Coal Production: Under Section 402 of the Surface Mining Law (Public Law 95-87), coal operators are required to pay a fee when coal is sold, used, or transferred. These fees are deposited in the U.S. Treasury as the Abandoned Mine Land Fund. Information about the type of coal (bituminous, lignite, or underground) and tonnage are tabulated on Form OSM-1 and submitted with the fee, which is paid quarterly to the Office of Surface Mining. The coal production data presented here was compiled from information stored in the Office of Surface Mining Fee Billing and Collection System computer data base. Collection of the fee began with the last quarter of 1977. Fee and tonnage information remittance is required 30 days after the end of the quarter. The coal production data presented here details actual fee and tonnage information in the fiscal year in which they were received. Therefore, 1978 data includes the last quarter of 1977 and the first two quarters of 1978. Subsequently, 1979 data includes the last two quarters of 1978 and the first two quarters of 1979. Information for each successive year follows the same tabulation pattern. Surface production includes both bituminous and lignite coal; underground includes tonnage reported as mined underground. In New Mexico and Montana, coal production on reservation land is listed under the Crow, Hopi, and Navajo Reservations.
Exempt Mines: Included in these tables are tonnage amounts from "Exempt" mines that do not have a surface, underground, or lignite designation. Coal mined from exempt mines is not subject to a fee under the Surface Mining Law. The fee exceptions include:
- The extraction of coal by a landowner for his own non-commercial use from land owned or leased by him.
- The extraction of coal for commercial purposes by surface coal mining operations which affects two acres or less during the life of the mine (suspended for any surface coal mining operations beginning on or after June 6, 1987; and for any surface coal mining operation conducted on or after November 8, 1987).
- The extraction of coal as an incidental part of federal, state, or local government-financed highway or other construction.
- The extraction of coal incidental to the extraction of other minerals where coal does not exceed 16/23 percent of the total tonnage of coal and other minerals removed for commercial use or sale, and the cumulative revenue derived from the coal extracted from the mining area, determined annually, shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cumulative revenue derived from the coal and other minerals removed for purpose of bona fide sale or reasonable commercial use.
- The extraction of less than 250 tons of coal within twelve consecutive months.
