II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2211

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 

reauthorize and reform the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2004

Mr. ROCKEFELLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

of 1977 to reauthorize and reform the Abandoned Mine 

Reclamation Program, 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 ‘‘Abandoned Mine Land 

5 Reclamation Reform Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SURFACE MINING ACT. 

7 (a) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 401.—(1) Section 

8 401 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 

9 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231) is amended as follows: 
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1 (A) In subsection (c) by striking paragraphs (2) 

2 and (6) and redesignating paragraphs (3) through 

3 (13) in order as paragraphs (2) through (11). 

4 (B) In subsection (e)—

5 (i) in the second sentence, by striking ‘‘the 

6 needs of such fund’’ and inserting ‘‘achieving 

7 the purposes of the transfers under section 

8 402(h)’’; and 

9 (ii) in the third sentence, by inserting be10 fore the period the following: ‘‘for the purpose 

11 of the transfers under section 402(h)’’. 

12 (2) Section 712(b) of the Surface Mining Control and 

13 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1302(b)) is amended 

14 by striking ‘‘section 401(c)(11)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

15 401(c)(9)’’. 

16 (b) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 402.—Section 402 of 

17 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

18 (30 U.S.C. 1232) is amended as follows: 

19 (1) In subsection (a)—

20 (A) by striking ‘‘35’’ and inserting ‘‘28’’; 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘15’’ and inserting ‘‘12’’; 

22 and 

23 (C) by striking ‘‘10 cents’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘8 cents’’. 
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1 (2) In subsection (b) by striking ‘‘2004’’ and all 

2 that follows through the end of the sentence and in3 serting ‘‘2019.’’. 

4 (3) In subsection (g)(1)(D) by striking ‘‘in any 

5 area under paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘under paragraph (5)’’. 

7 (4) Subsection (g)(2) is amended to read as fol8 lows: 

9 ‘‘(2) In making the grants referred to in paragraph 

10 (1)(C) and the grants referred to in paragraph (5), the 

11 Secretary shall ensure strict compliance by the States and 

12 Indian tribes with the priorities set forth in section 403(a) 

13 until a certification is made under section 411(a).’’. 

14 (5) In subsection (g)(3)—

15 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘paragraphs (2) and’’ and in17 serting ‘‘paragraph’’; 

18 (B) in subparagraph (A) by striking 

19 ‘‘401(c)(11)’’ and inserting ‘‘401(c)(9)’’; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(E) For the purpose of paragraph (8).’’. 

22 (6) In subsection (g)(5)—

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before the first sen24 tence;
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1 (B) in the first sentence by striking ‘‘40’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘60’’; 

3 (C) in the last sentence by striking ‘‘Funds 

4 allocated or expended by the Secretary under 

5 paragraphs (2), (3), or (4),’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘Funds made available under paragraph (3) or 

7 (4)’’; and 

8 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(B) Any amount that is reallocated and available 

10 under section 411(h)(3) shall be in addition to amounts 

11 that are allocated under subparagraph (A).’’. 

12 (7) Subsection (g)(6) is amended to read as fol13 lows: 

14 ‘‘(6)(A) Any State with an approved abandoned mine 

15 reclamation program pursuant to section 405 may receive 

16 and retain, without regard to the 3-year limitation re17 ferred to in paragraph (1)(D), up to 10 percent of the 

18 total of the grants made annually to such State under 

19 paragraphs (1) and (5) if such amounts are deposited into 

20 an acid mine drainage abatement and treatment fund es21 tablished under State law, from which amounts (together 

22 with all interest earned on such amounts) are expended 

23 by the State for the abatement of the causes and the treat24 ment of the effects of acid mine drainage in a comprehen-
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1 sive manner within qualified hydrologic units affected by 

2 coal mining practices. 

3 ‘‘(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, the term 

4 ‘qualified hydrologic unit’ means a hydrologic unit—

5 ‘‘(i) in which the water quality has been signifi6 cantly affected by acid mine drainage from coal min7 ing practices in a manner that adversely impacts bi8 ological resources; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) that contains lands and waters that are—

10 ‘‘(I) eligible pursuant to section 404 and 

11 include any of the priorities set forth in section 

12 403(a); and 

13 ‘‘(II) the subject of expenditures by the 

14 State from the forfeiture of bonds required 

15 under section 509 or from other States sources 

16 to abate and treat acid mine drainage.’’. 

17 (8) Subsection (g)(7) is amended to read as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(7) In complying with the priorities set forth in sec20 tion 403(a), any State or Indian tribe may use amounts 

21 available in grants made annually to such State or tribe 

22 under paragraphs (1) and (5) for the reclamation of eligi23 ble lands and waters set forth in section 403(a)(3) prior 

24 to the completion of reclamation projects under para25 graphs (1) and (2) of section 403(a) only if the expendi-
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1 ture of funds for such reclamation is done in conjunction 

2 with the expenditure of funds for reclamation projects 

3 under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 403(a).’’. 

4 (9) Subsection (g)(8) is amended to read as fol5 lows: 

6 ‘‘(8) In making the grants referred to in paragraph 

7 (1)(C), the Secretary, using amounts allocated to a State 

8 or Indian tribe under subparagraphs (A) or (B) of para9 graph (1) or as necessary amounts available to the Sec10 retary under paragraph (3), shall assure total grant 

11 awards of not less than $2,000,000 annually to each State 

12 and each Indian tribe. Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law, this paragraph applies to the State of Ten14 nessee.’’. 

15 (10) Subsection (h) is amended to read as fol16 lows: 

17 ‘‘(h) IN GENERAL.—(1) In the case of any fiscal year 

18 beginning on or after October 1, 2004, the Secretary shall, 

19 as of the beginning of such fiscal year and before any allo20 cation under subsection (g), make the transfers provided 

21 in paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall transfer to the 

23 United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund, 

24 to the United Mine Workers of America 1992 Benefit 

25 Plan, and to the multiemployer health benefit plan estab-
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1 lished after July 20, 1992, by the parties that are the set2 tlors of the 1992 Plan, for any fiscal year from the interest 

3 which the Secretary estimates will be earned and paid to 

4 the fund during the fiscal year an amount equal to the 

5 sum of—

6 ‘‘(A) the amount described in paragraph 3(A); 

7 ‘‘(B) the amount described in paragraph 3(B); 

8 plus 

9 ‘‘(C) the amount described in paragraph 3(C). 

10 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The aggregate amount which 

11 may be transferred under paragraph (2) for any fiscal 

12 year shall not exceed—

13 ‘‘(A) the amount which the trustees of the 

14 Combined Fund estimate will be expended from the 

15 premium accounts maintained by such Fund for the 

16 fiscal year of the Combined Fund in which the 

17 transfer is made, less the amount which the trustees 

18 estimate the Combined Fund will receive during 

19 such fiscal year in required health benefit premiums; 

20 plus 

21 ‘‘(B) the amount which the trustees of the 1992 

22 Plan estimate will be expended from the 1992 Plan 

23 during the next calendar year to provide the benefits 

24 required by such Plan on the date of enactment of 

25 this Act, less the amount which the trustees estimate 
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1 the 1992 Plan will receive during such calendar year 

2 in required monthly per beneficiary premiums, in3 cluding the amount of any security provided to the 

4 1992 Plan which is available for use in the provision 

5 of benefits; plus 

6 ‘‘(C) the amount which the trustees of the mul7 tiemployer health benefit plan established after July 

8 20, 1992, by the parties that are the settlors of the 

9 1992 Plan estimate will be expended from such plan 

10 during the next calendar year, to provide benefits no 

11 greater than those provided by such plan on the date 

12 of enactment of this subparagraph, less the amount 

13 of income which such trustees estimate such plan 

14 will receive during such calendar year. 

15 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENT.—If, for any fiscal year, the 

16 amount transferred to the Combined Fund, or the 1992 

17 Plan, or to the plan described in paragraph (3)(C) is more 

18 or less than the amount required to be transferred, the 

19 Secretary shall appropriately adjust the amount trans20 ferred for the next fiscal year. 

21 ‘‘(5)(A) The Secretary may make a transfer under 

22 subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) for a fiscal 

23 year only if the Secretary determines, using actuarial pro24 jections provided by the trustees of the Combined Fund, 

25 that amounts will be available under paragraph (1), after 
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1 such transfer, for the next fiscal year for making the 

2 transfer under paragraph (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(B) A transfer under paragraph (2)(C) shall not be 

4 made unless the entities that are obligated to contribute 

5 to the plan described in paragraph 3(C) on the date of 

6 the transfer are obligated to make such contributions at 

7 rates that are no less than those in effect on the date of 

8 enactment of this paragraph.’’. 

9 (c) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 403.—Section 403 of 

10 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

11 (30 U.S.C. 1233) is amended as follows: 

12 (1) In subsection (a)—

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘general 

14 welfare,’’; 

15 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘health, 

16 safety, and general welfare’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘health and safety’’, and inserting ‘‘and’’ after 

18 the semicolon at the end; 

19 (C) in paragraph (3), by striking the semi20 colon at the end and inserting a period; and 

21 (D) by striking paragraphs (4) and (5). 

22 (2) In subsection (b)—

23 (A) by striking the heading and inserting 

24 ‘‘WATER SUPPLY RESTORATION.—’’; and
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1 (B) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘up to 30 

2 percent of the’’. 

3 (3) In subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘, subject to 

4 the approval of the Secretary,’’ after ‘‘amendments’’. 

5 (d) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 406.—Section 406(h) 

6 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 

7 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1236(h)) is amended by striking ‘‘Soil 

8 Conservation Service’’ and inserting ‘‘Natural Resources 

9 Conservation Service’’. 

10 (e) FURTHER AMENDMENT TO SECTION 406.—Sec11 tion 406 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 

12 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1236) is amended by adding at 

13 the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) There is authorized to be appropriated to the 

15 Secretary of Agriculture, from amounts in the Treasury 

16 other than amounts in the fund, such sums as may be 

17 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

18 (f) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 408.—Section 408(a) 

19 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 

20 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1238(a)), is amended by striking ‘‘who 

21 owned the surface prior to May 2, 1977, and’’. 

22 (g) AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 411.—Section 411 of 

23 the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 

24 (30 U.S.C. 1240a) is amended as follows: 
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1 (1) In subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before 

2 the first sentence, and by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may, on the Secretary’s own voli5 tion, make the certification referred to in paragraph (1) 

6 on behalf of any State or Indian tribe referred to in para7 graph (1) if on the basis of the inventory referred to in 

8 section 403(c) all reclamation projects relating to the pri9 orities set forth in section 403(a) for eligible lands and 

10 water pursuant to section 404 in such State or tribe have 

11 been completed. The Secretary shall only make such cer12 tification after notice in the Federal Register and oppor13 tunity for public comment.’’. 

14 (2) By adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(h) STATE SHARE FOR CERTAIN CERTIFIED

16 STATES.—(1)(A) From moneys referred to in subsection 

17 (a) of section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

18 191(a)) that are paid into the Treasury after the date of 

19 the enactment of this subsection and that are not paid 

20 to States under section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act or 

21 reserved as part of the reclamation fund under such sec22 tion, the Secretary shall pay to each qualified State, on 

23 a proportional basis, an amount equal to the sum of the 

24 aggregate unappropriated amount allocated to such quali25 fied State under section 402(g)(1)(A). 
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1 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘qualified State’ 

2 means a State for which a certification is made under sub3 section (a) and in which there are public domain lands 

4 available for leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

5 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

6 ‘‘(2) Payments to States under this subsection shall 

7 be made, without regard to any limitation in section 

8 401(d), in the same manner as if paid under section 35 

9 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 191) and concur10 rently with payments to States under that section. 

11 ‘‘(3) The amount allocated to any State under section 

12 402(g)(1)(A) that is paid to such State as a result of a 

13 payment under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be 

14 reallocated and available for grants under section 

15 402(g)(5).’’. 

16 (h) EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON APPLICATION OF

17 PROHIBITION ON ISSUANCE OF PERMIT.—Section 510(e) 

18 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 

19 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1260(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘2004’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘2019’’. 

21 SEC. 3. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION 

22 OF THIS TITLE. 

23 (a) TRANSITION RULES.—(1) Amounts allocated 

24 under section 402(g)(2) of the Surface Mining Control 

25 and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(g)(2)) (ex-
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1 cluding interest) prior to the date of enactment of this 

2 Act for the program set forth under section 406 of that 

3 Act (30 U.S.C. 1236), but not appropriated prior to such 

4 date, shall be available in fiscal year 2004 and thereafter 

5 for the transfers referred to in section 402(h) of such Act 

6 (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)), as amended by this Act, in the same 

7 manner as are other amounts available for such transfers. 

8 (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, inter9 est credited to the fund established by section 401 of the 

10 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 

11 U.S.C. 1231) that is not transferred to the Combined 

12 Benefit Fund referred to in section 402(h) of such Act 

13 (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)), as amended by this Act, prior to the 

14 date of enactment of this Act shall be available in fiscal 

15 year 2004 and thereafter for transfer to the Combined 

16 Fund, and shall be used, notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law, to pay the amount of any deficit in net assets 

18 in the Combined Fund. 

19 (b) INVENTORY.—Within 1 year after the date of en20 actment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

21 complete a review of all additions made, pursuant to 

22 amendments offered by States and Indian tribes after De23 cember 31, 1998, to the inventory referred to in section 

24 403(c) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 

25 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1233(c)) to ensure that such addi-
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1 tions reflect eligible lands and waters pursuant to section 

2 404 of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1234) that meet the priorities 

3 set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 403(a) of 

4 such Act (30 U.S.C. 1233(a)), and are correctly identified 

5 pursuant to such priorities. Any lands or waters that were 

6 included in the inventory pursuant to the general welfare 

7 standard set forth in section 403(a) of such Act (30 

8 U.S.C. 1233(a)) before the date of enactment of this Act 

9 that are determined in the review to no longer meet the 

10 criteria set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 

11 403(a) of such Act, as amended by this Act, shall be re12 moved from the inventory.

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