151
other than amounts in the fund, such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this section.’’. 
SEC. 315. LIENS. 
Section 408(a) of the Surface Mining Control and 
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1238) is amended 
in the last sentence by striking ‘‘who owned the surface 
prior to May 2, 1977, and’’. 
SEC. 316. CERTIFICATION. 
Section 411 of the Surface Mining Control and Rec-
lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1240a) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before the first sen-
tence; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary may, on the initiative of the 
Secretary, make the certification referred to in paragraph 
(1) on behalf of any State or Indian tribe referred to in 
paragraph (1) if on the basis of the inventory referred to 
in section 403(c) all reclamation projects relating to the 
priorities described in section 403(a) for eligible land and 
water pursuant to section 404 in the State or tribe have 
been completed. 
‘‘(B) The Secretary shall only make the certification 
after notice in the Federal Register and opportunity for 
public comment.’’; and
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(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h) PAYMENTS TO STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(A) PAYMENTS.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 
section 401(f)(3)(B), from funds referred 
to in section 402(i)(2), the Secretary shall 
make payments to States or Indian tribes 
for the amount due for the aggregate un-
appropriated amount allocated to the State 
or Indian tribe under subparagraph (A) or 
(B) of section 402(g)(1). 
‘‘(ii) CONVERSION
AS
EQUIVALENT 
PAYMENTS.—Amounts allocated under sub-
paragraphs (A) or (B) of section 402(g)(1) 
shall be reallocated to the allocation estab-
lished in section 402(g)(5) in amounts 
equivalent to payments made to States or 
Indian tribes under this paragraph. 
‘‘(B) AMOUNT
DUE.—In this paragraph, 
the term ‘amount due’ means the unappropri-
ated amount allocated to a State or Indian tribe 
before October 1, 2007, under subparagraph 
(A) or (B) of section 402(g)(1).
153
‘‘(C) SCHEDULE.—Payments under sub-
paragraph (A) shall be made in 7 equal annual 
installments, beginning with fiscal year 2008. 
‘‘(D) USE OF FUNDS.—
‘‘(i) CERTIFIED STATES AND INDIAN 
TRIBES.—A State or Indian tribe that 
makes a certification under subsection (a) 
in which the Secretary concurs shall use 
any amounts provided under this para-
graph for the purposes established by the 
State legislature or tribal council of the In-
dian tribe, with priority given for address-
ing the impacts of mineral development. 
‘‘(ii) UNCERTIFIED STATES AND IN-
DIAN
TRIBES.—A State or Indian tribe 
that has not made a certification under 
subsection (a) in which the Secretary has 
concurred shall use any amounts provided 
under this paragraph for the purposes de-
scribed in section 403. 
‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT STATE AND INDIAN TRIBE 
SHARE
FOR
CERTIFIED
STATES
AND
INDIAN 
TRIBES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec-
tion 401(f)(3)(B), from funds referred to in
154
section 402(i)(2), the Secretary shall pay to 
each certified State or Indian tribe an amount 
equal to the sum of the aggregate unappropri-
ated amount allocated on or after October 1, 
2007, to the certified State or Indian tribe 
under subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 
402(g)(1). 
‘‘(B) CERTIFIED STATE OR INDIAN TRIBE 
DEFINED.—In this paragraph the term ‘cer-
tified State or Indian tribe’ means a State or 
Indian tribe for which a certification is made 
under subsection (a) in which the Secretary 
concurs. 
‘‘(3) MANNER OF PAYMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), payments to States or Indian tribes 
under this subsection shall be made without re-
gard to any limitation in section 401(d) and 
concurrently with payments to States under 
that section. 
‘‘(B) INITIAL PAYMENTS.—The first 3 pay-
ments made to any State or Indian tribe shall 
be reduced to 25 percent, 50 percent, and 75 
percent, respectively, of the amounts otherwise 
required under paragraph (2)(A).