IB 

Union Calendar No. 406 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1733 

[Report No. 117–565] 

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 

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 

Additional sponsors: Ms. PINGREE, Mr. WELCH, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. EVANS, 

Ms. PORTER, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. KILMER, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, 

Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. BURCHETT, Mr. HIMES, Ms. MATSUI, 

Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. TONKO, Mr. COOPER, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of 

Pennsylvania, Ms. SPANBERGER, Ms. DEAN, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. 

SCANLON, Mr. MCEACHIN, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. BOST, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. AGUILAR, and Mr. TRONE


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NOVEMBER 16, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 10, 2021] 

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 and 

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

7 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 et 

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

12 ‘‘SEC. 416. ABANDONED MINE LAND ECONOMIC REVITALIZA13 TION. 

14 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro15 mote economic revitalization, diversification, and develop16 ment 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 the 

21 fund under section 401(b) before October 1, 2007, and not 

22 otherwise appropriated to the extent such funds are avail23 able, $200,000,000 shall be made available to the Secretary, 

24 without further appropriation, for each of fiscal years 2022 

25 through 2026 for distribution to States and Indian tribes 


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1 in accordance with this section for reclamation and restora2 tion projects at sites identified as priorities under section 

3 403(a): Provided, That if less than $200,000,000 is avail4 able in any fiscal year to the Secretary, such remaining 

5 amount shall be made available to the Secretary, without 

6 further appropriation, and such fiscal year shall end dis7 tributions made available under this section. 

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

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

10 projects classified under the priorities of section 403(a) that 

11 meet the following criteria: 

12 ‘‘(1) CONTRIBUTION TO FUTURE ECONOMIC OR

13 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The project, upon com15 pletion of reclamation, is intended to create fa16 vorable conditions for the economic development 

17 of the project site or create favorable conditions 

18 that promote the general welfare through eco19 nomic and community development of the area 

20 in which the project is conducted. 

21 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION OF CONDITIONS.— 

22 Such conditions are demonstrated by— 

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

24 project in such area’s economic development 


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1 strategy or other economic and community 

2 development planning process; 

3 ‘‘(ii) any other documentation of the 

4 planned economic and community use of the 

5 project site after the primary reclamation 

6 activities are completed, which may include 

7 contracts, agreements in principle, or other 

8 evidence that, once reclaimed, the site is 

9 reasonably anticipated to be used for one or 

10 more industrial, commercial, residential, 

11 agricultural, or recreational purposes; or 

12 ‘‘(iii) any other documentation agreed 

13 to by the State or Indian tribe that dem14 onstrates the project will meet the criteria 

15 set forth in this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(2) LOCATION IN ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED

17 COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY RECENT DECLINE IN MIN18 ING.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The project will be con20 ducted in a community— 

21 ‘‘(i) that has been adversely affected 

22 economically by a recent reduction in coal 

23 mining related activity, as demonstrated by 

24 employment data, per capita income, or 

25 other indicators of economic distress; or 


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

2 coal mining for a substantial portion of its 

3 economy; and 

4 ‘‘(II) in which the economic contribu5 tion of coal mining has significantly de6 clined. 

7 ‘‘(B) SUBMISSION AND PUBLICATION OF

8 EVIDENCE OR ANALYSIS.—Any evidence or anal9 ysis relied upon in selecting the location of a 

10 project under this subparagraph shall be sub11 mitted to the Secretary for publication. The Sec12 retary shall publish such evidence or analysis in 

13 the Federal Register within 30 days after receiv14 ing such submission. 

15 ‘‘(3) STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION.— 

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

17 the subject of project planning under subsection 

18 (g) and has been the focus of collaboration, in19 cluding partnerships, as appropriate, with inter20 ested persons or local organizations. 

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

22 planning the public has been notified of the 

23 project, including not less than 45 days before 

24 submission of the project to the Office of Surface 

25 Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the State 


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1 or Indian Tribe has published notice of the pro2 posed project in local newspapers of general cir3 culation, on the Internet, and by any other 

4 means considered desirable by the Secretary, and 

5 has provided an opportunity to request a public 

6 meeting convened in a community near the pro7 posed project site. 

8 ‘‘(C) ELECTRONIC NOTIFICATION.—The 

9 State or Indian tribe established a way for inter10 ested persons to receive electronically all public 

11 notices issued under subparagraph (B) and any 

12 written declarations submitted to the Secretary 

13 under paragraph (5). 

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

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

16 tribal governments, or local organizations, and will be 

17 approved and executed by State or tribal programs, 

18 approved under section 405 or referred to in section 

19 402(g)(8)(B) which may include subcontracting 

20 project-related activities, as appropriate. 

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

22 ‘‘(A) cannot provide documentation de23 scribed in paragraph (1)(B) for a project con24 ducted under a priority stated in paragraph (1) 

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


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

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

3 shall submit a written declaration to the Sec4 retary requesting an exemption from the require5 ments of those subparagraphs. The declaration 

6 must explain why achieving favorable conditions 

7 for economic or community development at the 

8 project site is not practicable, or why the re9 quirements of paragraph (2) cannot be met, and 

10 that sufficient funds distributed annually under 

11 section 401 are not available to implement the 

12 project. Such request for an exemption is deemed 

13 to be approved, except the Secretary shall deny 

14 such request if the Secretary determines the dec15 laration to be substantially inadequate. Any de16 nial of such request shall be resolved at the 

17 State’s or Indian tribe’s request through the pro18 cedures described in subsection (e). 

19 ‘‘(d) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) STATES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—From the amount made 

22 available in subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

23 distribute $195,000,000 annually for each of fis24 cal years 2022 through 2026 to States and In25 dian tribes that have a State or tribal program 


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1 approved under section 405 or are referred to in 

2 section 402(g)(8)(B), and have not made a cer3 tification under section 411(a) in which the Sec4 retary has concurred, as follows: 

5 ‘‘(i) Four-fifths of such amount shall be 

6 distributed based on the proportion of the 

7 amount of coal historically produced in 

8 each State or from the lands of each Indian 

9 tribe concerned before August 3, 1977. 

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

11 distributed based on the proportion of rec12 lamation fees paid during the period of fis13 cal years 2012 through 2016 for lands in 

14 each State or lands of each Indian tribe 

15 concerned. 

16 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS.—Funds dis17 tributed under this section— 

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

19 not affect, the amount of funds distributed 

20 to States and Indian tribes under section 

21 401(f) and section 411(h)(2); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) shall not reduce any funds dis23 tributed to a State or Indian tribe by rea24 son of the application of section 402(g)(8). 


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1 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO CERTIFIED

2 STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—From the amount made 

4 available in subsection (b), the Secretary shall 

5 distribute $5,000,000 annually for each of the 

6 five fiscal years beginning with fiscal year 2022 

7 to States and Indian tribes that have a State 

8 program approved under section 405 and have 

9 made a certification under section 411(a) in 

10 which the Secretary has concurred. 

11 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION FOR FUNDS.—Using the 

12 process in section 405(f), any State or Indian 

13 tribe described in subparagraph (A) may submit 

14 a grant application to the Secretary for funds 

15 under this paragraph. The Secretary shall review 

16 each grant application to confirm that the 

17 projects identified in the application for funding 

18 are eligible under subsection (c). 

19 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—The 

20 amount of funds distributed to each State or In21 dian tribe under this paragraph shall be deter22 mined by the Secretary based on the dem23 onstrated need for the funding to accomplish the 

24 purpose of this section. 

25 ‘‘(3) REALLOCATION OF UNCOMMITTED FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) COMMITTED DEFINED.—For purposes 

2 of this paragraph the term ‘committed’— 

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

4 State or Indian tribe— 

5 ‘‘(I) have been exclusively applied 

6 to or reserved for a specific project and 

7 therefore are not available for any 

8 other purpose; or 

9 ‘‘(II) have been expended or des10 ignated by the State or Indian tribe 

11 for the completion of a project; 

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

13 project planning under subsection (g); and 

14 ‘‘(iii) reflects an acknowledgment by 

15 Congress that, based on the documentation 

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

17 unanticipated delays to commit such funds 

18 that are outside the control of the State or 

19 Indian tribe concerned shall not affect its 

20 allocations under this section. 

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

22 2026, the Secretary shall reallocate in accordance 

23 with subparagraph (C) any amount available for 

24 distribution under this subsection that has not 

25 been committed to eligible projects or distributed 


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1 under paragraph (1)(A), among the States and 

2 Indian tribes that have committed to eligible 

3 projects the full amount of their annual alloca4 tion for the preceding fiscal years. 

5 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT OF REALLOCATION.—The 

6 amount reallocated to each State or Indian tribe 

7 under each of subparagraph (B) shall be deter8 mined by the Secretary to reflect, to the extent 

9 practicable— 

10 ‘‘(i) the proportion of unreclaimed eli11 gible lands and waters the State or Indian 

12 tribe has in the inventory maintained 

13 under section 403(c); 

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

15 reclamation fees paid for lands in each 

16 State or lands of each Indian tribe con17 cerned; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the proportion of coal mining 

19 employment loss incurred in the State or on 

20 lands of the Indian tribe, respectively, as 

21 determined by the Mine Safety and Health 

22 Administration, over the 5-year period pre23 ceding the fiscal year for which the realloca24 tion is made. 


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1 ‘‘(e) RESOLUTION OF SECRETARY’S CONCERNS; CON2 GRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION.—If the Secretary does not 

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

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

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

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

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

8 such period may be shortened by the Secretary if the 

9 Secretary’s concerns are resolved; 

10 ‘‘(2) during that period, at the State’s or Indian 

11 tribe’s request, the Secretary may consult with any 

12 appropriate Federal agency; and 

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

14 concerns are not resolved the Secretary shall provide 

15 to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

16 of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 

17 Natural Resources of the Senate an explanation of the 

18 concerns and such project proposal shall not be eligi19 ble for funds distributed under this section. 

20 ‘‘(f) ACID MINE DRAINAGE TREATMENT.—A State or 

21 Indian tribe that receives funds under this section may use 

22 up to 30 percent of such funds as necessary to supplement 

23 the State’s or tribe’s acid mine drainage abatement and 

24 treatment fund established under section 402(g)(6)(A), for 

25 future operation and maintenance costs for the treatment 


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1 of acid mine drainage associated with the individual 

2 projects funded under this section. 

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

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

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

6 distribution under this section for costs of admin7 istering this section consistent with existing practice 

8 under sections 401(c)(7) and 402(g)(1)(C) and the Of9 fice of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement 

10 Assistance Manual. 

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

12 from amounts made available to the Secretary under 

13 section 402(g)(3)(D), not more than $3,000,000 dur14 ing the fiscal years for which distributions occur 

15 under subsection (b) for staffing and other adminis16 trative expenses necessary to carry out this section. 

17 ‘‘(h) DEADLINES.— 

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

19 necessary to implement this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 propose rules or develop guidelines (or both) not later 

21 than 90 days after the date of enactment of this sec22 tion and shall publish them as final rules or guide23 lines, respectively, not later than 90 days thereafter. 

24 Within 60 days after the issuance of any such final 


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1 rules or guidelines, the Secretary shall distribute the 

2 funds under subsection (d). 

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

4 field office of the Office of Surface Mining Reclama5 tion and Enforcement shall— 

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

7 disapprove of each project proposal under this 

8 section within 45 days after receipt by the field 

9 office of the proposal; and 

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

11 an approved project within 45 days after receipt 

12 by the field office of a request for such authoriza13 tion from a State or Indian tribe. 

14 ‘‘(i) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall pro15 vide to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

16 of Representatives, the Committees on Appropriations of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Com18 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate at 

19 the end of each fiscal year for which such funds are distrib20 uted a detailed report— 

21 ‘‘(1) on the various projects that have been un22 dertaken with such funds; 

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

24 such funds that achieved the priorities described in 

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


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

2 are resulting from, or are expected to result from, the 

3 use of the funds that achieved the priorities described 

4 in paragraph (3) of section 403(a); and 

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

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

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

8 State or Indian tribe that uses the funds distributed under 

9 this section for purposes other than reclamation or drainage 

10 abatement expenditures, as made eligible by section 404, 

11 and for the purposes authorized under subsections (f) and 

12 (g), shall be barred from receiving any subsequent funding 

13 under this section.’’. 

14 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

15 the first section of the Surface Mining Control and Rec16 lamation Act of 1977 is amended by adding at the end of 

17 the items relating to title IV the following: 

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

18 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

19 The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 

20 1977 is amended— 

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

22 striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon at the end of para23 graph (10), by redesignating paragraph (11) as para24 graph (12), and by inserting after paragraph (10) the 

25 following: 


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

2 (2) in section 401(d)(3) (30 U.S.C. 1231(d)(3)), 

3 by striking ‘‘subsection (f)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

4 (f) and section 416(a)’’; 

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

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

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

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

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(F) For the purpose of section 

11 416(d)(2)(A).’’; and 

12 (4) in section 403(c) (30 U.S.C. 1233(c)), by in13 serting after the second sentence the following: ‘‘As 

14 practicable, States and Indian tribes shall offer such 

15 amendments based on the use of remote sensing, global 

16 positioning systems, and other advanced tech17 nologies.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. MINIMUM STATE PAYMENTS. 

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

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

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

22 ‘‘$5,000,000’’. 

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

24 Not later than two years after the date of the enact25 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 Rec7 lamation 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 of 

10 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 oth17 erwise affect payments under section 402(g) of the Surface 

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

19 1232(g)) to States that have made a certification under sec20 tion 411(a) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1240a(a)) in which the 

21 Secretary of the Interior has concurred. 


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Union Calendar No. 406 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1733 

[Report No. 117–565] 

A BILL 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Recfor other purposes. mining carried out before August 3, 1977, and and water resources adversely affected by coal through the reclamation and restoration of land opment in economically distressed communities economic revitalization, diversification, and devel- and Indian tribes for the purpose of promoting lamation Act of 1977 to provide funds to States 

NOVEMBER 16, 2022 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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