PA Receives $53.8 Million In 2019 Federal Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Funds, Reclamation Fee Due To Expire

On March 19, the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced Pennsylvania will receive $53,846,935 in Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation funding.

This amount is down slightly from 2018 when Pennsylvania received $55.6 million.

Pennsylvania, which has one-third of the abandoned mine sites in the nation, received the second largest amount of funding behind Wyoming with $87.8 million.

In addition, for each of the last 2 years, Pennsylvania has received a total of $55 million in additional funding from a pilot program to reclaim abandoned mines in areas that have economic development potential-- $30 million in 2016 and $25 million in 2017.  A third year grant request for this pilot program totalling $25 million is pending.

Click Here for the full OMRE funding announcement.

AML Fee Expires

The per ton fee on coal mined in the United States that supports the federal Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program is due to expire in September 2021.

John Stefanko, DEP Deputy Secretary for Active and Abandoned Mine Operations, told the Citizens Advisory Council last July that reauthorization of the fee is critical to the continued success of Pennsylvania’s Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program.

Pennsylvania has nearly 250,000 acres of abandoned mine sites yet to reclaim causing over 5,500 miles of streams to be impaired.

Since DEP’s Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program began in earnest in the mid-1960s, more than 76,391 acres of abandoned mines have been reclaimed at a cost of $661 million.

Stefanko said Pennsylvania is cooperating with Wyoming and other states to push for reauthorization of the fee before it expires, but so far Congress has taken no action.

RECLAIM Initiative

Congress has also been considering making the pilot program to reclaim abandoned mine sites with economic development potential permanent as part of the RECLAIM initiative to provide $258 million over 5 years from the Abandoned Mine Land Fund to support state reclamation efforts.

Pennsylvania, the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds and many other groups have supported this effort, but so far Congress has not acted.

Good Samaritan Program

Also pending in Congress is legislation to create a Good Samaritan Program designed to encourage reclamation of abandoned mines by operators, watershed groups and others not connected to the abandoned mine site.

Pennsylvania has had a Good Samaritan Program since 1999 that has resulted in 79 acid mine drainage treatment projects in 20 counties all at no cost to taxpayers.

Pennsylvania and many other groups have testified in support of this program, but so far Congress has failed to act.

Visit DEP’s Active and Abandoned Mine Operations webpage for more information on these programs.

(Photo: Ehrenfeld mine reclamation project in Cambria County reclaimed through the federal pilot Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization Program.)