I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 315 

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 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

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 (a) MEMORANDA AUTHORIZED.—Section 405 (30 

10 U.S.C. 1235) is amended by inserting after subsection (l) 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(m) STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR

13 REMEDIATION OF MINE DRAINAGE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State with a State pro15 gram approved under subsection (d) may enter into 

16 a memorandum of understanding with relevant Fed17 eral or State agencies (or both) to remediate mine 

18 drainage on abandoned mine land and water im19 pacted by abandoned mines within the State. The 

20 memorandum may be updated as necessary and re21 submitted for approval under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(2) MEMORANDA REQUIREMENTS.—Such 

23 memorandum shall establish a strategy satisfactory 

24 to the State and Federal agencies that are parties 

25 to the memorandum, to address water pollution re26 sulting from mine drainage at sites eligible for recVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H315.IH H315

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1 lamation and mine drainage abatement expenditures 

2 under section 404, including specific procedures 

3 for— 

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

5 address mine drainage will result in improved 

6 water quality; 

7 ‘‘(B) monitoring, sampling, and the report8 ing of collected information as necessary to 

9 achieve the condition required under subpara10 graph (A); 

11 ‘‘(C) operation and maintenance of treat12 ment systems as necessary to achieve the condi13 tion required under subparagraph (A); and 

14 ‘‘(D) other purposes, as considered nec15 essary by the State or Federal agencies, to 

16 achieve the condition required under subpara17 graph (A). 

18 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 

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

20 memorandum to the Secretary and the Admin21 istrator for approval, a State shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) invite interested members of the 

23 public to comment on the memorandum; 

24 and 


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

2 concerning the memorandum in a location 

3 or locations reasonably accessible to per4 sons who may be affected by implementa5 tion of the memorandum. 

6 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF MEETING.—The State 

7 shall publish notice of each meeting not less 

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

9 local newspapers of general circulation, on the 

10 Internet, and by any other means considered 

11 necessary or desirable by the Secretary and the 

12 Administrator. 

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

14 shall submit the memorandum to the Secretary and 

15 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

16 Agency for approval. The Secretary and the Admin17 istrator shall approve or disapprove the memo18 randum within 120 days after the date of its sub19 mission if the Secretary and Administrator find that 

20 the memorandum will facilitate additional activities 

21 under the State Reclamation Plan under subsection 

22 (e) that improve water quality. 

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

24 A memorandum of a State that is approved by the 

25 Secretary and the Administrator under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Jan 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H315.IH H315

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1 section shall be considered part of the approved 

2 abandoned mine reclamation plan of the State. 

3 ‘‘(n) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER PARTNERSHIPS.— 

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

5 after receiving such a submission, the Secretary 

6 shall approve a Community Reclaimer project to re7 mediate abandoned mine lands if the Secretary finds 

8 that— 

9 ‘‘(A) the proposed project will be con10 ducted by a Community Reclaimer as defined in 

11 this subsection or approved subcontractors of 

12 the Community Reclaimer; 

13 ‘‘(B) for any proposed project that remedi14 ates mine drainage, the proposed project is con15 sistent with an approved State memorandum of 

16 understanding under subsection (m); 

17 ‘‘(C) the proposed project will be con18 ducted on a site or sites inventoried under sec19 tion 403(c); 

20 ‘‘(D) the proposed project meets all sub21 mission criteria under paragraph (2); 

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

23 agreement with the Community Reclaimer 

24 under which the State shall assume all respon25 sibility with respect to the project for any costs 


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1 or damages resulting from any action or inac2 tion on the part of the Community Reclaimer in 

3 carrying out the project, except for costs or 

4 damages resulting from gross negligence or in5 tentional misconduct by the Community Re6 claimer, on behalf of— 

7 ‘‘(i) the Community Reclaimer; and 

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

9 site, 

10 if such Community Reclaimer or owner, respec11 tively, did not participate in any way in the cre12 ation of site conditions at the proposed project 

13 site or activities that caused any lands or 

14 waters to become eligible for reclamation or 

15 drainage abatement expenditures under section 

16 404; 

17 ‘‘(F) the State has the necessary legal au18 thority to conduct the project and will obtain all 

19 legally required authorizations, permits, li20 censes, and other approvals to ensure comple21 tion of the project; 

22 ‘‘(G) the State has sufficient financial re23 sources to ensure completion of the project, in24 cluding any necessary operation and mainte25 nance costs (including costs associated with 


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1 emergency actions covered by a contingency 

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

3 ‘‘(H) the proposed project is not in a cat4 egory of projects that would require a permit 

5 under title V. 

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

7 submit a request for approval to the Secretary that 

8 shall include— 

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

10 including any engineering plans that must bear 

11 the seal of a professional engineer; 

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

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

14 and extent of pollution resulting from mine 

15 drainage; 

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

17 owners and operators of the proposed project 

18 site; 

19 ‘‘(D) the agreement or contract between 

20 the relevant State and the Community Re21 claimer to carry out the project; 

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

23 facilitate the activities of the State reclamation 

24 plan under subsection (e); 


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1 ‘‘(F) sufficient information to determine 

2 whether the Community Reclaimer has the 

3 technical capability and expertise to successfully 

4 conduct the proposed project; 

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

6 evidence that the Community Reclaimer has 

7 sufficient financial resources to ensure the suc8 cessful completion of the proposed project (in9 cluding any operation or maintenance costs); 

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

11 project; 

12 ‘‘(I) an agreement between the Community 

13 Reclaimer and the current owner of the site 

14 governing access to the site; 

15 ‘‘(J) sufficient information to ensure that 

16 the Community Reclaimer meets the definition 

17 under paragraph (3); 

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

19 used in response to unplanned adverse events 

20 that includes emergency actions, response, and 

21 notifications; and 

22 ‘‘(L) a requirement that the State provide 

23 notice to adjacent and downstream landowners 

24 and the public and hold a public meeting near 


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1 the proposed project site before the project is 

2 initiated. 

3 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER DEFINED.—For 

4 purposes of this section, the term ‘Community Re5 claimer’ means any person who— 

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

7 with a reclamation project under this section; 

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

9 creation of site conditions at the proposed 

10 project site or activities that caused any lands 

11 or waters to become eligible for reclamation or 

12 drainage abatement expenditures under section 

13 404; 

14 ‘‘(C) is not a past or current owner or op15 erator of any site with ongoing reclamation obli16 gations; and 

17 ‘‘(D) is not subject to outstanding viola18 tions listed pursuant to section 510(c).’’. 

19 SEC. 4. CLARIFYING STATE LIABILITY FOR MINE DRAINAGE 

20 PROJECTS. 

21 Section 413(d) (30 U.S.C. 1242(d)) is amended in 

22 the second sentence by inserting ‘‘unless such control or 

23 treatment will be conducted in accordance with a State 

24 memorandum of understanding approved under section 


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1 405(m) of this Act’’ after ‘‘Control Act’’ the second place 

2 it appears. 

3 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

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

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

6 paragraph (6); 

7 (2) by striking the period at the end of para8 graph (7) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(8) a list of projects proposed under sub11 section (n).’’. 

Æ 


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