I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5022 
To place a moratorium on the issuance and renewal of certain Federal 
authorizations for mountaintop removal coal mining until a health study 
is conducted, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 27, 2023 
Mr. MCGARVEY (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. BEYER, Mr. TONKO, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TRONE, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. COHEN) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 
Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To place a moratorium on the issuance and renewal of cer-
tain Federal authorizations for mountaintop removal coal 
mining until a health study is conducted, 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 Equity 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, including cir-
culatory, respiratory, central nervous system, mus-
culoskeletal, 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 
and these elevated levels of disease, defects, and 
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mortality persist even after controlling for other 
variables. 
(4) Scientific evidence, and the level of public 
concern, warrant immediate action to stop new 
mountaintop removal coal mining permits and in-
crease environmental and human health monitoring 
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 STUDY. 
(a) STUDY.—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 agencies as the 
Director determines appropriate, shall conduct or support 
a comprehensive study regarding the health impacts, if 
any, of mountaintop removal coal mining on individuals 
who reside in communities in close proximity to mountain-
top removal coal mining projects. 
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(b) REPORT.—The Director of the National Institute 
of Environmental Health Sciences shall submit to the Sec-
retary, and make publicly available, a report regarding the 
results of the study conducted or supported under sub-
section (a). 
(c) DETERMINATION.—After receipt of the report re-
quired under subsection (b), the Secretary shall publish 
on the website of the Department of Health and Human 
Services a determination regarding whether mountaintop 
removal coal mining presents any health risks to individ-
uals who reside in communities in close proximity to 
mountaintop removal coal mining projects. 
SEC. 4. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING FEDERAL 
AUTHORIZATION MORATORIUM. 
No Federal authorization may be issued or renewed 
for any mountaintop removal coal mining project, or for 
any expansion of such a project, by any of the following 
individuals before the date on which the Secretary pub-
lishes a determination under section 3(c) concluding that 
mountaintop removal coal mining does not present any 
health risks to individuals who reside in communities in 
close proximity to mountaintop removal coal mining 
projects: 
(1) The Secretary of the Army, acting through 
the Chief of Engineers, or a State, under section 
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(A) identify any pollution that occurs as a 
result of the project; and 
(B) identify ways in which individuals who 
reside in communities in close proximity to the 
project might be exposed to such pollution. 
(b) RESULTS OF MONITORING.— 
(1) SUBMISSION TO SECRETARY.—Each person 
that carries out monitoring under subsection (a)(1) 
for a mountaintop removal coal mining project shall 
submit to the Secretary, on a monthly basis, the re-
sults of such monitoring. 
(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Not later than 7 
days after the date on which the Secretary receives 
results under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 
make such results publicly available on the website 
of the Department of Health and Human Services in 
a searchable database format. 
(c) ENFORCEMENT.—If a person that conducts a 
mountaintop removal coal mining project fails to comply 
with either subsection (a) or (b) with respect to the 
project, no Federal authorization may be issued or re-
newed for the project, or for any expansion of the project, 
by any of the following individuals: 
(1) The Secretary of the Army, acting through 
the Chief of Engineers, or a State, under section 
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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). 
(3) The Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement, or a State, under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.). 
(d) APPLICABILITY.—The requirements under sub-
sections (a) and (b) shall terminate on the date on which 
the Secretary publishes the determination described in sec-
tion 3(c). 
SEC. 6. FEDERAL COST FEE. 
(a) COLLECTION AND ASSESSMENT.—The Secretary 
of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Office 
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, shall as-
sess and collect a one-time fee from each person that, as 
of the date of the enactment of this Act, is conducting 
or has previously completed a mountaintop removal coal 
mining project in the United States, in an amount suffi-
cient to recover the Federal cost of implementing sections 
3 and 5. 
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(b) USE OF FEE.—Amounts collected under this sec-
tion may be used, to the extent and in the amount pro-
vided in advance in appropriations Acts, only to pay the 
Federal cost of carrying out sections 3 and 5. 
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
FEDERAL
AUTHORIZATION.—The 
term 
‘‘Federal authorization’’ means a permit, license, or 
other authorization that is issued by a Federal agen-
cy. 
(2) MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING.— 
The term ‘‘mountaintop removal coal mining’’ means 
surface coal mining that— 
(A) uses blasting with explosives; and 
(B) is carried out in the steep slope re-
gions of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, 
and Virginia. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(4) STEEP SLOPE.—The term ‘‘steep slope’’ has 
the meaning given the term in section 515(d)(4) of 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1265(d)(4)). 
Æ 
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