West Virginia Regulatory Program

Document 2026-03413 is a Final Rule published by the Department of Interior in the Federal Register on February 20, 2026, with an effective date of March 23, 2026. We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), are publishing this final rule to amend the existing Federal Lands Cooperative Agreement between West Virginia and the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department). The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA or the Act) and the Federal regulations authorize a State with an approved permanent regulatory program to enter into an agreement for the State regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on Federal lands. West Virginia's existing cooperative agreement with the Department was adopted in February 1984, to allow for the State regulation of SMCRA on Federal lands within West Virginia under its approved permanent regulatory program (the West Virginia program). View the original at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/02/20/2026-03413/west-virginia-regulatory-program.

No. Document 2026-03413 is not classified as economically significant under Executive Order 12866. Economically significant rules require OIRA review and are estimated to have impacts of $100 million or more per year.