Federal Office Of Surface Mining Awards PA $300,000 To Update Abandoned Mine Land Inventory

On December 19, the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced $8 million in grants for states and Tribes to update their abandoned mine land inventories, to support future remediation efforts. 

Pennsylvania is due to receive $300,000, according to the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.

The enhanced Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System, commonly known as e-AMLIS, is the publicly available central database for all AML problems and reclaimed sites.

The funding was made available under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Eligible states and Tribes will use the funding to improve data collection processes, as well as data integrity, accuracy, reliability, and standardization. 

Funds may also be used for field reconnaissance activities and the use of new technologies to efficiently collect and manage AML information.

“E-AMLIS is a crucial tool for informing OSMRE and the public about the legacy coal mine pollution that still needs to be addressed,” said OSMRE Deputy Director Glenda Owens. “This financial assistance will help our state and Tribal AML partners update their inventories of AML problems and upgrade their existing processes to report on reclamation funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the traditional AML fee-based grants.”

States and Tribes use e-AMLIS to report information such as location, problem type, extent of AML impacts, and reclamation costs. 

Projects inventoried in e-AMLIS are eligible for funding through the traditional fee-based AML program as well as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which allocates $11.3 billion over 15 years to accelerate the cleanup of dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by historic coal mining.

For more information, visit the OSMRE e-AMLIS webpage.

Visit DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation webpage for more on mine reclamation in Pennsylvania.

[Posted: December 21, 2023]  PA Environment Digest