The Eastern and Western PA Coalitions for Abandoned Mine Reclamation are urging counties, local governments, watershed and environmental groups to pass a resolution to urge Congress to reauthorize the federal Mine Reclamation fee for another 15 years.

Click Here for a copy of the resolution recently passed by EPCAMR (text below).

Dozens of groups, counties and local governments made resolutions in 2005 which, some say, was the deciding factor in the reauthorization legislation being passed in 2006.  We need your help again as the fee collection sunsets in 2021. 

While 2 years seems like a lot of time to get the legislation passed, it really isn't.  We still need to find a representative that will champion the cause and introduce a bill.

In the U.S. Senate, West Virginia Senator, Joe Manchin, has introduced a very simplistic bill for consideration which does not address concerns that his colleagues and folks in the Appalachian region have. 

The PA AML Campaign has come up with some suggestions the bill should contain.

 Among the improvements we suggest are:

-- Restoring fees to 1977 levels to account for inflation;

-- Exempting funds from sequestration limits;

-- Establishing a direct line item in the OSMRE budget for emergency projects; and

-- Increasing minimum program state/tribe funding from $3 million to $5 million annually.

Completed resolutions should be sent to WPCAMR’s Andy McAllister, Regional Coordinator by email to: andy@wpcamr.org, with a copy to Robert Hughes, Executive Director of EPCAMR by email to: rhughes@epcamr.org.

If you have any questions about the resolution, please don't hesitate to contact Robert Hughes, Executive Director of EPCAMR by calling 570-371-3523 or send email to: rhughes@epcamr.org or Andy McAllister, Regional Coordinator for WPCAMR by calling 724-832-3625 or send email to: andy@wpcamr.org.

If you are an individual or business wanting to support the legislation, EPCAMR will be sending out a sign on letter once the bill is introduced to Congress.

Visit the PA AML Campaign and the Oor Work’s Not Done! websites for more information on this issue.

Text Of Resolution

Here is the text of the draft resolution--

WHEREAS, Substantial coal mining has occurred in Pennsylvania for more than 140 years, and the industry has been a significant employer of our citizens for most of these years; and

WHEREAS, Abandoned mines pose hazards in Pennsylvania of dangerous shafts, mountains of black waste, scarred landscapes, acidic drainages polluting more than 5,500 miles of our streams and other hazards threatening human health and safety and depressing local economies; and

WHEREAS, At least 44 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are affected by abandoned coal mines; and

WHEREAS, At least 1.4 million Pennsylvanians live within one mile of abandoned mine lands; and

WHEREAS, Abandoned mines and abandoned mine lands create negative impacts on local economies by hampering recreational opportunities, lowering land values, leaving desolate communities once the mines are exhausted and ruining sites for further residential, forestry, commercial or agricultural uses, and threaten the human health and safety of people living in our coal field communities; and

WHEREAS, Reclamation of abandoned mine sites can add to the economy by creating jobs, increasing community pride, increasing property values, decreasing stress-related costs through stream-based recreation, restoring the health of the environment and providing future sites for commercial or industrial endeavors; and

WHEREAS, Congress established the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund under Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to reclaim areas abandoned before 1977 and the modern environmental standards requiring mine operators to reclaim their sites; and

WHEREAS, The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 imposed on coal operators a fee of 35 cents per ton on surface mined coal, 15 cents per ton on underground mined coal, and 10 cents on lignite to provide a source of revenue for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to help finance the reclamation and remediation of lands mined prior to 1977; and

WHEREAS, The scope of the abandoned mine problem continues to far outpace available resources; and

WHEREAS, In 2006, the Congress of the United States re-authorized the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to extend fee collection through 2021, increased the “Set Aside” for acid mine drainage from 10 percent to 30 percent and provided for mandatory distribution of AML funds; and

WHEREAS, the fees collected and deposited into the federal AML Fund are derived from a per ton fee assessed on each ton of coal mined by the active mining industry and can only be used for purposes authorized under Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act.  The AML Fund is not derived from a tax and is not funded from the U.S. Treasury; and

WHEREAS, the collection of fees on mined coal applied to Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund under Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 is set to expire in 2021; and

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has relied upon the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund as a primary source of money to clean up toxic mine pollution in our water supplies, restore impaired lands, extinguish mine fires and eliminate other dangerous abandoned mine hazards; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That ________________ urges the United States Congress to reauthorize the collection of fees on mined coal at the restored 1977 levels of 35 cents per surface mined, 15 cents deep mined, and 10 cents on mined lignite; and

FURTHER, That the collection of fees be for a least 15 additional years and through 2036; and

FURTHER, The SMCRA Title IV grants should be exempt from sequestration and all Title IV sequestered funds should be given back to the states, retroactive to FY 2013; and

FURTHER, That the mandatory distribution for minimum program states be raised to $5 million; and

FURTHER, That the annual distribution of funds continue to be formulated to adequately address the abandoned mine problems of all states and to allow the states with the most problems to correct them much more quickly; and

FURTHER, that the current definitions of Reclamation Priorities be maintained to adequately correct all land and water problems created by abandoned mines, including water polluted by acid mine drainage; and

FURTHER, That future allocations from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund be used by states in ways that promote reclamation, leverage private investment and encourage development where appropriate, and to be used to complement or match other funds available for redevelopment of abandoned mine land sites; and

FURTHER, that transfer of interest generated on the Fund be maintained to the Combined Benefit Fund to defray health costs for retired miners and their dependents whose companies are bankrupt or are no longer in business; and

FURTHER, That the SMCRA 30 percent Set-Aside option be maintained.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that: the undersigned organization/ interested citizen/ government entity urges Congress to reauthorize SMCRA Title IV fees and restore the fees to their 1977 levels and provide those funds to the Commonwealth for the purposes for which they were collected.

NewsClips:

Mine Restoration Efforts Continue To Heal Johnstown Rivers

Editorial: Land Reclamation Deserves Celebration At Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area

Related Stories:

U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Reports Out RECLAIM, Good Samaritan Mine Reclamation Initiatives; Senate Version Introduced

PA Congressmen Introduce Bipartisan RECLAIM Initiative To Invest In Environmental, Economic Recovery In Coal Country

DEP, EPCAMR, Trout Unlimited Tell U.S. House Subcommittee Hearing Reauthorizing Federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee Critical, There’s A Lot More To Do

PA Receives $53.8 Million In 2019 Federal Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Funds, Reclamation Fee Due To Expire

[Posted: May 21, 2019]

5/27/2019