Community Reclamation Partnerships Act 2017-06-20 Introduced in House Community Reclamation Partnerships Act

This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to revise the abandoned mine land reclamation program which restores land and water adversely impacted by surface coal mines that were abandoned before SMCRA's enactment.

A state with an approved abandoned mine reclamation program may enter into a memorandum of understanding with relevant federal or state agencies (or both) for remediating mine drainage on abandoned mine land and water impacted by abandoned mines.

In addition, the bill authorizes a partnership between a state and a community reclaimer for remediating abandoned mine land if:

  • the partnership's proposed project is consistent with an approved state memorandum of understanding and conducted on certain prioritized sites;
  • the state assumes all responsibly on behalf of the community reclaimer and the owner of the proposed project site for costs or damages resulting from actions or inactions of the community reclaimer in carrying out the project, except for gross negligence or intentional misconduct by the community reclaimer; and
  • the state has necessary legal authority to conduct the project and has financial resources to ensure the project's completion.

A community reclaimer is a person who: (1) voluntarily assists a state in a reclamation project, (2) did not participate in any way in the creation of site conditions at the proposed site or activities that caused any land or waters to become eligible for reclamation or drainage abatement expenditures under SMCRA, (3) is not a past or current owner or operator of any site with ongoing reclamation obligations, and (4) is not subject to outstanding violations of surface coal mining permits.

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