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Monday, January 01, 2007

Environment - Changes to federal mine reclamation law impact Indiana

John Lucas of the Evansville Courier&Press had a story yesterday that began:

Agencies in Indiana and surrounding states responsible for overseeing reclamation of abandoned coal mine lands are still assessing the anticipated impact of a long-sought bill signed into law earlier this month by President Bush.

The new law will give states more money to repair environmental damages caused by long-ago mining. At the same time, it will reduce the amount of reclamation fees paid by currently operating coal companies.

Since enactment of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, coal companies have been assessed a fee for each ton of coal marketed to help repair environmental and other damages caused by older, abandoned mines.

The companies have paid 35 cents a ton on surface-mined coal and 15 cents a ton for underground-mined coal into a fund administered by the U.S. Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining.

The 24 coal-producing states and some Indian tribes have squabbled for years over how that fund has been administered, with the federal agency holding money collected and doling it out to the states in annual allotments. With most of the older mine sites located in the East, Western states that have seen an increase in mining in recent years have questioned why they should pay for cleaning up the older sites.

Mine companies have also sought a reduction in the severance fees.

The new legislation addresses how the money collected is paid out and lowers the fee collected by 20 percent by 2021.

States are expected to receive a windfall in 2008 when the legislation requires the Office of Surface Mining to return money collected but held at Washington to the states.

Indiana, which is expected to receive $4.5 million from the fund for abandoned mine reclamation in 2007, is forecast to get $11.1 million the next year. Kentucky, which normally receives a little less than $14 million a year from the fund, will receive, $32 million, and Illinois $11.9 million, up from $7.3 million in 2007.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 1, 2007 02:41 PM
Posted to Environment