Obama proposes cut in coal mining watchdog's budget

As federal regulators promise tougher enforcement and oversight of strip-mining in Appalachia, the Obama administration is also proposing to slice spending on the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. In his 2011 financial year budget proposal, President Obama recommended an overall cut in OSM spending of about 10 percent, to $146 million. OSM's budget for its own regulation and technology efforts would be cut by 9 percent, and enforcement grants to state agencies such as the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection would be cut by 15 percent. Interior Department officials recommended states make up for the cuts by "increasing user fees from the coal industry."