On November 14 the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing on bipartisan legislation-- HR 4248-- to reauthorize the fee supporting the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program.

The federal fee supporting the program is set to expire in 2021.

The legislation is sponsored by Pennsylvania members of Congress Matthew Cartwright (D),  Glenn Thompson (R), Michael Doyle (D), Mike Kelly(R), Daniel Meuser (R) and others.

Pennsylvania witnesses offering testimony included John Stefanko, DEP Deputy for Active and Abandoned Mine Operations and Robert Hughes, Executive Director of the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.

John Stefanko not only represented DEP and Pennsylvania, but also the Interstate Mining Compact Commission and the National Association of Abandoned Mine Programs.

“Reauthorization of SMCRA Title IV fee collection authority is the top AML legislative priority for IMCC and NAAMLP,” said Stefanko.  “Without this source of funding, the AML programs will be unable to continue their vital work including addressing the 250-300 AML emergencies which occur across the nations coal fields each year.

“In essence, to extend the AML fee is to extend the AML program itself. As expiration of Title IV fee collection authority approaches, one thing is abundantly clear: the AML programs have made great progress, but our work is not done; and the remaining work far exceeds available resources,” Stefanko explained.

“Based on expected AML fee collections between now and the end of 2021, added to the amounts currently remaining in the AML Fund, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) projects that approximately $2.74 billion in AML grants will be distributed to the states and tribes in total over the remaining life of the program,” said Stefanko. “That amount represents only about one-quarter of what is needed as compared to the current OSMRE estimate of roughly $10.6 billion in construction costs for remaining AML work.

“This means that without reauthorization of the AML fee, nearly $8 billion in construction costs currently listed in the AML inventory will remain. And taking into consideration the additional non-construction costs necessary to plan and design these projects and the currently unaccounted for impact of annual inflation, the funding shortfall is much wider.

“While the AML fee’s expiration in 2021 is still several months away, legislative deliberations of this scale take a significant amount of time; the process leading up to the final 2006 SMCRA amendments took more than ten years to complete,” said Stefanko.  “It is for this reason that we greatly appreciate the leadership of Rep. Cartwright and Rep. Thompson in co-sponsoring H.R. 4248 and the Subcommittee’s consideration of the bill.

“It is our hope that the bill will be approved during the 116th Congress, which will pave the way for any regulatory or program adjustments that may be required prior to the September 30, 2021 expiration date.”

Visit the Our Work’s Not Done website for more background from the point of view of states abandoned mine reclamation programs.

Pennsylvania has worked closely with Wyoming, which also presented testimony at the hearing, and other coal states to support reauthorization of the program.

Robert Hughes, Executive Director of the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, noted 116 different types of diverse interests across the coalfields of Appalachia have supported reauthorization of the federal abandoned mine reclamation fee.

“49 PA Council of Trout Unlimited Chapters and the PA Council of Trout Unlimited, 22 Non-Profits, and 17 County Conservation Districts have all signed on to support Reauthorization. In addition, 15 PA County Governments have signed Resolutions, 4 Municipalities, and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission have written letters in support…,” said Hughes.

“Many other State organizations are also in support of Reauthorization, Nationally. We have verified support from 6 organizations in West Virginia, 2 in Alabama, and 1 from Maryland. National partners in Central Appalachia informed us that there are over 20 organizations in support of Reauthorization,” Hughes added.

“For those not directly involved in reclamation, it may be easy to view the process as strictly environmental. In actuality, many additional sectors, project services and categories are involved in abandoned mine reclamation and AMD remediation projects, that are off-site,” explained Hughes.  “A PA Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (DEP BAMR) Contractors’ List of vendors expressing interest in reclamation or associated with reclamation totaled more than 600 companies.”

“In Northeastern PA, where the majority of the reclamation and AMD remediation needs to occur, we have to address the Chesapeake Bay restoration goal deficiencies, it is even more dire to work with PA partners at all levels to reclaim 14,562 acres of mining impacted areas by 2025, under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan,” added Hughes.

“There are an estimated 1,900 AML Problem Areas, 10,400 unreclaimed features totaling 73,080 acres and 2,290 reclaimed AML features totaling 13,140 acres. An estimated 1,305 stream miles impacted by AMD are in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed,” said Hughes. This creates a lost recreational value for anglers alone, in the amount of nearly $72 Million annually in the Susquehanna River Basin.

“When combined with the Delaware and Ohio River Basins, there are 2,834 stream miles impacted, for a total lost recreational value by anglers in the amount of $146 Million annually,” he added.

“...my hometown, like many others, in the coalfields, deserves attention, clean water, greener landscapes, living wage jobs, workforce development opportunities, and a better quality of life that can be gained through the continued extension and passage of the SMCRA Amendments of 2019,” concluded Hughes.

Visit the PA AML Campaign website for more information from the point of view of local and regional groups involved in abandoned mine reclamation in Pennsylvania.

Click Here for written testimony and to watch a video of the hearing.

NewsClips:

275+ PA Environment & Energy NewsClips Are Waiting Here For You To Read Them

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Trout Unlimited, Partners Push Congress To Support Mine Reclamation Fund Reauthorization

PA Council Of Trout Unlimited Urges PA Congressional Delegation To Reauthorize Federal Mine Reclamation Fee, Program

Our Work’s Not Done: Mining States Push For Reauthorization Of Federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee

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[Posted: November 15, 2019]

11/18/2019