I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6233 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2023 

Mr. LAHOOD 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 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Community Reclama5 tion Partnerships Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFERENCE. 

2 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 

3 this Act an amendment is expressed in terms of an amend4 ment to a provision, the reference shall be considered to 

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

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

7 SEC. 3. STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR CER8 TAIN REMEDIATION. 

9 Section 405 (30 U.S.C. 1235) is amended by insert10 ing after subsection (l) the following: 

11 ‘‘(m) STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR

12 REMEDIATION OF MINE DRAINAGE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State with a State pro14 gram approved under subsection (d) may enter into 

15 a memorandum of understanding with relevant Fed16 eral or State agencies (or both) to remediate mine 

17 drainage on abandoned mine land and water im18 pacted by abandoned mines within the State. The 

19 memorandum may be updated as necessary and re20 submitted for approval under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(2) MEMORANDA REQUIREMENTS.—Such 

22 memorandum shall establish a strategy satisfactory 

23 to the State and Federal agencies that are parties 

24 to the memorandum, to address water pollution re25 sulting from mine drainage at sites eligible for rec26 lamation and mine drainage abatement expenditures 


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1 under section 404, including specific procedures 

2 for— 

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

4 address mine drainage will result in improved 

5 water quality; 

6 ‘‘(B) monitoring, sampling, and the report7 ing of collected information as necessary to 

8 achieve the condition required under subpara9 graph (A); 

10 ‘‘(C) operation and maintenance of treat11 ment systems as necessary to achieve the condi12 tion required under subparagraph (A); and 

13 ‘‘(D) other purposes, as considered nec14 essary by the State or Federal agencies, to 

15 achieve the condition required under subpara16 graph (A). 

17 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 

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

19 memorandum to the Secretary and the Admin20 istrator for approval, a State shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) invite interested members of the 

22 public to comment on the memorandum; 

23 and 

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

25 concerning the memorandum in a location 


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1 or locations reasonably accessible to per2 sons who may be affected by implementa3 tion of the memorandum. 

4 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF MEETING.—The State 

5 shall publish notice of each meeting not less 

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

7 local newspapers of general circulation, on the 

8 Internet, and by any other means considered 

9 necessary or desirable by the Secretary and the 

10 Administrator. 

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

12 The memorandum shall include responses to 

13 substantive concerns raised by the public in 

14 comments and during public meetings if re15 ceived within 30 days of such meetings and op16 portunity to comment. 

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

18 shall submit the memorandum to the Secretary and 

19 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

20 Agency for approval. The Secretary and the Admin21 istrator shall approve or disapprove the memo22 randum within 120 days after the date of its sub23 mission if the Secretary and Administrator find that 

24 the memorandum will facilitate additional activities 


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1 under the State Reclamation Plan under subsection 

2 (e) that improve water quality. 

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

4 A memorandum of a State that is approved by the 

5 Secretary and the Administrator under this sub6 section shall be considered part of the approved 

7 abandoned mine reclamation plan of the State. 

8 ‘‘(n) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER PARTNERSHIPS.— 

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

10 after receiving such a submission, the Secretary 

11 shall approve a Community Reclaimer project to re12 mediate abandoned mine lands if the Secretary finds 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) the proposed project will be con15 ducted by a Community Reclaimer as defined in 

16 this subsection or approved subcontractors of 

17 the Community Reclaimer; 

18 ‘‘(B) for any proposed project that remedi19 ates mine drainage, the proposed project is con20 sistent with an approved State memorandum of 

21 understanding under subsection (m); 

22 ‘‘(C) the proposed project will be con23 ducted on a site or sites inventoried under sec24 tion 403(c); 


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1 ‘‘(D) the proposed project meets all sub2 mission criteria under paragraph (2); 

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

4 agreement with the Community Reclaimer 

5 under which the State shall assume all respon6 sibility with respect to the project for any costs 

7 or damages resulting from any action or inac8 tion on the part of the Community Reclaimer in 

9 carrying out the project, except for costs or 

10 damages resulting from gross negligence or in11 tentional misconduct by the Community Re12 claimer, on behalf of— 

13 ‘‘(i) the Community Reclaimer; and 

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

15 site, if such Community Reclaimer or 

16 owner, respectively, did not participate in 

17 any way in the creation of site conditions 

18 at the proposed project site or activities 

19 that caused any lands or waters to become 

20 eligible for reclamation or drainage abate21 ment expenditures under section 404; 

22 ‘‘(F) the State has the necessary legal au23 thority to conduct the project and will obtain all 

24 legally required authorizations, permits, liVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Nov 13, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6233.IH H6233

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1 censes, and other approvals to ensure comple2 tion of the project; 

3 ‘‘(G) the State has sufficient financial re4 sources to ensure completion of the project, in5 cluding any necessary operation and mainte6 nance costs (including costs associated with 

7 emergency actions covered by a contingency 

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

9 ‘‘(H) the proposed project is not in a cat10 egory of projects that would require a permit 

11 under title V. 

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

13 submit a request for approval to the Secretary that 

14 shall include— 

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

16 including any engineering plans that must bear 

17 the seal of a professional engineer; 

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

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

20 and extent of pollution resulting from mine 

21 drainage; 

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

23 owners and operators of the proposed project 

24 site; 


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1 ‘‘(D) the agreement or contract between 

2 the relevant State and the Community Re3 claimer to carry out the project; 

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

5 facilitate the activities of the State reclamation 

6 plan under subsection (e); 

7 ‘‘(F) sufficient information to determine 

8 whether the Community Reclaimer has the 

9 technical capability and expertise to successfully 

10 conduct the proposed project; 

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

12 evidence that the Community Reclaimer has 

13 sufficient financial resources to ensure the suc14 cessful completion of the proposed project (in15 cluding any operation or maintenance costs); 

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

17 project; 

18 ‘‘(I) an agreement between the Community 

19 Reclaimer and the current owner of the site 

20 governing access to the site; 

21 ‘‘(J) sufficient information to ensure that 

22 the Community Reclaimer meets the definition 

23 under paragraph (3); 

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

25 used in response to unplanned adverse events 


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1 that includes emergency actions, response, and 

2 notifications; 

3 ‘‘(L) detailed plans for any proposed recy4 cling or reprocessing of historic mine residue to 

5 be conducted by the Community Reclaimer (in6 cluding a description of how all proposed recy7 cling or reprocessing activities contribute to the 

8 remediation of the abandoned mine site); and 

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

10 notice to adjacent and downstream landowners 

11 and the public and hold a public meeting near 

12 the proposed project site before the project is 

13 initiated. 

14 ‘‘(3) REPROCESSING OF MATERIALS.—A Com15 munity Reclaimer may reprocess materials recovered 

16 during the implementation of a remediation plan 

17 only if— 

18 ‘‘(A) the applicable land management 

19 agency has signed a decision document approv20 ing reprocessing as part of the approved aban21 doned mine reclamation plan of the State; 

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

23 the materials are used— 

24 ‘‘(i) to defray the costs of the remedi25 ation; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to reimburse the Administrator 

2 or the head of a Federal land management 

3 agency for the purpose of carrying out this 

4 Act; and 

5 ‘‘(C) the materials only include historic 

6 mine residue. 

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

8 purposes of this section, the term ‘Community Re9 claimer’ means any person who— 

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

11 with a reclamation project under this section, 

12 which may include companies that currently 

13 hold reclamation liability elsewhere from the 

14 proposed site or active mine sites that require 

15 a performance bond; 

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

17 creation of site conditions at the proposed 

18 project site or activities that caused any lands 

19 or waters at the proposed project site to become 

20 eligible for reclamation or drainage abatement 

21 expenditures under section 404; and 

22 ‘‘(C) is not subject to outstanding viola23 tions listed pursuant to section 510(c).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. CLARIFYING STATE LIABILITY FOR MINE DRAINAGE 

2 PROJECTS. 

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

4 inserting ‘‘unless such control or treatment will be con5 ducted in accordance with a State memorandum of under6 standing approved under section 405(m) of this Act’’ after 

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

8 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

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

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

11 paragraph (6); 

12 (2) by striking the period at the end of para13 graph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(8) a list of projects proposed under sub16 section (n).’’. 

17 SEC. 6. SUNSET PROVISION. 

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

Æ 


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