of the land. The Program Staff:

• Reviews and analyzes proposed state program amendments and monitors and evaluates State regulatory programs, cooperative agreements and abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation programs.
• Assists in resolving identified program issues within each of the states.
• Works with each state to develop an annual performance agreement which defines the oversight and assistance activities for the current evaluation year.
• Solicits stakeholder comments concerning oversight, conducts performance reviews in accordance with the neAFDiated performance agreement, inspects mines in accordance with existing OSM policy, citizen concerns or concerns from routine program and document review.
• Provides technical assistance, or access to technical assistance on issues relating to mine permitting, compliance monitoring, mitigation, AML issues or reclamation decisions.
• Reviews grant documents and assures programmatic compliance with all grant conditions.
• Assists the States in aggressively pursuing reclamation of the most serious and high priority non-emergency AML sites.
• Participates in technical forums, meetings, and conferences to maintain technical expertise and stay abreast of developments in mining and reclamation technology.

 Below is a brief profile of  the states covered by our office.

INDIANA

Coal mining in Indiana is limited to the southwestern portion of the State with coal currently being mined in 12 counties. The coal producing area of the State covers approximately 6500 square miles. The coal mining industry provides a strong economic base in these primarily agricultural counties by providing employment and through purchase of mining related equipment, goods and services.

In recent years, coal production has ranged from 28 to 35 million tons. Coal mining operations in the State range from small mines of less than 100 acres to larger area mines of 10,000 acres or more. While most of the coal in Indiana is removed by surface mining methods, an increasing amount is being removed through underground mining.

According to the Indiana Coal Council, about 40% of the known surface coal reserves has been removed. Estimates are that Indiana has about 34 billion tons of unmined coal remaining. Of this, only 18 billion tons is recoverable using current technology.

ILLINOIS

Recoverable bituminous coal reserves in Illinois are estimated to be about 30 billion tons. Sixty-four percent of the State’s area is underlain by coal bearing Pennsylvanian Era Rock. Surface, underground and auger mining methods are used in Illinois to extract the coal. The amount of coal mined in Illinois in 1997 was 41.1 million tons. This represents a decrease of 8.3 million tons from 1996.

There are currently 21 active coal mines in Illinois, 5 surface and 16 underground. While there is no active surface mining occurring on Federal Lands in Illinois, there is currently 1 active long wall underground mine, and 4 inactive underground mines located on these lands.