OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT

U.S. Department of the Interior

Search conducted by: Terri H. Petruska

Page 1 of 3

COALEX STATE INQUIRY REPORT - 52

August 23, 1985

Ann Parker

Attorney General's Office

Capitol Complex

Charleston, West Virginia 25305

TOPIC: ABANDONED MINE LANDS/HEAVY EQUIPMENT

INQUIRY: Occasionally heavy equipment has been left on abandoned mine sites that are being 

reclaimed under AML funding. What legal recourse does the state have in disposal or sale of the 

abandoned equipment? Is there an incurred liability for damage to the equipment and must the 

previous owner of the equipment or the landowner be notified and/or reimbursed for its value? In 

some instances, identification of the equipment owner is not possible; in others, the landowner, 

while identified, can not be located.

SEARCH RESULTS: A COALEX search was made of the legislative history of the Act as 

well as of the state regulatory programs for reference to heavy equipment left on abandoned 

mine lands. No definitive answer to the inquiry was identified.

The need for established guidelines in relation to equipment on abandoned mine lands was 

presented before the 92nd Congress by John R. Quarles, Jr., Assistant Administrator for 

Enforcement and General Counsel, Environmental Protection Agency. Speaking before the 

House Subcommittee on Mines and Mining, Mr. Quarles stated: "More specific requirements for 

final reclamation should be provided, including . . . procedures for the disposal of toxic materials 

and abandoned structures and equipment." (Regulation of Strip Mining: Hearings on H.R. 60 and 

Related Bills Before the Subcommittee on Mines and Mining of the House of Representatives 

Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 92nd Cong., 1st Sess., Serial No. 92-26 (September 

21, 1971) (statement of John R. Quarles, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement, EPA)

No additional reference was found in the COALEX library of legislative documents addressing 

the need for guidelines concerning abandoned equipment raised by Mr. Quarles.

Although the provisions of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) 

do not appear to specifically address abandoned equipment, they do reference facilities on 

abandoned mine sites. Sec. 407 of SMCRA, which deals with the notice requirements relating to 

acquisition and reclamation of land adversely affected by past coal mining practices, states that 

the Secretary, "may provide by regulation that money derived from the lease, rental, or user 

charges of such acquired land and facilities thereon will be deposited in [the Abandoned Mine 

Reclamation] fund."
OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT

U.S. Department of the Interior

Search conducted by: Terri H. Petruska

Page 2 of 3

Three tangentially related sections of state law were identified that may be of interest. * 30 CFR 

Sec. 731.14 requires that state program submittals under SMCRA must include copies of other 

state laws and regulations directly affecting the regulation of coal exploration and surface coal 

mining and reclamation operations. The COALEX library contains these ancillary documents 

submitted as part of each state's regulatory program.

* This report is based on the most recent documents identified in the COALEX file. A state may 

have additional or revised rules or procedures not yet entered into the COALEX file.

The Kansas regulatory program includes Kansas Statute Sec. 55-132a which references the 

removal of equipment from abandoned land under regulations pertaining to oil and gas wells. 

Under that statute "[l]eaving the surface of lands with a part of the operating structure or other 

equipment intact after abandoning oil or gas wells is against public policy, and constitutes a 

public nuisance . . . ." [Kansas Statute Sec. 55-132a, Chapter 55, Article 1] It is reasonable to 

assume that state legal recourses with regard to instances of "public nuisance" may therefore 

apply.

Under the Pennsylvania statute, the secretary is given general health and safety protection 

powers. If the state regulatory authority determines "that a condition caused by or related to 

surface mining constitutes a hazard to public health or safety", it may abate or remove the 

condition. State law governing the abatement of nuisances applies in these instances. The statute 

notes: "for the purposes of this section any condition which creates a risk of fire, landslide, 

subsidence, cave-in or other unsafe, dangerous or hazardous condition, including but not limited 

to any..... abandoned structure, equipment, machinery, tools or other property used in or resulting 

from surface mining operations . . . is hereby declared to be a nuisance. . ." under the state 

administrative code. Thus, Pennsylvania mining law seems to expressly provide for removal of 

abandoned equipment. (Pa. Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act, Sec. 

4.2(a)(1980)).

The Kentucky Surface Mining Law includes provisions for the disposal of mining equipment 

used in wildcat mining. Under the Kentucky Statute, the special investigations section of the 

Department and peace officers "shall seize and take possession of any and all instrumentalities 

willfully and knowingly used in the mining of coal without a permit . . . [or in] the removal of 

more than two hundred fifty (250) tons of coal during coal exploration."

Upon conviction, ''the court shall order the machinery, trucks, and earth moving equipment, and 

materials used in furtherance of the crime forfeited and sold at public auction. Proceeds from 

such sale shall be deposited in the 'illegal mining reclamation fund"' established under the 

Kentucky Act. Monies in the fund may be used to reclaim lands mined without a permit or 

authorization that are not eligible for the abandoned mine lands reclamation fund as well as to 

defray expenses associated with the seizure, storing or sale of equipment used in the wildcat 

mining operations. (KRS Chapter 350, as revised by the 1982 General Assembly, Secs. 350.053 

and 350.054)
OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT

U.S. Department of the Interior

Search conducted by: Terri H. Petruska

Page 3 of 3

ATTACHMENTS

A. Excerpt, Regulation of Strip Mining: Hearings on H.R. 60 and Related Bills Before the 

Subcommittee on Mines and Mining of the House of Representatives Committee on 

Interior and Insular Affairs, 92nd Cong., 1st Sess. (September 21, 1971).

B. Excerpt, Kansas Statute Sec. 55-132a, Chapter 55, Article 1.

C. Excerpt, Pa. Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act, Sec. 4.2(a) (1980).

D. Kentucky Surface Mining Law, KRS Chapter 350, as revised by the 1982 General 

Assembly, Secs. 350.053 and 350.054.