IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6233 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 10, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to authorize partnerships between States and 

nongovernmental entities for the purpose of reclaiming 

and restoring land and water resources adversely affected 

by coal mining activities before August 3, 1977, 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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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Reclama3 tion Partnerships Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REFERENCE. 

5 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 

6 this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amend7 ment to a provision, the reference shall be considered to 

8 be made to a provision of the Surface Mining Control and 

9 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 3. STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR CER11 TAIN REMEDIATION. 

12 Section 405 (30 U.S.C. 1235) is amended by insert13 ing after subsection (l) the following: 

14 ‘‘(m) STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR

15 REMEDIATION OF MINE DRAINAGE.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State with a State pro17 gram approved under subsection (d) may enter into 

18 a memorandum of understanding with relevant Fed19 eral or State agencies (or both) to remediate mine 

20 drainage on abandoned mine land and water im21 pacted by abandoned mines within the State. The 

22 memorandum may be updated as necessary and re23 submitted for approval under this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(2) MEMORANDA REQUIREMENTS.—Such 

25 memorandum shall establish a strategy satisfactory 

26 to the State and Federal agencies that are parties 


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1 to the memorandum, to address water pollution re2 sulting from mine drainage at sites eligible for rec3 lamation and mine drainage abatement expenditures 

4 under section 404, including specific procedures 

5 for— 

6 ‘‘(A) ensuring that activities carried out to 

7 address mine drainage will result in improved 

8 water quality; 

9 ‘‘(B) monitoring, sampling, and the report10 ing of collected information as necessary to 

11 achieve the condition required under subpara12 graph (A); 

13 ‘‘(C) operation and maintenance of treat14 ment systems as necessary to achieve the condi15 tion required under subparagraph (A); and 

16 ‘‘(D) other purposes, as considered nec17 essary by the State or Federal agencies, to 

18 achieve the condition required under subpara19 graph (A). 

20 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before submitting a 

22 memorandum to the Secretary and the Admin23 istrator for approval, a State shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) invite interested members of the 

2 public to comment on the memorandum; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) hold at least one public meeting 

5 concerning the memorandum in a location 

6 or locations reasonably accessible to per7 sons who may be affected by implementa8 tion of the memorandum. 

9 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF MEETING.—The State 

10 shall publish notice of each meeting not less 

11 than 15 days before the date of the meeting, in 

12 local newspapers of general circulation, on the 

13 Internet, and by any other means considered 

14 necessary or desirable by the Secretary and the 

15 Administrator. 

16 ‘‘(C) RESPONSE TO PUBLIC COMMENT.— 

17 The memorandum shall include responses to 

18 substantive concerns raised by the public in 

19 comments and during public meetings if re20 ceived within 30 days of such meetings and op21 portunity to comment. 

22 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION AND APPROVAL.—The State 

23 shall submit the memorandum to the Secretary and 

24 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

25 Agency for approval. The Secretary and the AdminVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Apr 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6233.RFS H6233

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1 istrator shall approve or disapprove the memo2 randum within 120 days after the date of its sub3 mission if the Secretary and Administrator find that 

4 the memorandum will facilitate additional activities 

5 under the State Reclamation Plan under subsection 

6 (e) that improve water quality. 

7 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT AS PART OF STATE PLAN.— 

8 A memorandum of a State that is approved by the 

9 Secretary and the Administrator under this sub10 section shall be considered part of the approved 

11 abandoned mine reclamation plan of the State. 

12 ‘‘(n) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER PARTNERSHIPS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) PROJECT APPROVAL.—Within 120 days 

14 after receiving such a submission, the Secretary 

15 shall approve a Community Reclaimer project to re16 mediate abandoned mine lands if the Secretary finds 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(A) the proposed project will be con19 ducted by a Community Reclaimer as defined in 

20 this subsection or approved subcontractors of 

21 the Community Reclaimer; 

22 ‘‘(B) for any proposed project that remedi23 ates mine drainage, the proposed project is con24 sistent with an approved State memorandum of 

25 understanding under subsection (m); 


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1 ‘‘(C) the proposed project will be con2 ducted on a site or sites inventoried under sec3 tion 403(c); 

4 ‘‘(D) the proposed project meets all sub5 mission criteria under paragraph (2); 

6 ‘‘(E) the relevant State has entered into an 

7 agreement with the Community Reclaimer 

8 under which the State shall assume all respon9 sibility with respect to the project for any costs 

10 or damages resulting from any action or inac11 tion on the part of the Community Reclaimer in 

12 carrying out the project, except for costs or 

13 damages resulting from gross negligence or in14 tentional misconduct by the Community Re15 claimer, on behalf of— 

16 ‘‘(i) the Community Reclaimer; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the owner of the proposed project 

18 site, if such Community Reclaimer or 

19 owner, respectively, did not participate in 

20 any way in the creation of site conditions 

21 at the proposed project site or activities 

22 that caused any lands or waters to become 

23 eligible for reclamation or drainage abate24 ment expenditures under section 404; 


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1 ‘‘(F) the State has the necessary legal au2 thority to conduct the project and will obtain all 

3 legally required authorizations, permits, li4 censes, and other approvals to ensure comple5 tion of the project; 

6 ‘‘(G) the State has sufficient financial re7 sources to ensure completion of the project, in8 cluding any necessary operation and mainte9 nance costs (including costs associated with 

10 emergency actions covered by a contingency 

11 plan under paragraph (2)(K)); and 

12 ‘‘(H) the proposed project is not in a cat13 egory of projects that would require a permit 

14 under title V. 

15 ‘‘(2) PROJECT SUBMISSION.—The State shall 

16 submit a request for approval to the Secretary that 

17 shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed project, 

19 including any engineering plans that must bear 

20 the seal of a professional engineer; 

21 ‘‘(B) a description of the proposed project 

22 site or sites, including, if relevant, the nature 

23 and extent of pollution resulting from mine 

24 drainage; 


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1 ‘‘(C) identification of the past and current 

2 owners and operators of the proposed project 

3 site; 

4 ‘‘(D) the agreement or contract between 

5 the relevant State and the Community Re6 claimer to carry out the project; 

7 ‘‘(E) a determination that the project will 

8 facilitate the activities of the State reclamation 

9 plan under subsection (e); 

10 ‘‘(F) sufficient information to determine 

11 whether the Community Reclaimer has the 

12 technical capability and expertise to successfully 

13 conduct the proposed project; 

14 ‘‘(G) a cost estimate for the project and 

15 evidence that the Community Reclaimer has 

16 sufficient financial resources to ensure the suc17 cessful completion of the proposed project (in18 cluding any operation or maintenance costs); 

19 ‘‘(H) a schedule for completion of the 

20 project; 

21 ‘‘(I) an agreement between the Community 

22 Reclaimer and the current owner of the site 

23 governing access to the site; 


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1 ‘‘(J) sufficient information to ensure that 

2 the Community Reclaimer meets the definition 

3 under paragraph (3); 

4 ‘‘(K) a contingency plan designed to be 

5 used in response to unplanned adverse events 

6 that includes emergency actions, response, and 

7 notifications; 

8 ‘‘(L) detailed plans for any proposed recy9 cling or reprocessing of historic mine residue to 

10 be conducted by the Community Reclaimer (in11 cluding a description of how all proposed recy12 cling or reprocessing activities contribute to the 

13 remediation of the abandoned mine site); and 

14 ‘‘(M) a requirement that the State provide 

15 notice to adjacent and downstream landowners 

16 and the public and hold a public meeting near 

17 the proposed project site before the project is 

18 initiated. 

19 ‘‘(3) REPROCESSING OF MATERIALS.—A Com20 munity Reclaimer may reprocess materials recovered 

21 during the implementation of a remediation plan 

22 only if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the applicable land management 

24 agency has signed a decision document approvVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Apr 11, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6233.RFS H6233

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1 ing reprocessing as part of the approved aban2 doned mine reclamation plan of the State; 

3 ‘‘(B) the proceeds from the sale or use of 

4 the materials are used— 

5 ‘‘(i) to defray the costs of the remedi6 ation; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) to reimburse the Administrator 

8 or the head of a Federal land management 

9 agency for the purpose of carrying out this 

10 Act; and 

11 ‘‘(C) the materials only include historic 

12 mine residue. 

13 ‘‘(4) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER DEFINED.—For 

14 purposes of this section, the term ‘Community Re15 claimer’ means any person who— 

16 ‘‘(A) seeks to voluntarily assist a State 

17 with a reclamation project under this section, 

18 which may include companies that currently 

19 hold reclamation liability elsewhere from the 

20 proposed site or active mine sites that require 

21 a performance bond; 

22 ‘‘(B) did not participate in any way in the 

23 creation of site conditions at the proposed 

24 project site or activities that caused any lands 

25 or waters at the proposed project site to become 


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1 eligible for reclamation or drainage abatement 

2 expenditures under section 404; and 

3 ‘‘(C) is not subject to outstanding viola4 tions listed pursuant to section 510(c).’’. 

5 SEC. 4. CLARIFYING STATE LIABILITY FOR MINE DRAINAGE 

6 PROJECTS. 

7 Section 413(d) (30 U.S.C. 1242(d)) is amended by 

8 inserting ‘‘unless such control or treatment will be con9 ducted in accordance with a State memorandum of under10 standing approved under section 405(m) of this Act’’ after 

11 ‘‘under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act’’. 

12 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

13 Section 405(f) (30 U.S.C. 1235(f)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking the ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

15 paragraph (6); 

16 (2) by striking the period at the end of para17 graph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

18 (3) by inserting at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(8) a list of projects proposed under sub20 section (n).’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION. 

2 This Act shall be in effect until September 30, 2030. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 9, 2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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