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true, constitute a violation, as required by 30 C.F.R. § 842.11(b). Consequently, there is no <br />support for Mr. Strand's claim that Guardians' complaint "[did] not provide reason to believe a <br />violation exists under SMCRA[.]" <br />Accordingly, we request the Western Regional Director or his designee reverse Mr. <br />Strand's denial of WildEarth Guardians' complaint and direct that an immediate inspection and <br />appropriate enforcement action be taken to remedy the violations identified in the complaint. <br />Below, we detail the legal shortcomings in Mr. Strand's response and the basis for requesting <br />informal review. <br />II. WildEarth Guardians is Adversely Affected by Mr. Strand's Decision <br />As a threshold matter, a request for informal review can only be sustained if a person <br />demonstrates that they are or "may be adversely affected by a coal exploration or surface coal <br />mining and reclamation operation[.]" 30 C.F.R. § 842.15(a)(1). A "person" is very broadly <br />defined under regulations implementing SMCRA as: <br />[A]n individual, Indian tribe when conducting surface coal mining and reclamation <br />operations on non -Indian lands, partnership, association, society, joint venture, joint stock <br />company, firm, company, corporation, cooperative or other business organization and any <br />agency, unit, or instrumentality of Federal, State or local government including any <br />publicly owned utility or publicly owned corporation of Federal State or local <br />government. <br />30 C.F.R. § 700.5. WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofit incorporated in the State of New Mexico. <br />See Exhibit 3, WildEarth Guardians Incorporation Information (Dec. 5, 2017), webpage <br />available at <br />https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/BFS/online/CorporationBusinessSearch/CorporationBusinesslnfor <br />mation'?businessld=127275. Thus, WildEarth Guardians meets the definition of a "person" under <br />OSMRE's regulations. <br />