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Abandoned Mine Legislation Would Bring More Than $1 Billion to Pa.
Legislation introduced by Pennsylvania’s two U.S. Senators would deliver an unprecedented $1 billion to Pennsylvania alone over 15 years to clean up abandoned mine land (AML) sites and streams polluted by acid mine drainage. And every dollar is sorely needed.
Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection says abandoned mine sites represent the state’s largest environmental concern. In addition, Pennsylvania has the largest abandoned mine problem in the country, owning about one third of the nation’s sites. West Virginia and Kentucky are also significantly affected by this problem.
AML sites can contain such threatening features as highwalls, coal refuse piles, hidden mine entrances and mine shafts, just to name a few. Hazardous leakage from these sites pollutes nearly 4,000 miles of streams and rivers, making them unfit for swimming, fishing, recreation, or aquatic life. Furthermore, old abandoned mine sites encompassing 184,000 acres in 44 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are dangerous and a threat to human safety – injuries and even fatalities at neglected mine sites are not uncommon and occur every year.
Currently, the federal government allocates $20 to $25 million each year to Pennsylvania under a 1977 law that created the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund by establishing a per-ton fee on coal production.
But federal assistance to the states will dry up if the fund and the fee are not renewed.
S.2616, if passed, will not only renew the fund, but also improve the allocation process. Under the new formula, Pennsylvania’s annual share of the funds to deal with the most serious of the AML-related problems will double, and then triple, over the next 15 years. Equally important, the funds will be guaranteed, eliminating the annual appropriations process and the chances of the funds being used for other purposes.
Eradicating our abandoned mine problem will be difficult but not insurmountable. This investment will help.
The Present Situation
- Pennsylvania suffers from the most serious abandoned mine problem in the country.
- 4,000 miles of streams and rivers in our state are polluted by abandoned mine drainage.
- Abandoned mine sites occupy 184,000 acres (nearly 280 square miles) in 44 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
- Approximately 1.4 million residents of Pennsylvania live within a mile of an abandoned mine site.
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The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund
- The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund (also called simply the AML Fund) was authorized in the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).
- SMCRA assessed a fee on surface-mined coal, deep-mined coal and lignite of $.35 per ton, $.15 per ton and $.10 per ton, respectively.
- The purpose of the fee was to fund the environmental restoration of lands and waters damaged by the thousands of abandoned coal mines left unreclaimed by the mining industry prior to passage of SMCRA.
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In nearly 30 years, these funds have not been increased, not even to adjust for inflation.
Presently, the AML program has been extended fifteen months from its latest expiration date of June 30, 2006. This is the third extension in as many years.
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A Solution: S.2616
- This legislation would fully reauthorize the Abandoned Mineland Reclamation Fund and help bring economic opportunity and environmental restoration to communities damaged by abandoned coal mines.
- S.2616 would bring more than $1 billion to Pennsylvania over the next 15 years to address the state’s vast AML cleanup need that still exists.
- S.2616 guarantees funding, which makes it easier for communities trying to plan the multi-year job of reclaiming AML sites and restoring streams and rivers.
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