I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2824 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2013 

Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio (for himself and Mr. LAMBORN) 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Govern5 ment Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in Amer6 ica’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCORPORATION OF SURFACE MINING STREAM 

2 BUFFER ZONE RULE INTO STATE PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 503 of the Surface Min4 ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

5 1253) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require8 ments under subsection (a), each State program 

9 shall incorporate the necessary rule regarding excess 

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

11 intermittent streams published by the Office of Sur12 face Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on De13 cember 12, 2008 (73 Fed. Reg. 75813 et seq.). 

14 ‘‘(2) STUDY OF IMPLEMENTATION.—The Sec15 retary shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) at such time as the Secretary deter17 mines all States referred to in subsection (a) 

18 have fully incorporated the necessary rule re19 ferred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection 

20 into their State programs, publish notice of 

21 such determination; 

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

23 the date of such publication, assess the effec24 tiveness of implementation of such rule by such 

25 States; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) upon the conclusion of such period, 

2 submit a comprehensive report on the impacts 

3 of such rule to the Committee on Natural Re4 sources of the House of Representatives and the 

5 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

6 the Senate, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the effectiveness 

8 of such rule; 

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

10 which the existing rule inhibits energy pro11 duction; and 

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

13 proposed changes that should be made to 

14 the rule, the justification for such changes, 

15 all comments on such changes received by 

16 the Secretary from such States, and the 

17 projected costs and benefits of such 

18 changes. 

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

20 Secretary may not issue any regulations under this 

21 Act relating to stream buffer zones or stream protec22 tion before the date of the publication of the report 

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

24 implement paragraph (1).’’. 


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1 (b) DEADLINE FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION.—Not 

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

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

4 503 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

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

6 of the Interior amendments to such program pursuant to 

7 part 732 of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, incor8 porating the necessary rule referred to in subsection (e)(1) 

9 of such section, as amended by this section. 

Æ 


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