Riders aimed at curbing the Obama administration's oversight of coal mining might still be under consideration in budget negotiations, environmentalists tracking the talks said today.

"We're hearing a lot of buzz and concern about mountaintop removal," Joan Mulhern, senior legislative counsel for Earthjustice, said in an interview. "We're hearing stuff in general that mountaintop is still in play."

Republicans and some Democrats have called for riders to stop the Office of Surface Mining from moving forward with a new stream protection rule for mining projects and to prevent U.S. EPA enforcement of a guidance document on mountaintop-removal mining permits.

Mulhern said appropriator Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) was fighting to keep the riders off the final bill. A Moran spokesman said the lawmaker is working with the Senate and White House to determine which riders were appropriate and which go too far.

"They are all in the mix and under discussion with the appropriators," National Mining Association spokesman Luke Popovich said earlier this week. "No final decisions as yet."

Another appropriator, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake, added a rider to the House Interior-EPA spending bill to stop the administration from blocking new mining claims on roughly 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon. In an interview this week, he said it was "still too early to tell" if the measure would be part of the spending package. Asked whether he is lobbying for its inclusion, he said, "You bet."

Another rider would stop EPA from regulating power plant combustion waste, coal ash, as a hazardous substance.

Earthjustice lobbyist Martin Hayden said the issue does not appear to be gaining much traction in the current budget negotiations with legislation having passed in the House and some senators pushing for debate next year.