House Bill 608 which encourages private investment in bioenergy resources while also assisting to reclaim mine lands has been signed into law by the Governor, said Rep. Michele Brooks (R-Crawford).

“This new law offers multiple benefits for our area,” Rep. Brooks said. “First, this legislation will help spur economic development opportunities by helping private businesses mitigate their costs and give them additional resources to invest in more jobs. Second, it will help reclaim mine lands so they can be repurposed for future projects. Studies have shown that these fast-growing crops can flourish in all types of environments. Third, it helps to make our state more energy independent.”

Specifically, House Bill 608, now Act 95 of 2012, will authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to encourage the planting of switchgrass or other fast-growing bioenergy crops to revegetate lands affected by surface mining.

If a mine operator uses one or more of these crops in reclamation, the bond can be fully released at the Stage II level instead of Stage III, provided other criteria are met.  This means that the financial guarantee bonds will be available to be used on other reclamation sites increasing the rate on which mine lands are reclaimed. The new law also will apply to all lands affected by surface mining activities, not just to re-mined lands.

Bioenergy resources will include the use of various crops such as switchgrass, camelina and canola.

Rep. Brooks said that this measure is also a perfect fit to help address the nation’s energy security concerns because these crops can also be used as a biomass fuel and serve as another homegrown energy resource.

“I would like to thank my colleagues in the House, along with those in the state Senate and the governor, for unanimously agreeing to the importance of this legislation and advancing it through the General Assembly this session,” Rep. Brooks added.

7/16/2012