I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 786 
To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining 
until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and 
Human Services, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 1, 2017 
Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DEGETTE, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. TONKO, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. BEYER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. LEE, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. MCNERNEY) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop re-
moval coal mining until health studies are conducted 
by the Department of Health and Human Services, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Appalachian Commu-
nities Health Emergency Act’’ or the ‘‘ACHE Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Communities surrounding mountaintop re-
moval coal mining projects, which involve surface 
coal mining including blasting with explosives in the 
steep slope regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, West 
Virginia, and Virginia, have raised concerns that 
pollution of the water, air, and soil that results from 
mountaintop removal coal mining may be causing 
health crises in their communities. 
(2) Peer-reviewed scientific research and re-
ports have raised serious concerns about mountain-
top removal mining with respect to elevated risks in 
categories of birth defects studied: circulatory/res-
piratory, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, 
and gastrointestinal. 
(3) Mountaintop removal coal mining has also 
been associated with elevated levels of adult hos-
pitalizations for chronic pulmonary disorders and hy-
pertension that are elevated as a function of county- 
level coal production, as are rates of mortality; lung 
cancer; and chronic heart, lung, and kidney disease. 
These health problems strike both women and men 
in mountaintop removal coal mining communities. 
These elevated levels of disease, defects, and mor-
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tality persist even after controlling for other vari-
ables. 
(4) Initial scientific evidence, and the level of 
public concern, warrant immediate action to stop 
new mountaintop removal coal mining permits and 
increase environmental and human health moni-
toring at existing mountaintop removal coal mining 
projects while the reported links between health ef-
fects and mountaintop removal coal mining are in-
vestigated by Federal health agencies. 
(5) The National Institute of Environmental 
Health Sciences is uniquely qualified to manage a 
working group of Federal health agencies with ex-
pertise that is relevant to study of the reported 
links. 
SEC. 3. HEALTH STUDIES. 
(a) STUDIES.—The Director of the National Institute 
of Environmental Health Sciences, in consultation with 
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen-
cy and the heads of such other Federal departments and 
agencies as the Director deems appropriate, shall— 
(1) conduct or support comprehensive studies 
on the health impacts, if any, of mountaintop re-
moval coal mining on individuals in the surrounding 
communities; and 
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(2) submit to the Secretary, and make publicly 
available, a report on the results of such studies. 
(b) DETERMINATION.—Upon receipt of the report 
under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall publish a determination on whether 
mountaintop removal coal mining presents any health 
risks to individuals in the surrounding communities. 
SEC. 4. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING PERMIT 
MORATORIUM. 
Until and unless the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services publishes a determination under section 3(b) con-
cluding that mountaintop removal coal mining does not 
present any health risk to individuals in the surrounding 
communities, a permit or other authorization may not be 
issued for any mountaintop removal coal mining project, 
or for any expansion of such a project, by— 
(1) the Secretary of the Army, acting through 
the Chief of Engineers, or a State, under section 
404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1344); 
(2) the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, or a State, under section 402 of 
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1342); or 
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(3) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and En-
forcement, or a State, under the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.). 
SEC. 5. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING CONTIN-
UOUS HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONI-
TORING. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Until the Secretary of Health 
and Human Services publishes a determination under sec-
tion 3(b)— 
(1) any person conducting a mountaintop re-
moval coal mining project shall— 
(A) conduct continuous monitoring for any 
pollution of water and air (including noise) and 
frequent monitoring of soil as a result of such 
project for the purposes of comprehensively— 
(i) characterizing any pollution emit-
ted from the project; and 
(ii) identifying ways in which mem-
bers of affected communities might be ex-
posed to these emissions; and 
(B) submit the results of such monitoring 
to the Secretary on a monthly basis; and 
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(2) the Secretary shall make such results avail-
able to the public through the World Wide Web in 
a searchable database format not later than 7 days 
after the date on which the Secretary receives such 
results. 
(b) ENFORCEMENT.—If a person conducting a moun-
taintop removal coal mining project fails to conduct moni-
toring and submit results in connection with such project 
as required by subsection (a), a permit or other authoriza-
tion may not be issued for the mountaintop removal coal 
mining project, or for an expansion of such project, by— 
(1) the Secretary of the Army, acting through 
the Chief of Engineers, or a State, under section 
404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 
U.S.C. 1344); 
(2) the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, or a State, under section 402 of 
the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 
1342); or 
(3) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and En-
forcement, or a State, under the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
1201 et seq.). 
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SEC. 6. FEE TO PAY FOR HEALTH STUDIES AND MONI-
TORING. 
(a) COLLECTION AND ASSESSMENT.—The President, 
acting through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 
and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior, shall 
assess and collect from each person that, as of the date 
of the enactment of this Act, is conducting a mountaintop 
removal coal mining project in the United States a one- 
time fee in an amount sufficient to recover the Federal 
cost of implementing sections 3 and 5. 
(b) USE OF FEE.—Amounts received by the United 
States as a fee under this section may be used, to the 
extent and in the amount provided in advance in appro-
priations Acts, only to pay the Federal cost of carrying 
out sections 3 and 5. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING.— 
The term ‘‘mountaintop removal coal mining’’ means 
surface coal mining that uses blasting with explo-
sives in the steep slope regions of Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. 
(2) STEEP SLOPE.—The term ‘‘steep slope’’ has 
the meaning that term has under section 515(d)(4) 
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of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 
of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1265(d)(4)). 
Æ 
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