In Support of Joe Pizarchik as OSM Director

by Bruce Golden,
Regional Coordinator, WPCAMR
ECRR Board Member

There are times when simple actions we take now may be especially consequential for the future. For those of us involved in mining reclamation activities (a majority of this readership), I believe this is one of those times. The answer to “Who will become the federal Office of Surface Mining’s (OSM’s) next director?” will be very consequential at the national and state levels during the Obama administration. You have an opportunity to support an eminently qualified and suited individual for that position in Joseph G. Pizarchik, currently the director of Pennsylvania DEP’s Bureau of Mining and Reclamation. I’ll save for later how best to support his candidacy. First, some background.

Pennsylvania DEP’s Joe Pizarchik is President Obama’s choice (nominee) for the new Director of OSM. As it currently stands, Joe is part way through the confirmation process, having recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee. (You can watch the video of his hearing by clicking here. Note: Advance the program slider to about 16 minutes to avoid a long viewing of the opening screen!) When the Senate returns from summer recess after Labor Day, the Senate ENR Committee will vote on forwarding Joe’s candidacy to the entire Senate. If it reaches the Senate floor, a simple majority vote will decide the fate of his nomination. An affirmative Senate vote means Joe Pizarchik would be sworn in as OSM’s new Director.

My first hand experience with Joe have been nothing but positive. I believe him to be fair and open-minded with everyone (which includes the environmental community and coal operators). He makes himself easily available and goes out of his way to provide information. Joe is smart and well spoken, although you can sometimes tell he’s an attorney :-). (I won’t hold that against him.) With his years of experience, Joe knows the issues and the law regarding mining and reclamation. Joe has the right stuff to make an outstanding, effective OSM director for the entire nation. I don’t expect PA to receive any favored treatment… but am confident Joe will act as he does in his current position at DEP: fairly, thoughtfully, consistently and within the boundaries of the law.

Pennsylvania watershed groups and conservation districts know of and have benefited from Joe's work and experience in Harrisburg. Here are examples:

• Being able to use co-gen ash as a beneficial material in mining reclamation projects for both land reclamation and acid mine drainage (AMD) remediation projects. (See WPCAMR brochure "Burning Waste Coal in CFB Power Plants")
• Enabling the coal industry to do remining as a no-cost-to-taxpayers way of reclaiming mine-scarred lands and eliminating or improving AMD discharges. (See WPCAMR brochure on "Remining")
• Co-authoring the Pennsylvania's Good Samaritan Act, which gives land owners and non-profit groups participating in reclamation projects legal protection statewide.

For more, and to find out how to support Pizarchik's nomination, click here.