II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1701 

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

improve the reclamation of abandoned mines. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 

Mr. THOMAS (for himself and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to improve the reclamation of abandoned mines. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abandoned Mine Land 

5 Reclamation Reform Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION FUND. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(c) of the Surface 

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

9 1231(c)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking paragraphs (2) and (6); and 
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1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

2 (5) and (7) through (13) as paragraphs (2) through 

3 (11), respectively. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 712(b) of 

5 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

6 (30 U.S.C. 1302(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

7 401(c)(11)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 401(c)(9)’’. 

8 SEC. 3. RECLAMATION FEE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402 of the Surface Min10 ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

11 1232) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Any operator of a coal mining 

15 operation subject to this Act shall pay to the Secretary 

16 of the Interior, for deposit in the fund— 

17 ‘‘(1) for coal produced by surface coal mining— 

18 ‘‘(A) for the period beginning on July 1, 

19 2006, and ending on October 1, 2009, 32 cents 

20 per ton of coal produced; 

21 ‘‘(B) for the period beginning on October 

22 1, 2009, and ending on October 1, 2013, 30 

23 cents per ton of coal produced; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) for the period beginning on October 

2 1, 2013, and ending on October 1, 2016, 28 

3 cents per ton of coal produced; 

4 ‘‘(2) for coal produced by underground min5 ing— 

6 ‘‘(A) for the period beginning on July 1, 

7 2006, and ending on October 1, 2009, 15 cents 

8 per ton of coal produced; 

9 ‘‘(B) for the period beginning on October 

10 1, 2009, and ending on October 1, 2013, 12 

11 cents per ton of coal produced; and 

12 ‘‘(C) for the period beginning on October 

13 1, 2013, and ending on October 1, 2016, 12 

14 cents per ton of coal produced; and 

15 ‘‘(3) for lignite coal— 

16 ‘‘(A) for the period beginning on July 1, 

17 2006, and ending on October 1, 2009, 10 cents 

18 per ton of lignite coal produced; 

19 ‘‘(B) for the period beginning on October 

20 1, 2009, and ending on October 1, 2013, 8 

21 cents per ton of lignite coal produced; and 

22 ‘‘(C) for the period beginning on October 

23 1, 2013, and ending on October 1, 2016, 8 

24 cents per ton of lignite coal produced.’’; 
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1 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘June 30, 

2 2006,’’ and all that follows through the end and in3 serting ‘‘September 30, 2016.’’; and 

4 (3) in subsection (g)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking ‘‘in 

6 any area under paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5)’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (4)’’; 

8 (B) by striking paragraph (2); 

9 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 

10 (5), (6), (7), and (8) as paragraphs (2), (3), 

11 (4), (5), (6), and (7), respectively; 

12 (D) in paragraph (2) (as redesignated by 

13 subparagraph (C))— 

14 (i) in the matter preceding subpara15 graph (A), by striking ‘‘paragraphs (2) 

16 and (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘401(c)(11)’’ and inserting ‘‘401(c)(9)’’; 

19 and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(E) For the purpose of paragraph (7).’’; 

23 (E) in paragraph (3) (as redesignated by 

24 subparagraph (C))— 
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1 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

2 ‘‘paragraphs (1), (2), and (5) or expended 

3 under paragraph (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘para4 graphs (1) and (4) or expended under 

5 paragraph (2)’’; and 

6 (ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

7 ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (5)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (4)’’; 

9 (F) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by 

10 subparagraph (C))— 

11 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall allocate 40’’ and in13 serting ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall allocate 

14 60’’; 

15 (ii) in the last sentence, by striking 

16 ‘‘Funds allocated or expended by the Sec17 retary under paragraphs (2), (3), or (4) of 

18 this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘Funds 

19 made available under paragraph (2) or 

20 (3)’’; and 

21 (iii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(B) Any amount that is made available 

24 under paragraph (8) shall be in addition to 
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1 amounts that are allocated under subparagraph 

2 (A).’’; and 

3 (G) by striking paragraphs (5), (6), and 

4 (7) (as redesignated by subparagraph (C)) and 

5 inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(5) ABATEMENT OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED HYDRO8 LOGIC UNIT.—In this paragraph, the term 

9 ‘qualified hydrologic unit’ means a hydrologic 

10 unit— 

11 ‘‘(i) in which the water quality has 

12 been significantly affected by acid mine 

13 drainage from coal mining practices in a 

14 manner that adversely affects biological re15 sources; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) that contains land and water 

17 that is— 

18 ‘‘(I) eligible under section 404 

19 and appropriate for the expenditure of 

20 moneys from the fund for the pur21 poses specified in section 403(a); and 

22 ‘‘(II) the subject of expenditures 

23 by the State from the forfeiture of a 

24 bond filed under section 509 or from 
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1 any other State source to abate and 

2 treat acid mine drainage. 

3 ‘‘(B) USE OF FUNDS FOR ABATEMENT OF

4 ACID MINE DRAINAGE.—Any State with an ap5 proved abandoned mine reclamation program 

6 under section 405 may receive and retain, with7 out regard to the 3-year limitation referred to 

8 in paragraph (1)(D), up to 20 percent of the 

9 total amount of the grants made annually to 

10 the State under paragraphs (1) and (4) if— 

11 ‘‘(i) the amount retained is deposited 

12 in an acid mine drainage abatement and 

13 treatment fund established under State 

14 law; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the amount deposited under 

16 clause (i) (together with all interest earned 

17 on the amount) is expended by the State 

18 for the abatement of the causes and the 

19 treatment of the effects of acid mine drain20 age in a comprehensive manner within 

21 qualified hydrologic units affected by coal 

22 mining practices. 

23 ‘‘(6) CERTAIN RECLAMATION PROJECTS.—In 

24 complying with the priorities specified in section 

25 403(a), any State or Indian tribe may expend 
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1 amounts available in grants made annually to the 

2 State or tribe under paragraphs (1) and (4) for 

3 projects for the purpose specified in section 

4 403(a)(3) prior to the completion of reclamation 

5 projects under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 

6 403(a) only if the expenditure is made in conjunc7 tion with the expenditure of funds before, on, or 

8 after the date of enactment of the Abandoned Mine 

9 Land Reclamation Reform Act of 2005 for reclama10 tion projects under paragraphs (1) and (2) of sec11 tion 403(a). 

12 ‘‘(7) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—In making grants re13 ferred to in paragraph (1)(C) and in making expend14 itures under paragraph (2)(C), the Secretary, using 

15 amounts allocated to a State or Indian tribe under 

16 subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1), or, as 

17 necessary, amounts available to the Secretary under 

18 paragraph (2), shall ensure that total grant awards 

19 or expenditures of not less than $2,000,000 are 

20 made annually to or in each State that has an ap21 proved abandoned mine reclamation program under 

22 section 405 in effect on June 30, 2004, the State of 

23 Tennessee, and each Indian tribe. 

24 ‘‘(8) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND INDIAN

25 TRIBES.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 

2 using amounts allocated in the fund to a State 

3 or Indian tribe before October 1, 2006, pay to 

4 the State or Indian tribe an amount equal to 

5 the sum of the aggregate unappropriated 

6 amount allocated to the State or Indian tribe 

7 under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph 

8 (1) (referred to in this paragraph as the 

9 ‘amount due’). 

10 ‘‘(B) SCHEDULE.—Payments under sub11 paragraph (A) shall be made in accordance with 

12 the following schedule: 

13 ‘‘(i) If the amount due to a State or 

14 Indian tribe is less than $2,000,000, the 

15 Secretary shall pay to the State or Indian 

16 tribe the amount due on December 31, 

17 2006. 

18 ‘‘(ii) If the amount due to a State or 

19 Indian tribe is $2,000,000 or more but less 

20 than $30,000,000, the Secretary shall pay 

21 to the State or Indian tribe— 

‘‘(I) 1 22 ⁄2 of the amount due on De23 cember 31, 2006; and 

‘‘(II) 1 24 ⁄2 of the amount due on 

25 December 31, 2007. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) If the amount due to a State or 

2 Indian tribe is $30,000,000 or more but 

3 less than $100,0000,000, the Secretary 

4 shall pay to the State or Indian tribe— 

‘‘(I) 1 5 ⁄3 of the amount due on De6 cember 31, 2006; 

‘‘(II) 1 7 ⁄3 of the amount due on 

8 December 31, 2007; and 

‘‘(III) 1 9 ⁄3 of the amount due on 

10 December 31, 2008. 

11 ‘‘(iv) If the amount due to a State or 

12 Indian tribe is $100,000,000 or more but 

13 less than $200,0000,000, the Secretary 

14 shall pay to the State or Indian tribe— 

‘‘(I) 1 15 ⁄4 of the amount due on De16 cember 31, 2006; 

‘‘(II) 1 17 ⁄4 of the amount due on 

18 December 31, 2007; 

‘‘(III) 1 19 ⁄4 of the amount due on 

20 December 31, 2008; and 

‘‘(IV) 1 21 ⁄4 of the amount due on 

22 December 31, 2009. 

23 ‘‘(v) If the amount due to a State or 

24 Indian tribe is more than $200,000,000, 
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1 the Secretary shall pay to the State or In2 dian tribe— 

‘‘(I) 1 3 ⁄5 of the amount due on De4 cember 31, 2006; 

‘‘(II) 1 5 ⁄5 of the amount due on 

6 December 31, 2007; 

‘‘(III) 1 7 ⁄5 of the amount due on 

8 December 31, 2008; 

‘‘(IV) 1 9 ⁄5 of the amount due on 

10 December 31, 2009; and 

‘‘(V) 1 11 ⁄5 of the amount due on 

12 December 31, 2010. 

13 ‘‘(C) PAYMENTS NOT SUBJECT TO APPRO14 PRIATIONS.—Payments under subparagraph 

15 (A) shall not be subject to the availability of ap16 propriations. 

17 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 ‘‘(i) CERTIFIED STATES AND INDIAN

19 TRIBES.— 

20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A State or 

21 Indian tribe that makes a certification 

22 under section 411(a) in which the 

23 Secretary concurs shall use any 

24 amounts provided under this para25 graph for the purposes established by 
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1 the State legislature or tribal council 

2 of the Indian tribe, with priority given 

3 for addressing the impacts of mineral 

4 development. 

5 ‘‘(II) DEADLINE NOT APPLICA6 BLE.—Paragraph (1)(D) shall not 

7 apply to amounts provided under this 

8 paragraph to a State or Indian tribe 

9 described in subclause (I). 

10 ‘‘(ii) UNCERTIFIED STATES AND IN11 DIAN TRIBES.—A State or Indian tribe 

12 that has not made a certification under 

13 section 411(a) in which the Secretary has 

14 concurred shall use any amounts provided 

15 under this paragraph for the purposes de16 scribed in section 403.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—the Surface Min18 ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 is amended— 

19 (1) Section 403(b) of the Surface Mining Con20 trol and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

21 1233(b)) is amended— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘para23 graphs (1) and (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs 

24 (1) and (4)’’; and 
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1 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking 

2 ‘‘402(g)(4)(B)’’ each place it appears and in3 serting ‘‘section 402(g)(3)(B)’’; 

4 (2) Section 404 of the Surface Mining Control 

5 and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1234) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘section 402(g)(4)’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘section 402(g)(3)’’. 

8 (3) Section 409(b) of the Surface Mining Con9 trol and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

10 1239(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (1) 

11 and (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (1) and (4)’’. 

12 (4) Section 701(34) of the Surface Mining Con13 trol and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

14 1291(34)) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

15 402(g)(4)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 402(g)(3)’’. 

16 SEC. 4. TEMPORARY FINANCIAL RELIEF. 

17 Section 402(h) of the Surface Mining Control and 

18 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)) is amended 

19 by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for 

21 fiscal year 2007 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Sec22 retary of the Interior shall, as of the beginning of the fis23 cal year, use an amount in the fund equal to the amount 

24 of interest that was paid to the fund during the preceding 
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1 fiscal year and remains unexpended to make the transfers 

2 under paragraph (2).’’. 

3 SEC. 5. COLLECTION OF RECLAMATION FEES BY STATES 

4 AND INDIAN TRIBES. 

5 Section 402 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec6 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232) (as amended by 

7 section 4) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) COLLECTION OF RECLAMATION FEES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—On the request of the Gov10 ernor of a State or head of a governing body of an 

11 Indian tribe, the Secretary shall enter into an agree12 ment authorizing the State or Indian tribe to collect 

13 the fees required under subsection (a) (referred to in 

14 this subsection as the ‘reclamation fees’) on or after 

15 July 1, 2006. 

16 ‘‘(2) PAYMENTS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any operator of a coal 

18 mining operation subject to this Act, with re19 spect to coal mined in a State or from land of 

20 an Indian tribe that is subject to an agreement 

21 entered into under paragraph (1), shall pay to 

22 the head of the State agency or Indian tribe 

23 that is responsible for collecting revenue from 

24 coal mining operators (referred to in this sub-
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1 section as the ‘agency head’) the reclamation 

2 fees. 

3 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—On receipt of the 

4 reclamation fees under subparagraph (A), the 

5 agency head shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) certify to the Secretary receipt of 

7 the fees; 

‘‘(ii) remit 1 8 ⁄2 of the fees to the Sec9 retary; and 

‘‘(iii) retain 1 10 ⁄2 of the fees as the 

11 share due to the State or Indian tribe. 

12 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—A State or Indian 

13 tribe that collects reclamation fees under this 

14 subsection is not eligible for an allocation under 

15 subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 402(g)(1). 

16 ‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—Any reclamation 

17 fees collected and retained by an agency head 

18 under subparagraph (A) shall be used by the 

19 State or Indian tribe for the purposes described 

20 in section 403.’’. 

21 SEC. 6. OBJECTIVES OF FUND. 

22 Section 403 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec23 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1233(a)) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)— 

25 (A) in paragraph (1)— 
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘(1) the protection’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(1)(A) the protection’’; 

3 (ii) in subparagraph (A) (as des4 ignated by clause (i)), by striking ‘‘general 

5 welfare,’’; and 

6 (iii) by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(B) the restoration of land and water re9 sources and the environment that— 

10 ‘‘(i) have been degraded by the ad11 verse effects of coal mining practices; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) are adjacent to a site that has 

13 been remediated under subparagraph 

14 (A);’’; and 

15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘health, 

16 safety, and general welfare’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘health and safety’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (b)— 

19 (A) by striking the subsection heading and 

20 inserting ‘‘Water Supply Restoration.—’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘up to 

22 30 percent of the’’; and 

23 (3) in the second sentence of subsection (c), by 

24 inserting ‘‘, subject to the approval of the Sec25 retary,’’ after ‘‘amendments’’. 
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1 SEC. 7. RECLAMATION OF RURAL LAND. 

2 Section 406 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec3 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1236) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘Soil Con5 servation Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Natural Resources 

6 Conservation Service’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) There are authorized to be appro9 priated to the Secretary of Agriculture, 

10 from amounts in the Treasury other than 

11 amounts in the fund, such sums as are 

12 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

13 SEC. 8. LIENS. 

14 Section 408(a) of the Surface Mining Control and 

15 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1238) is amended 

16 in the last sentence by striking ‘‘who owned the surface 

17 prior to May 2, 1977, and’’. 

18 SEC. 9. REMINING. 

19 (a) INCENTIVES.—Title IV of the Surface Mining 

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

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

22 ‘‘SEC. 415. REMINING INCENTIVES. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro24 vision of this Act, the Secretary may, after opportunity 

25 for public comment, promulgate regulations that describe 

26 conditions under which amounts in the fund may be used 
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1 to provide incentives to promote remining of eligible land 

2 under section 404 in a manner that leverages the use of 

3 amounts from the fund to achieve more reclamation with 

4 respect to the eligible land than would be achieved without 

5 the incentives. 

6 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Any regulations promulgated 

7 under subsection (a) shall specify that the incentives shall 

8 apply only if the Secretary of the Interior determines, with 

9 the concurrence of the State regulatory authority referred 

10 to in title V, that, without the incentives, the eligible land 

11 would not be likely to be remined and reclaimed. 

12 ‘‘(c) INCENTIVES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Incentives that may be con14 sidered for inclusion in the regulations promulgated 

15 under subsection (a) include— 

16 ‘‘(A) a rebate or waiver of the reclamation 

17 fees required under section 402(a); and 

18 ‘‘(B) the use of amounts in the fund to 

19 provide financial assurance for remining oper20 ations in lieu of all or a portion of the perform21 ance bonds required under section 509. 

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) USE.—A rebate or waiver under 

24 paragraph (1)(A) shall be used only for oper25 ations that— 
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1 ‘‘(i) remove or reprocess abandoned 

2 coal mine waste; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) conduct remining activities that 

4 meet the priorities specified in paragraph 

5 (1) or (2) of section 403(a). 

6 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.—The amount of a rebate 

7 or waiver provided as an incentive under para8 graph (1)(A) to remine or reclaim eligible land 

9 shall not exceed the estimated cost of reclaim10 ing the eligible land under this section’’. 

11 (b) EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY.—Section 510(e) of 

12 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

13 (30 U.S.C. 1260(e)) is amended in the last sentence by 

14 striking ‘‘2004’’ and inserting ‘‘2015’’. 

15 SEC. 10. INTEREST TRANSFERS. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, interest 

17 credited to the fund established by section 401 of the Sur18 face Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 

19 U.S.C. 1231) that are not transferred to the Combined 

20 Benefit Fund referred to in section 402(h) of that Act 

21 (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)), before the date of enactment of this 

22 Act shall be available for fiscal year 2006 and thereafter 

23 for the transfers referred to in section 402(h)(2) of that 
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1 Act (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)(2)), in the same manner as are 

2 other amounts available for the transfers. 

Æ