I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2721 
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 
reauthorize collection of reclamation fees, revise the abandoned mine 
reclamation program, promote remining, authorize the Office of Surface 
Mining to collect the black lung excise tax, and make sundry other 
changes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 26, 2005 
Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. 
PLATTS, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Ms. HART, Mr. 
KANJORSKI, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. REGULA, Mr. 
WAMP, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. FORD, Mr. GOR-
DON, and Ms. SCHWARTZ of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 
of 1977 to reauthorize collection of reclamation fees, 
revise the abandoned mine reclamation program, promote 
remining, authorize the Office of Surface Mining to col-
lect the black lung excise tax, and make sundry other 
changes. 
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 ‘‘Abandoned Mine Rec-
lamation Program Extension and Reform Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE SURFACE MINING CONTROL 
AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977. 
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) is amended as follows: 
(1) Section 401(c) is amended by— 
(A) striking paragraph (2); 
(B) striking the word ‘‘and’’ after the first 
occurrence of the word ‘‘subsidence’’ in para-
graph (1) and redesignating the portion of 
paragraph (1) following the deleted word as 
paragraph (2); and 
(C) striking the phrase ‘‘section 402(g)(1) 
of this Act’’ in paragraph (2) and inserting in 
its 
place 
‘‘section 
402(g)(1) 
or 
section 
403(b)(1) of this Act’’. 
(2) Section 401(c)(5) is amended by inserting 
before the semicolon ‘‘, and other audit and collec-
tion activities under sections 402(d) and 414(b) of 
this Act’’. 
(3) Section 401(c)(6) is amended by striking 
everything after ‘‘Department of the Interior’’ and 
inserting in its place ‘‘with public and private orga-
nizations conducted for the purposes of this title of
this Act to such extent and in such amounts as are 
provided in appropriation Acts;’’. 
(4) Section 401(c)(10) is amended by striking 
‘‘section 411’’ and inserting in its place ‘‘section 
415’’. 
(5) Section 401(c)(12) is amended by striking 
‘‘section 402(h)’’ and inserting in its place ‘‘sub-
section (f) of this section’’. 
(6) In section 401, subsections (d) and (e) are 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF MONEYS FROM FUND.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Moneys from the fund shall 
be available for the purposes of this title of this Act, 
or for distribution under paragraph (2) of this sub-
section, only when appropriated therefor. Such ap-
propriations shall be made without fiscal year limita-
tions. 
‘‘(2) DISPOSITION OF UNAPPROPRIATED STATE- 
SHARE
BALANCE.—This paragraph applies to the 
portion of the fund that was allocated to States and 
Indian tribes under section 402(g)(1) of this Act 
and that was not appropriated as of the end of the 
fiscal year ending September 30, 2005. 
‘‘(A) STATES
AND
INDIAN
TRIBES
CER-
TIFIED AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2005.—States and
Indian tribes that have been certified under sec-
tion 411 of this Act as of September 30, 2005, 
shall receive, subject to appropriation, the un-
appropriated balance of their allocation in an-
nual payments beginning with fiscal year 2006 
and ending with fiscal year 2015. 
‘‘(B) STATES
AND
INDIAN
TRIBES
NOT 
CERTIFIED AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2005.—States 
and Indian tribes that have not been certified 
under section 411 of this Act as of September 
30, 2005, shall receive, subject to appropria-
tion, the unappropriated balance of their alloca-
tion as grants awarded in accordance with sec-
tions 403(b) and 405(h) of this Act. 
‘‘(C) STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES CERTI-
FYING AFTER SEPTEMBER 30, 2005.—States and 
Indian tribes that are certified under section 
411 of this Act after September 30, 2005, shall 
receive, subject to appropriation, the portion of 
their allocation under section 402(g)(1) of this 
Act that has not been previously disbursed to 
those States and tribes as grants under para-
graph (2)(B) of this subsection. Disbursement 
shall be made in annual payments, beginning 
with the fiscal year following certification and
ending with fiscal year 2015. These payments 
shall be made using funds appropriated for the 
purpose of making grants to States and Indian 
tribes under section 405(h). 
‘‘(D) NO EXPENDITURE RESTRICTIONS.— 
Monies disbursed under paragraphs (2)(A) and 
(C) of this subsection may be expended without 
regard to any other provision of this Act: Pro-
vided, That, whenever a certified State or In-
dian tribe becomes aware of a coal mining-re-
lated problem within its borders, the State or 
tribe must first use those monies to promptly 
address that problem if the site is eligible for 
reclamation under section 404 of this Act and 
if the problem meets one of the priorities in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 403(a) of this 
Act. 
‘‘(3) REALLOCATION OF OTHER UNAPPROPRI-
ATED BALANCES.— 
‘‘(A) RURAL ABANDONED MINE RECLAMA-
TION PROGRAM.—That part of the fund allo-
cated by section 402(g)(2) for the rural aban-
doned mine reclamation program under section 
406 of this Act that has not been appropriated 
as of September 30, 2005, shall be available for
appropriation for the purposes set forth in sec-
tion 403(b) of this Act. 
‘‘(B) 
SECRETARY’S
DISCRETIONARY 
SHARE.—That part of the fund allocated by 
section 402(g)(3) for use by the Secretary that 
has not been appropriated as of September 30, 
2005, shall be available for appropriation for 
the purposes set forth in section 403(b) of this 
Act. 
‘‘(C) 
HISTORIC
PRODUCTION
ALLOCA-
TION.—That part of the fund allocated by sec-
tion 402(g)(5) for historic production supple-
mental grants to States and Indian tribes that 
has not been appropriated as of September 30, 
2005, shall be available for appropriation for 
the purposes set forth in section 403(b) of this 
Act. 
‘‘(e) INTEREST.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 
notify the Secretary of the Treasury as to what portion 
of the fund is not, in his or her judgment, required to 
meet current withdrawals. The Secretary of the Treasury 
shall invest such portion of the fund in public debt securi-
ties with maturities determined by the Secretary of the 
Interior and suitable for the needs of the fund and achiev-
ing the purposes of the transfers under subsection (f).