Washington, D.C.—This week, Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) introduced H.R. 2937, The Community Reclamation Partnerships Act, in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would expand protections under existing law to third-party groups who participate in cleaning and re-purposing inactive coal mines, abandoned before modern regulations. Specifically, the legislation would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to authorize partnerships between States and nongovernmental entities for the purpose of reclaiming and restoring land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining activities before August 3, 1977.
“While mining is an important part of Illinois’ economy, abandoned mines continue to present safety dangers and missed opportunities for new development. That is why I have introduced this bill, which would protect third-party groups from frivolous lawsuits when they attempt to clean up or re-purpose these abandoned mines. No group should be punished for wanting to help out their local community in this way,” stated LaHood. “I look forward to seeing this bill move forward with bipartisan support.”
Across the country, there are $10 billion worth of abandoned mine sites with no living responsible party. The outstanding abandoned mine land (AML) liabilities in Illinois is $156 million and in the 18th District $17 million. These numbers reflect the estimated cost of the earth work needed to complete the reclamation of all remaining AML sites.
Currently, states are responsible for these rehabilitation projects and receive funding from the AML Fund, supported by fees paid by coal operators. Given the project backlog and need in communities across the country, non-government organization have been encouraged and interested in contributing their time and resources to the effort, but are often deterred due to potential liability. To address this issue, under this bill, these entities would be recognized as “Community Reclaimers” and states would assume responsibility for all Community Reclaimer projects, just as they currently do for approved AML contractors. The legislation also sets up a process for recognizing agreements between states and federal agencies establishing approved practices at abandoned mine sites for Community Reclaimer projects.
“I commend Rep. LaHood for his leadership to build bipartisan consensus on legislation that will help solve a pressing national challenge. With thousands of abandoned mine lands across the country, ‘Community Reclaimers’ can aid in the cleanup up of these sites on a much broader scale and a faster pace. I look forward with our colleagues across the aisle as we move this bill through Committee and on to the House floor,” House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) said.
In a letter of support to Congressman LaHood, Trout Unlimited President & CEO, Chris Wood stated, “Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect, and restore North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and the watersheds they depend on. In pursuit of this mission, TU has worked to restore streams and rivers damaged by pollution from abandoned mines from the Appalachian coalfields to the hardrock mining areas of the Rocky Mountains states. TU stands ready to expand our work to clean-up abandoned mine pollution, but we need passage of the Community Reclaimer legislation to make it happen.”
“The clean-up of abandoned mines is an important step towards the restoration of our mines. This is vital work that is necessary in helping keep our mines clean, safe, and available for reuse. The Illinois Coal Association is appreciative that Rep. LaHood has introduced this bipartisan legislation which will create more opportunities for entities to complete the restoration process,” said Phil Gonet, President of the Illinois Coal Association.
