Gov Watchdog Report Finds Federal Government Failing to Make Coal Companies Clean Up Their Mines

Operators’ bonds fell short at more than half of recently reclaimed mines, leaving American taxpayers to pick up the tab

Washington, D.C. – A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, requested by Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Reps. Donald Beyer (D-Va.), Morgan McGarvey (D-Ky.), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), found that states are already paying to clean up coal mines that operators left behind, and the federal government is failing to stop it.

Of 5,247 coal mining permits nationwide, fewer than half have produced coal since 2000, and only 35 percent are in reclamation. As coal companies continue to exit the market, the risk grows that states, Tribes, and American taxpayers will be stuck with cleanup costs that operators can’t or won’t cover.

The watchdog found that several factors have slowed reclamation, including staff cuts at the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and limited capacity among state regulators. From 2024 through May 2026, OSMRE’s workforce shrank by 35 percent, weakening the agency’s ability to provide technical assistance, monitor programs, and conduct national studies. Federal regulatory grants to states and Tribes, which oversee 98 percent of coal mining permits, fell by $4.9 million between 2021 and 2026. For more than half of the permits reclaimed between 2019 and 2024, the operator’s bond didn’t cover the full cost of cleanup, which forced states to pay the rest with other funds.

GAO also found that OSMRE does not adequately track or report progress toward its reclamation goals. The agency’s performance measures don’t account for how long it takes to reclaim a site after the coal stops, so they can’t flag which sites may become a financial liability or an environmental risk. OSMRE also hasn’t issued its required annual report to the President and Congress since 2020.

Without accurate measures of reclamation liabilities or regular reporting, Congress lacks the information it needs to judge whether federal oversight is working and whether reforms are needed. Meanwhile, states and Tribes face growing financial risk as coal production, and the revenue that supports reclamation programs, keeps declining.

To address these challenges, GAO recommends that the Department of the Interior and OSMRE:

Conduct strategic workforce planning.
Develop performance measures to track progress toward completing reclamation and returning sites to beneficial post-mining uses.
Speed up reviews of proposed amendments to state and Tribal regulatory programs.
Resume publication of the required annual nationwide performance report.

Read the GAO's full report here.

Background

Coal demand in the United States has fallen by more than 50 percent since 2008. As production drops, communities across coal-producing regions face more unreclaimed mine sites that can threaten environmental quality, hinder economic redevelopment, and leave taxpayers vulnerable to future cleanup costs.

Established by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, OSMRE is responsible for making sure coal mining operations protect nearby communities and the environment. The law requires mine operators to reclaim disturbed lands and provide financial assurances, known as bonds, to ensure reclamation can be completed if operators fail to meet their obligations.

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