Dear Secretary Salazar:

As you know, for more than two years the Committee on Natural Resources ("Committee") has been conducting oversight on issues regarding the Department of the Interior's and the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement's ("OSM") handling of the decision to toss aside and ultimately rewrite the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule. More than a month ago the Department received a formal inquiry letter asking for an update on the status of the Department's rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule, and the status of the ongoing litigation related to the Department's rulemaking effort. 

Due to the limited nature of the requests, and the significant amount of time that has passed since this request was made, it is very disappointing that nothing has been received from the Department on this matter. The deadline of March 8, 2013 has passed and it is unacceptable that no response has been received, no answers given, and that there continues to be no transparency from the Department on the status of this rulemaking or what resources are currently being spent on the rulemaking and the corresponding litigation.

Read the entire letter HERE.