Opinion ID: 445218
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: General Provisions of the Act

Text: 2 As its title indicates, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act is designed to meet two related concerns. First, Congress wished to regulate current and future strip mining operations to protect society and the environment from the adverse effect of surface coal mining operations. 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1202(a). Toward this end, Subchapter V, id. Secs. 1251-1279, requires the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to promulgate interim federal standards and provides that a state may take over the regulatory process by submitting a program that meets the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. See generally In re Surface Mining Regulation Litigation, 627 F.2d 1346, 1350-1352 (D.C.Cir.1980). Second, Congress sought to provide for reclamation of land and water resources in mining areas abandoned prior to the Act's enactment on August 3, 1977. Id. Sec. 1202(h). Subchapter IV, id. Secs. 1231-1243, sets up a reclamation fund to be held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior. Id. Sec. 1231(a). Fees exacted from current operators of strip mining projects are pooled into the trust, which the Secretary is to distribute to any state or Indian tribe that has submitted an approved abandoned mine reclamation program. Id. Secs. 1232(a) & 1235(k). Upon approval of such a program OSM must allocate funds to the state or tribe in a manner that reflect[s] both the area from which the revenue was derived as well as the national program needs for the funds. Id. Sec. 1232(g)(1). In particular, Section 1232(g)(2) states that 50 percent of the funds collected annually in any State or Indian reservation shall be allocated to that State or Indian reservation. 3 Nominally, at least, the Act draws a distinction between the role given to Indian tribes in the regulation of current mining operations and that allotted to them in the reclamation of abandoned mines. Subchapter V gives Indians no direct role in regulating current or prospective mining operations on Indian lands. Believing the jurisdictional status of those areas too unclear to permit effective allocation of the regulatory function, Congress directed the Secretary to submit a report within six months of the enactment of the Act on August 3, 1977 and propose legislation designed to allow Indian tribes to elect to assume full regulatory authority over the administration and enforcement of regulation of surface mining of coal on Indian lands. Id. Sec. 1300(a)-(h). 1 See H.R.Rep. 94-189, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 79 (1975). In the interim Congress decided to protect Indian lands from the potential ravages of surface mining through federal performance standards rather than state oversight. Id. 4 Indians are, however, given some role in reclamation of abandoned mines on Indian territory. In the final conference session, and virtually without discussion, House and Senate conferees added Section 1235(k), which reads: Indian tribes having within their jurisdiction eligible lands [as defined in Sec. 1234]    shall be considered a 'State' for the purposes of [Subchapter IV]. See H.R.Rep. 95-493, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 99 (1977). Thus Indian tribes, though denied any participation in the regulation of current mining operations, may submit reclamation plans and, if approved by the Secretary, administer the funds earmarked for this purpose. Under current OSM policy, however, the practical import of permitting tribes to submit reclamation plans is minimal. Reading the Act to prohibit assignment of reclamation authority to an entity statutorily incapable of exercising full regulatory authority, the Secretary will not approve reclamation plans submitted by a tribe until Congress has clarified the status of Indian lands under the Act. See Memorandum in Support of Federal Defendants' Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment at 13-14, reproduced in Appendix (App.) at 119-120; 47 Fed.Reg. 28580 (1982). 2 Approval by the Secretary is a prerequisite to any distribution of funds. 30 U.S.C. Sec. 1235.