I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1733 

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 

MARCH 10, 2021 

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

THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. 

BROWNLEY, Mr. LAMB, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CONNOLLY, 

Mr. CASE, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mrs. AXNE, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. WILD, Ms. 

HOULAHAN, Ms. SEWELL, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. MEUSER, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. BOWMAN, and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) 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. 


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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 ‘‘Revitalizing the Econ5 omy of Coal communities by Leveraging local Activities 

6 and Investing More Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘RECLAIM Act 

7 of 2021’’. 

8 SEC. 2. ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION FOR COAL COUNTRY. 

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

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

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

12 ‘‘SEC. 416. ABANDONED MINE LAND ECONOMIC REVITAL13 IZATION. 

14 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

15 promote economic revitalization, diversification, and devel16 opment in economically distressed mining communities 

17 through the reclamation and restoration of land and water 

18 resources adversely affected by coal mining carried out be19 fore August 3, 1977. 

20 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—From amounts deposited into 

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

22 not otherwise appropriated to the extent such funds are 

23 available, $200,000,000 shall be made available to the 

24 Secretary, without further appropriation, for each of fiscal 

25 years 2022 through 2026 for distribution to States and 


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1 Indian tribes in accordance with this section for reclama2 tion and restoration projects at sites identified as prior3 ities under section 403(a): Provided, That if less than 

4 $200,000,000 is available in any fiscal year to the Sec5 retary, such remaining amount shall be made available to 

6 the Secretary, without further appropriation, and such fis7 cal year shall end distributions made available under this 

8 section. 

9 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds distributed to a State 

10 or Indian tribe under subsection (d) shall be used only 

11 for projects classified under the priorities of section 403(a) 

12 that meet the following criteria: 

13 ‘‘(1) CONTRIBUTION TO FUTURE ECONOMIC OR

14 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The project, upon 

16 completion of reclamation, is intended to create 

17 favorable conditions for the economic develop18 ment of the project site or create favorable con19 ditions that promote the general welfare 

20 through economic and community development 

21 of the area in which the project is conducted. 

22 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION OF CONDITIONS.— 

23 Such conditions are demonstrated by— 

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

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1 ment strategy or other economic and com2 munity development planning process; 

3 ‘‘(ii) any other documentation of the 

4 planned economic and community use of 

5 the project site after the primary reclama6 tion activities are completed, which may in7 clude contracts, agreements in principle, or 

8 other evidence that, once reclaimed, the 

9 site is reasonably anticipated to be used 

10 for one or more industrial, commercial, 

11 residential, agricultural, or recreational 

12 purposes; or 

13 ‘‘(iii) any other documentation agreed 

14 to by the State or Indian tribe that dem15 onstrates the project will meet the criteria 

16 set forth in this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(2) LOCATION IN ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED

18 COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY RECENT DECLINE IN

19 MINING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The project will be 

21 conducted in a community— 

22 ‘‘(i) that has been adversely affected 

23 economically by a recent reduction in coal 

24 mining related activity, as demonstrated by 


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1 employment data, per capita income, or 

2 other indicators of economic distress; or 

3 ‘‘(ii)(I) that has historically relied on 

4 coal mining for a substantial portion of its 

5 economy; and 

6 ‘‘(II) in which the economic contribu7 tion of coal mining has significantly de8 clined. 

9 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF

10 EVIDENCE OR ANALYSIS.—Any evidence or 

11 analysis relied upon in selecting the location of 

12 a project under this subparagraph shall be sub13 mitted to the Secretary for publication. The 

14 Secretary shall publish such evidence or anal15 ysis in the Federal Register within 30 days 

16 after receiving such submission. 

17 ‘‘(3) STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The project has been 

19 the subject of project planning under subsection 

20 (g) and has been the focus of collaboration, in21 cluding partnerships, as appropriate, with inter22 ested persons or local organizations. 

23 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—As part of project 

24 planning the public has been notified of the 

25 project, including not less than 45 days before 


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1 submission of the project to the Office of Sur2 face Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the 

3 State or Indian Tribe has published notice of 

4 the proposed project in local newspapers of gen5 eral circulation, on the Internet, and by any 

6 other means considered desirable by the Sec7 retary, and has provided an opportunity to re8 quest a public meeting convened in a commu9 nity near the proposed project site. 

10 ‘‘(C) ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION.—The 

11 State or Indian tribe established a way for in12 terested persons to receive electronically all 

13 public notices issued under subparagraph (B) 

14 and any written declarations submitted to the 

15 Secretary under paragraph (5). 

16 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—The project has 

17 been proposed by entities of State, local, county, or 

18 tribal governments, or local organizations, and will 

19 be approved and executed by State or tribal pro20 grams, approved under section 405 or referred to in 

21 section 402(g)(8)(B) which may include subcon22 tracting project-related activities, as appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(5) WAIVER.—If the State or Indian tribe— 

24 ‘‘(A) cannot provide documentation de25 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) for a project conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1733.IH H1733

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1 ducted under a priority stated in paragraph (1) 

2 or (2) of section 403(a), or 

3 ‘‘(B) is unable to meet the requirements 

4 under paragraph (2), the State or Indian tribe 

5 shall submit a written declaration to the Sec6 retary requesting an exemption from the re7 quirements of those subparagraphs. The dec8 laration must explain why achieving favorable 

9 conditions for economic or community develop10 ment at the project site is not practicable, or 

11 why the requirements of paragraph (2) cannot 

12 be met, and that sufficient funds distributed 

13 annually under section 401 are not available to 

14 implement the project. Such request for an ex15 emption is deemed to be approved, except the 

16 Secretary shall deny such request if the Sec17 retary determines the declaration to be substan18 tially inadequate. Any denial of such request 

19 shall be resolved at the State’s or Indian tribe’s 

20 request through the procedures described in 

21 subsection (e). 

22 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) STATES.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the amount 

25 made available in subsection (b), the Secretary 


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

2 of fiscal years 2022 through 2026 to States and 

3 Indian tribes that have a State or tribal pro4 gram approved under section 405 or are re5 ferred to in section 402(g)(8)(B), and have not 

6 made a certification under section 411(a) in 

7 which the Secretary has concurred, as follows: 

8 ‘‘(i) Four-fifths of such amount shall 

9 be distributed based on the proportion of 

10 the amount of coal historically produced in 

11 each State or from the lands of each In12 dian tribe concerned before August 3, 

13 1977. 

14 ‘‘(ii) One-fifth of such amount shall be 

15 distributed based on the proportion of rec16 lamation fees paid during the period of fis17 cal years 2012 through 2016 for lands in 

18 each State or lands of each Indian tribe 

19 concerned. 

20 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Funds dis21 tributed under this section— 

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

23 not affect, the amount of funds distributed 

24 to States and Indian tribes under section 

25 401(f) and section 411(h)(2); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) shall not reduce any funds dis2 tributed to a State or Indian tribe by rea3 son of the application of section 402(g)(8). 

4 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO CERTIFIED

5 STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—From the amount 

7 made available in subsection (b), the Secretary 

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

9 the five fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 

10 2022 to States and Indian tribes that have a 

11 State program approved under section 405 and 

12 have made a certification under section 411(a) 

13 in which the Secretary has concurred. 

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

15 the process in section 405(f), any State or In16 dian tribe described in subparagraph (A) may 

17 submit a grant application to the Secretary for 

18 funds under this paragraph. The Secretary 

19 shall review each grant application to confirm 

20 that the projects identified in the application 

21 for funding are eligible under subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—The 

23 amount of funds distributed to each State or 

24 Indian tribe under this paragraph shall be de25 termined by the Secretary based on the demVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 May 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1733.IH H1733

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1 onstrated need for the funding to accomplish 

2 the purpose of this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) REALLOCATION OF UNCOMMITTED

4 FUNDS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) COMMITTED DEFINED.—For pur6 poses of this paragraph the term ‘committed’— 

7 ‘‘(i) means that funds received by the 

8 State or Indian tribe— 

9 ‘‘(I) have been exclusively applied 

10 to or reserved for a specific project 

11 and therefore are not available for any 

12 other purpose; or 

13 ‘‘(II) have been expended or des14 ignated by the State or Indian tribe 

15 for the completion of a project; 

16 ‘‘(ii) includes use of any amount for 

17 project planning under subsection (g); and 

18 ‘‘(iii) reflects an acknowledgment by 

19 Congress that, based on the documentation 

20 required under subsection (c)(2)(B), any 

21 unanticipated delays to commit such funds 

22 that are outside the control of the State or 

23 Indian tribe concerned shall not affect its 

24 allocations under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FISCAL YEAR 2026.—For fiscal year 

2 2026, the Secretary shall reallocate in accord3 ance with subparagraph (C) any amount avail4 able for distribution under this subsection that 

5 has not been committed to eligible projects or 

6 distributed under paragraph (1)(A), among the 

7 States and Indian tribes that have committed to 

8 eligible projects the full amount of their annual 

9 allocation for the preceding fiscal years. 

10 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT OF REALLOCATION.—The 

11 amount reallocated to each State or Indian 

12 tribe under each of subparagraph (B) shall be 

13 determined by the Secretary to reflect, to the 

14 extent practicable— 

15 ‘‘(i) the proportion of unreclaimed eli16 gible lands and waters the State or Indian 

17 tribe has in the inventory maintained 

18 under section 403(c); 

19 ‘‘(ii) the average of the proportion of 

20 reclamation fees paid for lands in each 

21 State or lands of each Indian tribe con22 cerned; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) the proportion of coal mining 

24 employment loss incurred in the State or 

25 on lands of the Indian tribe, respectively, 


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1 as determined by the Mine Safety and 

2 Health Administration, over the 5-year pe3 riod preceding the fiscal year for which the 

4 reallocation is made. 

5 ‘‘(e) RESOLUTION OF SECRETARY’S CONCERNS; CON6 GRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary does not 

7 agree with a State or Indian tribe that a proposed project 

8 meets the criteria set forth in subsection (c)— 

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

10 meet and confer for a period of not more than 45 

11 days to resolve the Secretary’s concerns, except that 

12 such period may be shortened by the Secretary if the 

13 Secretary’s concerns are resolved; 

14 ‘‘(2) during that period, at the State’s or In15 dian tribe’s request, the Secretary may consult with 

16 any appropriate Federal agency; and 

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

18 concerns are not resolved the Secretary shall provide 

19 to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on En21 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate an expla22 nation of the concerns and such project proposal 

23 shall not be eligible for funds distributed under this 

24 section. 

25 ‘‘(f) ACID MINE DRAINAGE TREATMENT.— 


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

2 State or Indian tribe that receives funds under this 

3 section may use up to 30 percent of such funds as 

4 necessary to supplement the State’s or tribe’s acid 

5 mine drainage abatement and treatment fund estab6 lished under section 402(g)(6)(A), for future oper7 ation and maintenance costs for the treatment of 

8 acid mine drainage associated with the individual 

9 projects funded under this section. A State or Indian 

10 tribe shall specify the total funds allotted for such 

11 costs in its application submitted under subsection 

12 (d)(2)(B). 

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

14 use funds under this subsection only if the State or 

15 tribe can demonstrate that the annual grant distrib16 uted to the State or tribe pursuant to section 401(f), 

17 including any interest from the State’s or tribe’s 

18 acid mine drainage abatement and treatment fund 

19 that is not used for the operation or maintenance of 

20 preexisting acid mine drainage treatment systems, is 

21 insufficient to fund the operation and maintenance 

22 of any acid mine drainage treatment system associ23 ated with an individual project funded under this 

24 section. 

25 ‘‘(g) PROJECT PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.—A State or 

2 Indian tribe may use up to 10 percent of its annual 

3 distribution under this section for costs of admin4 istering this section consistent with existing practice 

5 under sections 401(c)(7) and 402(g)(1)(C) and the 

6 Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforce7 ment Assistance Manual. 

8 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The Secretary may expend, 

9 from amounts made available to the Secretary under 

10 section 402(g)(3)(D), not more than $3,000,000 

11 during the fiscal years for which distributions occur 

12 under subsection (b) for staffing and other adminis13 trative expenses necessary to carry out this section. 

14 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) RULES AND GUIDELINES.—To the extent 

16 necessary to implement this Act, the Secretary shall 

17 propose rules or develop guidelines (or both) not 

18 later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 

19 this section and shall publish them as final rules or 

20 guidelines, respectively, not later than 90 days there21 after. Within 60 days after the issuance of any such 

22 final rules or guidelines, the Secretary shall dis23 tribute the funds under subsection (d). 


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1 ‘‘(2) PROJECT PROPOSALS.—The appropriate 

2 field office of the Office of Surface Mining Reclama3 tion and Enforcement shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) initially review, vet, and approve or 

5 disapprove of each project proposal under this 

6 section within 45 days after receipt by the field 

7 office of the proposal; and 

8 ‘‘(B) issue an authorization to proceed on 

9 an approved project within 45 days after receipt 

10 by the field office of a request for such author11 ization from a State or Indian tribe. 

12 ‘‘(i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

13 provide to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

14 House of Representatives, the Committees on Appropria15 tions of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and 

16 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

17 Senate at the end of each fiscal year for which such funds 

18 are distributed a detailed report— 

19 ‘‘(1) on the various projects that have been un20 dertaken with such funds; 

21 ‘‘(2) the extent and degree of reclamation using 

22 such funds that achieved the priorities described in 

23 paragraph (1) or (2) of section 403(a); 

24 ‘‘(3) the community and economic benefits that 

25 are resulting from, or are expected to result from, 


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1 the use of the funds that achieved the priorities de2 scribed in paragraph (3) of section 403(a); and 

3 ‘‘(4) the reduction since the previous report in 

4 the inventory referred to in section 403(c). 

5 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN USE OF FUNDS.— 

6 Any State or Indian tribe that uses the funds distributed 

7 under this section for purposes other than reclamation or 

8 drainage abatement expenditures, as made eligible by sec9 tion 404, and for the purposes authorized under sub10 sections (f) and (g), shall be barred from receiving any 

11 subsequent funding under this section.’’. 

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

13 in the first section of the Surface Mining Control and Rec14 lamation Act of 1977 is amended by adding at the end 

15 of the items relating to title IV the following: 

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

16 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

17 The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 

18 1977 is amended— 

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

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

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

22 paragraph (12), and by inserting after paragraph 

23 (10) the following: 

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


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

2 1231(d)(3)), by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and insert3 ing ‘‘subsection (f) and section 416(a)’’; 

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

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

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

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

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(F) For the purpose of section 

10 416(d)(2)(A).’’; and 

11 (4) in section 403(c) (30 U.S.C. 1233(c)), by 

12 inserting after the second sentence the following: 

13 ‘‘As practicable, States and Indian tribes shall offer 

14 such amendments based on the use of remote sens15 ing, global positioning systems, and other advanced 

16 technologies.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. MINIMUM STATE PAYMENTS. 

18 Section 402(g)(8)(A) of the Surface Mining Control 

19 and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(g)(8)) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘$3,000,000’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘$5,000,000’’. 

22 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY OF USE OF FUNDS. 

23 Not later than two years after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 


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1 States shall study and report to the Congress on uses of 

2 funds authorized by this Act, including regarding— 

3 (1) the solvency of the Abandoned Mine Rec4 lamation Fund; and 

5 (2) the impact of such use on payments and 

6 transfers under the Surface Mining Control and 

7 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201) to— 

8 (A) States and Indian Tribes for which a 

9 certification has been made under section 411 

10 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1241); 

11 (B) States and Indian Tribes for which 

12 such a certification has not been made; and 

13 (C) transfers to United Mine Workers of 

14 America Combined Benefit Fund. 

15 SEC. 6. PAYMENTS TO CERTIFIED STATES NOT AFFECTED. 

16 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to reduce or 

17 otherwise affect payments under section 402(g) of the 

18 Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act of 1977 (30 

19 U.S.C. 1232(g)) to States that have made a certification 

20 under section 411(a) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1240a(a)) 

21 in which the Secretary of the Interior has concurred. 

Æ 


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