Data / Federal rules / 2026-06197

Backfilling and Grading

The Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office published this final rule in the Federal Register on March 31, 2026. It took effect on March 30, 2026.

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What the agency says

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) is confirming the effective date of the direct final rule entitled, "Backfilling and Grading," which was originally published on November 28, 2025. The direct final rule rescinded a regulation that prescribed time and distance performance standards for the completion of rough backfilling and grading for surface mining operations that were suspended by the Secretary of the Interior in 1992 but never removed from the Code of Federal Regulations. During the comment period, OSM received two comments that required further review and consideration to determine whether the comments warranted a response or the withdrawal or modification of the final rule. After further review and consideration, OSM determined that these comments were not significant adverse comments and is confirming the effective date of this rule.

Key facts

Document number

2026-06197

Type

Final rule

Action

Direct final rule; confirmation of effective date

Agency

Interior Department; Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office

Published

March 31, 2026

Takes effect

March 30, 2026

Dates

The effective date of March 30, 2026, for the direct final rule published at 90 FR 54573 (Nov. 28, 2025), delayed at 91 FR 3374 January 27, 2026, is confirmed.

Docket

Docket ID: OSM-2025-0025 S1D1S SS08011000 SX064A000 256S180110; S2D2S SS08011000 SX064A000 25XS501520

Regulation ID (RIN)

1029-AD03

Code of Federal Regulations

30 CFR 816

Pages

2

The document on federalregister.gov PDF

Other documents from the Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office

Everything from the Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office · Published in March 2026

Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-24. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.