Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation & Enforcement Director-Joe Pizarchik to Speak
Friday, May 6th, 2011The US Department of the Interior’s Director of the Federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, & Enforcement (OSMRE), Joe Pizarchik, has committed to being our Keynote Luncheon Speaker on August 5th, 2011 at our 13th Annual PA AMR Conference. The PA AMR Conference Planning Committee will be asking Director Pizarchik to speak on a few issues related to the Title IV Abandoned Mine Land Funds, the Set-Aside Program, Funding Cutbacks for FY2011, 2012, and the potential future impacts on communities working in partnership with the OSM on Clean Stream Watershed Initiatives.
Joseph Pizarchik is the 10th Director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
Prior to joining OSMRE, Mr. Pizarchik served more than 17 years with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), rising to Assistant Director in the Bureau of Regulatory Counsel before his appointment as Director of the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation. While at PADEP, he co-authored Pennsylvania’s Environmental Good Samaritan Act, helped develop Pennsylvania’s program for volunteers to clean up abandoned coal refuse sites and provided key legal support in the development of Pennsylvania’s program for mine operators to establish trust funds to meet their financial obligation to perpetually treat the discharges caused by their mining. Mr. Pizarchik is also credited with helping clear the way for the sale of private mining property to the Families of Flight 93 to enable the construction of the memorial.
Mr. Pizarchik began his public service working as legal counsel with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, dealing with contracts, mass transit, aviation, contractor qualifications, and minority business enterprises. Mr. Pizarchik earned a B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law. In 2010 he was named a Penn State Alumni Fellow.
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