EIA-7A Respondent Cover Letter

Dear EIA-7A Respondent:

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is conducting the EIA-7A, Annual Survey of Coal Production and Preparation.” It is essential for you to respond to this survey by April 1 in order for EIA to prepare accurate and timely reports.

The data collected from Form EIA-7A is used to collect coal production data from U.S. coal mining companies. This includes information on the type and status of coal operations, characteristics of coalbeds mined, recoverable reserves, productive capacity and the disposition of coal mined which provides Congress with basic statistics concerning coal supply. These data appear in the Annual Coal Report, the Quarterly Coal Report, the Monthly Energy Review, and the Annual Energy Review. In addition, the EIA uses the data for coal supply analyses and in short-term modeling efforts, which produce forecasts of coal supply and prices requested by Congress. The forecast data also appear in the Short-Term Energy Outlook and the Annual Energy Outlook.

Response to this survey is mandatory and required pursuant to 15 U.S.C., Sections 764(b), 772(b) and 790a of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974. Your company’s mandatory participation will continue into the future unless this mining operation produced less than 25,000 short tons of coal during the reporting year. All anthracite mines that produced 10,000 or more short tons during the reporting year must submit Form EIA-7A. Standalone facilities (e.g., preparation plant/tipple/loading dock/train loadout) that worked 5,000 or more hours must submit Form EIA-7A. EIA estimates that the average reporting burden for this survey 3.25 hours per response. For Form EIA-7A, the information reported will be protected and not disclosed to the public to the extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, the DOE regulations, 10 C.F.R. §1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905.

Please keep a copy of your survey responses for your records. If you have any questions, or need assistance in responding to this survey, please contact EIA-7A@eia.gov or contact the survey manager. Again, thank you for your cooperation in responding to this survey request so that EIA can provide timely and accurate information.

Sincerely,

Fadi Shadid

EIA-7A Survey Manager

Telephone: (202) 586-6393

Email: Fadi.Shadid@eia.gov

U.S. Energy Information Administration