The Western Region administers the Federal Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program which includes emergency projects in seven non-program states, four program states, and three program tribes. High priority reclamation projects are also carried out in seven non-program states and 14 non-program tribes.

Federal Reclamation projects are managed by the Denver Field Division including the Olympia, Washington office. Olympia/DFD staff provide support with site investigations, rights-of-entry, and various other tasks. Engineering support is provided through a contract with a geo-technical engineering firm in Seattle, Washington. Engineering tasks involve inventory (identification of AML hazards for reclamation), mapping, design, and construction monitoring as defined for each project by the project manager.

Emergency Program
The majority of emergencies in the recent past were sudden subsidence events and occurred in Colorado and Washington (2-3 per year each state). In Fiscal Year 2005, $300,000 was expended to stabilize or otherwise address the emergencies.

Priority Projects
Most high priority reclamation work is in Washington, which has four Counties with significant numbers of underground mines. Most reclamation involves closing mine openings and stabilizing subsidence under structures. Washington has about $4 million of reclamation work remaining on the inventory, Oregon $200,000, and California $100,000. New hazards are reported in Washington each year, as population increases in mined areas. Work has been completed for most of the AML problems in the other non-program states/tribes, but occasionally a new problem is reported. The priority program has been funded at about $400,000 per year since 1996. Prior to that, it was funded at about $700,000 per year.

Inventory
Roslyn/Ronald/Cle Elum - AML hazard sites are being identified in a three-town area in Washington for inclusion on the inventory. Field work has been completed on 196 mine features in 16 sections of undermined land.

Abandoned Mine Information (AMI)
A database/mapping system is being developed that will: 1) serve as a project management system to track each AML feature from inventory to final reclamation; 2) be available to City/County governments for land use planning as a permanent record of the reclamation that has been completed; 3) interact with existing databases so that all information can be accessed from one database.