Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement

The Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is the civilian agency charged with regulating coal mining on federal and Indian lands, remediating abandoned mine lands, and enforcing compliance with surface mining laws. The Office operates within the Interior Department's Land and Minerals Management bureau and administers both federal contract procurement and grant funding to state, tribal, and federal partners supporting mine reclamation and environmental compliance across coal regions.

The Office awarded 6,689 federal contracts since 1986, with combined potential value of $151 million and $274.2 million in combined dollars obligated. Contract activity over the last five years totaled 32 awards in 2022, 44 in 2023, 51 in 2024, 30 in 2025, and 32 year-to-date in 2026. Among the most recent 5 years of awards, 12 of 193 recent awards carry no reported potential value, indicating heavy reliance on Schedule task orders, BPA calls, modifications, or below-threshold purchase orders. The contractor base is highly fragmented: the top five primes by award count hold 29 percent of recent awards, led by Haley & Aldrich, Inc. with 20 awards and $2.3 million combined potential value, followed by Booth Environmental Sales & Service, LLC with 15 awards and $743 thousand. By potential value, the top five primes account for only 7 percent of combined value, with Weaver Excavating Inc. leading at $3 million across 3 awards. Approximately 60 percent of all contract awards carry no set-aside designation; Emerging Small Business awards represent 16 percent of the portfolio, Total Small Business 10 percent, and Very Small Business 9 percent. Buy Indian set-asides comprise 3 percent of all awards; 8(a), SDVOSB, HUBZone, and WOSB designations each represent 0.5 percent or less.

The Office obligated $9.88 billion in federal grant funding across 2,087 grant awards since 1984, with combined non-federal co-investment bringing the total to $10.84 billion. Grant activity over the last five years included 78 awards in 2022, 112 in 2023, 88 in 2024, 76 in 2025, and 9 year-to-date in 2026. Recipient concentration is moderately concentrated: the top five recipients by award count hold 21 percent of recent awards, while the top five by federal dollars obligated account for 31 percent. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection dominates by federal dollars at $1.21 billion across 15 awards; West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection follows at $757.3 million across 16 awards. State environmental agencies and the Navajo Nation Tribal Government are the primary recipients. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (47 percent of awards) with a substantial share of Formula Grants (32 percent) and Cooperative Agreements (20 percent); Block Grants represent 1 percent of all awards.

Recent contract solicitation activity includes GCI Pollyanna #2 Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Project (Solicitation 140S0326R0001), a Total Small Business set-aside with a due date of November 6, 2026.

The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement works to protect populations and the environment during surface coal mining operations. The Office also works to clean and put to good use abandoned mine sites. These missions are accomplished primarily through regulation and oversight of state programs.