Abandoned Mine Posts

by Bruce Golden, Regional Coordinator

New federal legislation will provide much-needed funding for abandoned mine reclamation (AMR) in Pennsylvania and other historic coal-mining states. Last week, Abandoned Mine Posts summarized the key points of the Title IV revisions, which pertain to abandoned mine reclamation. Today, we look at what the law means for reclamation of Pennsylvania’s mine-scarred lands and polluted waters.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will receive a very substantial increase in the annual grant it receives through Title IV for abandoned mine reclamation. The following chart projects Pennsylvania’s estimated annual funding, which will result in a cumulative total of nearly $1.4 billion over the life of the legislation.

From the current funding level of $21.4 million—before the new law kicks in—the annual grant will rise steadily but modestly in the first few years, allowing Pennsylvania time to gear up for the higher grant levels. In the outgoing years, annual grants over $120 million are expected.

It is not yet known how much of these monies can go to on-the-ground projects, or what the mix of projects will be. Some of the funding will also pay administrative overhead, mostly through DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation. Thus far, DEP has not developed a policy regarding the law’s provision that allows 30% of the funding to be set-aside for acid mine drainage remediation. However, the total amount of funding Pennsylvania receives is essentially fixed, so if an emphasis is placed on Priority 1 & 2 (health & safety) projects, the amounts available for acid mine drainage would suffer, and vice-versa.

DEP Secretary Katie McGinty announced that a number of roundtable forums will be scheduled around the state to gain input from various stakeholders, including the public, about how to best manage this funding over the next 15 years.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 3:54 pm and is filed under AML Fund Reauthorization, Legislation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.