Trump picks Ky. engineer to run strip-mine agency - Entrepreneur Generations

J. Steven Gardner

President Trump has nominated a Kentucky mining engineer, J. Steven Gardner, to head the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in the Interior Department. OSM, as it is generally called, oversees state regulation of strip mining and the surface effects of underground mining. In a few states, it directly enforces the 1977 federal strip-mine law.

Gardner "was a frequent critic of environmental rules during the Obama administration, including those from the OSM," Devin Henry reports for The Hill. "In a February op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Gardner celebrated the repeal of an OSM rule protecting streams from coal mining waste. . . . When Gardner's name was floated for the position in August, the Sierra Club called him a 'horrible choice'."

Mining interests and Republican political leaders saluted the pick. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said, “Steve will be a strong leader and I look forward to the U.S. Senate considering his nomination.” The White House notice of Gardner's appointment said he was president of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration. in 2015, was a member of the Kentucky Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors, and has served on the Kentucky Geological Survey advisory board.

In a statement issued by the Interior Department, Gardner said, "My whole life, I have been involved with mining on multiple levels, and I understand the importance of these issues to the communities we serve. I pledge to work every day on behalf of the men and women across this country who look to the OSM office as a partner in bettering life for all people on mining lands."

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