II 

Calendar No. 373 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2824 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2014 

Received 

MAY 7, 2014 

Read the first time 

MAY 8, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

AN ACT 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to stop the ongoing waste by the Department 

of the Interior of taxpayer resources and implement the 

final rule on excess spoil, mining waste, and buffers 

for perennial and intermittent streams, 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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HR 2824 PCS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Govern3 ment Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in Amer4 ica’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INCORPORATION OF SURFACE MINING STREAM 

6 BUFFER ZONE RULE INTO STATE PROGRAMS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 503 of the Surface Min8 ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

9 1253) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(e) STREAM BUFFER ZONE MANAGEMENT.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require12 ments under subsection (a), each State program 

13 shall incorporate the necessary rule regarding excess 

14 spoil, coal mine waste, and buffers for perennial and 

15 intermittent streams published by the Office of Sur16 face Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on De17 cember 12, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 75813 et seq.) which 

18 complies with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

19 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) in view of the 2006 discus20 sions between the Director of the Office of Surface 

21 Mining and the Director of the United States Fish 

22 and Wildlife Service, and the Office of Surface Min23 ing Reclamation and Enforcement’s consideration 

24 and review of comments submitted by the United 

25 States Fish and Wildlife Service during the rule26 making process in 2007. 


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HR 2824 PCS

1 ‘‘(2) STUDY OF IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec2 retary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) at such time as the Secretary deter4 mines all States referred to in subsection (a) 

5 have fully incorporated the necessary rule re6 ferred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection 

7 into their State programs, publish notice of 

8 such determination; 

9 ‘‘(B) during the 5-year period beginning on 

10 the date of such publication, assess the effec11 tiveness of implementation of such rule by such 

12 States; 

13 ‘‘(C) carry out all required consultation on 

14 the benefits and other impacts of the implemen15 tation of the rule to any threatened species or 

16 endangered species, with the participation of 

17 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and 

18 the United States Geological Survey; and 

19 ‘‘(D) upon the conclusion of such period, 

20 submit a comprehensive report on the impacts 

21 of such rule to the Committee on Natural Re22 sources of the House of Representatives and the 

23 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

24 the Senate, including— 


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HR 2824 PCS

1 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the effectiveness 

2 of such rule; 

3 ‘‘(ii) an evaluation of any ways in 

4 which the existing rule inhibits energy pro5 duction; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) a description in detail of any 

7 proposed changes that should be made to 

8 the rule, the justification for such changes, 

9 all comments on such changes received by 

10 the Secretary from such States, and the 

11 projected costs and benefits of such 

12 changes. 

13 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON NEW REGULATIONS.—The 

14 Secretary may not issue any regulations under this 

15 Act relating to stream buffer zones or stream protec16 tion before the date of the publication of the report 

17 under paragraph (2), other than a rule necessary to 

18 implement paragraph (1).’’. 

19 (b) DEADLINE FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION.—Not 

20 later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act, a State with a State program approved under section 

22 503 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

23 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1253) shall submit to the Secretary 

24 of the Interior amendments to such program pursuant to 

25 part 732 of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, incorVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:16 May 10, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2824.PCS H2824

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HR 2824 PCS

1 porating the necessary rule referred to in subsection (e)(1) 

2 of such section, as amended by this section. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 25, 

2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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Calendar No. 373 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2824 

AN ACT 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Recand intermittent streams, and for other purposes. spoil, mining waste, and buffers for perennial sources and implement the final rule on excess by the Department of the Interior of taxpayer re- lamation Act of 1977 to stop the ongoing waste 

MAY 8, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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