Title IV Focus Group Notes Online
by Bruce Golden, Regional Coordinator and Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator
Last year , ten public roundtable meetings were held around PA on how the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) should best spend an estimated $1.4 billion for abandoned mine reclamation over the next 15+ years. The meetings were designed to educate the public and solicit comments. The funding is derived from a recently amended federal law known as the Surface Ming Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and represents a substantial increase in both the amounts and the flexibility of using the funding. PA is the only state affected by this law that has elected to gather public comment.
Some general impressions from those roundtable meetings:
- Audience size varied from about 15 to 35 with generally greater attendance in western counties
- The makeup of audience varied with members of watershed and conservation organizations consistently representing the majority of participants
- The tenor of each of the meetings was respectful and constructive
- DEP personnel mostly listened, but provided commentary as appropriate
- There were quite a few comments about a range of reclamation methodologies and how they should be employed
- There were quite a few comments about the value of partnerships and watershed organizations for future reclamation
The only subjects that appeared to have a general consensus were:
- On the 30% AMD Set Aside, the majority of participants appeared to favor having DEP take the full 30%
- Most participants appeared to favor the establishment of an Operations & Maintenance fund to take care of AMD treatment systems.
The official transcripts from those 2007 Public Roundtables can be accessed at the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s AML Roundtable Meetings page.
As part of the Roundtable process, DEP is preparing a Comment and Response document to address comments received during the Roundtable process. Look for a future Abandoned Mine Post announcement once that document is made available.
At the time of the roundtables, DEP explained that, after all of the public roundtables were completed, it would then hold Focus Group meetings with selected invitees to further discuss relevant topics that came up during the 2007 Title IV Roundtables. Focus groups were held between January and March 2008 to discuss the following topics:
- Construction/Contracting
- Permitting
- Private Property Access (Anthracite)
- AMD Remediation
- Water Lines
The meeting notes from each of those focus group sessions held this winter are now available online. Click here to go to the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s website to view the focus group notes.
Upcoming Conferences:
- The 10th PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation and Coal Mining Heritage Conference will be held August 12-14th at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in State College, PA. For more information and to register online, go to: www.treatminewater.com
- The 4th Annual West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Symposium – hosted by Trout Unlimited and the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition. This year’s event will be held on Friday and Saturday, July 18th - 19th, at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College. Registration is due by Friday, July 2nd — but please note that lodging reservations must be made at the Nittany Lion Inn before Tuesday, June 17th. Click here for registration information.
- The 36th annual meeting of the National Association of State Land
Reclamationists (NASLR) will be held at the Seven Springs Mountain
Resort and Conference Center in Champion, PA, September 14-17, 2008.
Additional information about the conference can be found by going to http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/BMR/BMRhome.htm