I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4456 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 

provide funds to States and Indian tribes for the purpose of promoting 

economic revitalization, diversification, and development in economically 

distressed communities through the reclamation and restoration of land 

and water resources adversely affected by coal mining carried out before 

August 3, 1977, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 3, 2016 

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky (for himself, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. JENKINS of 

West Virginia, Mr. GRIFFITH, and Mr. BEYER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to provide funds to States and Indian tribes 

for the purpose of promoting economic revitalization, diversification, and development in economically distressed 

communities through the reclamation and restoration of 

land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining carried out before August 3, 1977, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Revitalizing the Econ3 omy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities 

4 and Investing More Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘RECLAIM Act 

5 of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION FOR COAL COUNTRY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Surface Mining 

8 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231 

9 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 416. ABANDONED MINE LAND ECONOMIC REVITAL11 IZATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts deposited into 

13 the fund under section 401(b) before October 1, 2007, and 

14 not otherwise appropriated, $200,000,000 shall be avail15 able to the Secretary, without further appropriation, for 

16 each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021 for distribution 

17 to States and Indian tribes in accordance with this section 

18 for the purpose of promoting economic revitalization, di19 versification, and development in economically distressed 

20 communities through the reclamation and restoration of 

21 land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining 

22 carried out before August 3, 1977. 

23 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds distributed to a State 

24 or Indian tribe under subsection (c) shall be used only for 

25 those projects that meet the following criteria: 


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1 ‘‘(1) RELATED TO THE RECLAMATION OF ABAN2 DONED MINE LANDS AND WATERS.—The project is 

3 designed to— 

4 ‘‘(A) achieve one or more of the priorities 

5 stated in section 403(a); or 

6 ‘‘(B) be conducted on land adjacent to eli7 gible lands and waters described in section 

8 403(a) that has previously been remediated or 

9 will be remediated under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) CONTRIBUTION TO FUTURE ECONOMIC OR

11 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The project is reason13 ably likely to create favorable conditions for the 

14 economic development of the project site or pro15 mote the general welfare through economic and 

16 community development of the area in which 

17 the project is conducted. 

18 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION OF CONDITIONS.— 

19 Such conditions are demonstrated by— 

20 ‘‘(i) documentation of the role of the 

21 project in the area’s economic development 

22 strategy or other economic and community 

23 development planning process; 

24 ‘‘(ii) any other documentation of the 

25 planned economic and community use of 


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1 the project site after the primary reclama2 tion activities are completed, which may in3 clude contracts, agreements in principle, or 

4 other evidence that, once reclaimed, the 

5 site is reasonably anticipated to be used 

6 for one or more industrial, commercial, 

7 residential, agricultural, or recreational 

8 purposes; or 

9 ‘‘(iii) any other documentation agreed 

10 to by the State or Indian tribe that dem11 onstrates the project will meet the criteria 

12 set forth in this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(3) LOCATION IN COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY

14 RECENT DECLINE IN MINING.—The project will be 

15 conducted in a community— 

16 ‘‘(A) that has been adversely affected eco17 nomically by a reduction in coal mining-related 

18 activity over the preceding 5 years, as dem19 onstrated by employment data, per capita in20 come, or other indicators of reduced economic 

21 activity attributable to such reduction; or 

22 ‘‘(B)(i) that has traditionally relied on coal 

23 mining for a substantial portion of its economy; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in which the economic contribution of 

2 coal mining has significantly declined. 

3 ‘‘(4) STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION.—The 

4 project has been the subject of project planning 

5 under subsection (f) and has been the focus of col6 laboration, including partnerships, as appropriate, 

7 with interested persons or local organizations. 

8 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—The project has 

9 been proposed and will be executed by entities of 

10 State, local, county, or tribal government, which may 

11 include subcontracting project-related activities, as 

12 appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) UNCERTIFIED STATES.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the amount 

16 made available in subsection (a), the Secretary 

17 shall distribute $195,000,000 annually for each 

18 of fiscal years 2017 through 2021 to States and 

19 Indian tribes that have a State program ap20 proved under section 405 or are referred to in 

21 section 402(g)(8)(B), and have not made a cer22 tification under section 411(a) in which the 

23 Secretary has concurred, as follows: 

24 ‘‘(i) FISCAL YEARS 2017 AND 2018.— 

25 For each of fiscal years 2017 and 2018, 


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1 the Secretary shall allocate such funds 

2 through a formula based on the amount of 

3 coal historically produced in each State or 

4 from the lands of each Indian tribe con5 cerned before August 3, 1977. 

6 ‘‘(ii) FISCAL YEARS 2019 THROUGH

7 2021.—For each of fiscal years 2019 

8 through 2021, the Secretary shall allocate 

9 to each State and Indian tribe either— 

10 ‘‘(I) the amount allocated to the 

11 State or Indian tribe for fiscal year 

12 2017, plus any amount reallocated to 

13 it under this paragraph, if it has com14 mitted the full amount of its alloca15 tion for the preceding fiscal year to el16 igible projects; or 

17 ‘‘(II) the lesser of the amount the 

18 State or Indian tribe has committed 

19 to eligible projects from its allocation 

20 for the preceding fiscal year or the 

21 amount allocated to the State or In22 dian tribe for fiscal year 2017, if it 

23 has not committed the full amount of 

24 its allocation for the preceding fiscal 

25 year to eligible projects. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) FISCAL YEAR 2022.—For fiscal 

2 year 2022, the Secretary shall allocate to 

3 each State or Indian tribe the amount re4 allocated to the State or Indian tribe under 

5 subparagraph (B), if it has committed the 

6 full amount of its allocation for fiscal year 

7 2021 to eligible projects. 

8 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION OF UNCOMMITTED

9 FUNDS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) FISCAL YEAR 2019 THROUGH

11 2021.—For each of fiscal years 2019 

12 through 2021, the Secretary shall reallo13 cate in accordance with clause (iii) any 

14 amount available for distribution under 

15 this subsection that has not been com16 mitted to eligible projects in the preceding 

17 2 fiscal years, among the States and In18 dian tribes that have committed to eligible 

19 projects the full amount of their annual al20 location for the preceding fiscal year as de21 scribed in clause (iii). 

22 ‘‘(ii) FISCAL YEAR 2022.—For fiscal 

23 year 2022, the Secretary shall reallocate in 

24 accordance with clause (iii) any amount 

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1 section that has not been committed to eli2 gible projects or distributed under sub3 paragraph (A)(iii), among the States and 

4 Indian tribes that have committed to eligi5 ble projects the full amount of their annual 

6 allocation for fiscal year 2021. 

7 ‘‘(iii) AMOUNT OF REALLOCATION.— 

8 The amount reallocated to each State or 

9 Indian tribe under each of clauses (i) and 

10 (ii) shall be determined by the Secretary to 

11 reflect, to the extent practicable— 

12 ‘‘(I) the proportion of unre13 claimed eligible lands and waters the 

14 State or Indian tribe has in the inven15 tory maintained under section 403(c); 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(II) the proportion of coal min18 ing employment loss incurred in the 

19 State or Indian lands, respectively, as 

20 determined by the Mine Safety and 

21 Health Administration, over the 5- 

22 year period preceding the fiscal year 

23 for which the reallocation is made. 

24 ‘‘(C) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Funds dis25 tributed under this section— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall be in addition to, and shall 

2 not affect, the amount of funds distributed 

3 to States and Indian tribes under section 

4 401(f); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) shall not reduce any funds dis6 tributed to a State or Indian tribe by rea7 son of the application of section 402(g)(8). 

8 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO CERTAIN

9 STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—From the amount 

11 made available in subsection (a), the Secretary 

12 shall distribute $5,000,000 annually for each of 

13 the five fiscal years beginning in fiscal year 

14 2017 to States and Indian tribes that have a 

15 State program approved under section 405 

16 and— 

17 ‘‘(i) have made a certification under 

18 section 411(a) in which the Secretary has 

19 concurred; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) receive an allocation by reason of 

21 the application of section 402(g)(8)(A). 

22 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION FOR FUNDS.—Using 

23 the process in section 405(f), any State or In24 dian tribe described in subparagraph (A) may 

25 submit a grant application to the Secretary for 


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1 funds under this paragraph. The Secretary 

2 shall review each grant application to confirm 

3 that the projects identified in the application 

4 for funding are eligible under subsection (b). 

5 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—The 

6 amount of funds distributed to each State or 

7 Indian tribe under this paragraph shall be de8 termined by the Secretary based on the dem9 onstrated need for the funding to accomplish 

10 the purposes of this section. 

11 ‘‘(d) RESOLUTION OF SECRETARY’S CONCERNS; 

12 CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary does 

13 not agree with a State or Indian tribe that a proposed 

14 project meets the criteria set forth in subsection (b)— 

15 ‘‘(1) the Secretary and the State or tribe shall 

16 meet and confer for a period of not less than 30 

17 days to resolve the Secretary’s concerns; 

18 ‘‘(2) during that period, the Secretary may con19 sult with any appropriate Federal agency, such as 

20 the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Eco21 nomic Development Administration, and the Bureau 

22 of Indian Affairs, to assist with the resolution of the 

23 concerns; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) at the end of that period, if the Secretary’s 

2 concerns are not resolved the Secretary shall provide 

3 to the Congress an explanation of the concerns. 

4 ‘‘(e) ACID MINE DRAINAGE TREATMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

6 State or Indian tribe that receives funds under this 

7 section may retain a portion of such funds as is nec8 essary to supplement the State’s or tribe’s acid mine 

9 drainage abatement and treatment fund established 

10 under section 402(g)(6)(A), for future operation and 

11 maintenance costs for the treatment of acid mine 

12 drainage associated with the individual projects 

13 funded under this section. A State or Indian tribe 

14 shall specify the total funds allotted for such costs 

15 in its application submitted under subsection 

16 (c)(2)(B). 

17 ‘‘(2) CONDITION.—A State or Indian tribe may 

18 retain and use funds under this subsection only if 

19 the State or tribe can demonstrate that the annual 

20 grant distributed to the State or tribe pursuant to 

21 section 401(f), including any interest from the 

22 State’s or tribe’s acid mine drainage abatement and 

23 treatment fund that is not used for the operation or 

24 maintenance of preexisting acid mine drainage treat25 ment systems, is insufficient to fund the operation 


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1 and maintenance of any acid mine drainage treat2 ment system associated with an individual project 

3 funded under this section. 

4 ‘‘(f) PROJECT PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State or Indian 

7 tribe may use up to 10 percent of its distribu8 tion for project planning and the costs of ad9 ministering this section. 

10 ‘‘(B) PLANNING REQUIREMENTS.—Plan11 ning under this paragraph may include— 

12 ‘‘(i) identification of eligible projects; 

13 ‘‘(ii) updating the inventory referred 

14 to in section 403(c); 

15 ‘‘(iii) developing project designs; 

16 ‘‘(iv) preparing cost estimates; or 

17 ‘‘(v) engaging in other similar activi18 ties necessary to facilitate reclamation ac19 tivities under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—In addition to amounts 

21 available for distribution under subsection (a), the 

22 Secretary may expend, without further appropria23 tion, not more than $3,000,000 for the five full fis24 cal years following the date of the enactment of the 

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1 ministrative expenses necessary to carry out this sec2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Each State and Indian 

4 tribe to which funds are distributed under this section 

5 shall provide to the Congress and the Secretary at the end 

6 of each fiscal year for which such funds are distributed 

7 a detailed report on the various projects that have been 

8 undertaken with such funds and the community and eco9 nomic benefits that are resulting, or are expected to result 

10 from, the use of the funds. 

11 ‘‘(h) COMMITTED DEFINED.—For purposes of this 

12 section the term ‘committed’— 

13 ‘‘(1) means that the State or Indian tribe re14 ceiving funds has executed a project agreement with 

15 an applicant for such funds; and 

16 ‘‘(2) includes any amount used for project plan17 ning under subsection (f).’’. 

18 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

19 in the first section of such Act is amended by adding at 

20 the end of the items relating to title IV the following: 

‘‘Sec. 416. Abandoned mine land economic revitalization.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

22 The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 

23 1977 is amended— 

24 (1) in section 401(c) (30 U.S.C. 1231(c)), by 

25 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of 


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1 paragraph (10), by redesignating paragraph (11) as 

2 paragraph (12), and by inserting after paragraph 

3 (10) the following: 

4 ‘‘(11) to implement section 416; and’’; 

5 (2) in section 401(d)(3) (30 U.S.C. 

6 1231(d)(3)), by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘subsection (f) and section 416(a)’’; 

8 (3) in section 402(g) (30 U.S.C. 1232(g))— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and 

10 section 416’’ after ‘‘subsection (h)’’; and 

11 (B) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(F) For the purpose of section 

14 416(c)(2)(A).’’; and 

15 (4) in section 403(c) (30 U.S.C. 1233(c))— 

16 (A) in the first sentence, by— 

17 (i) inserting ‘‘any of’’ after ‘‘which 

18 meet’’; and 

19 (ii) striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (2) 

20 of’’; 

21 (B) by inserting after the second sentence 

22 the following: ‘‘As practicable, States and In23 dian tribes shall offer such amendments based 

24 on the use of remote sensing, global positioning 

25 systems, and other advanced technologies.’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘The Secretary may perform any work nec3 essary to amend any entry in the inventory that 

4 has not been updated by a State or Indian tribe 

5 within the preceding 3 years to ensure that the 

6 entry is up-to-date and accurate.’’. 

Æ 


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