[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 276 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 276

  To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 
     improve control of acid mine drainage, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 2 (legislative day, January 5), 1993

 Mr. Sarbanes introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 
     improve control of acid mine drainage, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Acid Mine Drainage Abatement Act of 
1993''.

SEC. 2. ACID MINE DRAINAGE.

    Section 402(g) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(g)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end the following 
        new subparagraph:
            ``(E) For the purpose of paragraph (7).''; and
            (2) by striking paragraphs (6) and (7) and inserting the 
        following new paragraphs:
    ``(6) Any State may receive and retain, without regard to the 3-
year limitation referred to in paragraph (1)(D), up to 10 percent of 
the total of the grants made annually to the State under paragraphs 
(1), (3), and (5) if the amounts are deposited into a special trust 
fund established under State law pursuant to which the amounts 
(together with all interest earned on the amounts) are expended by the 
State solely to achieve the priorities stated in section 403(a) after 
September 30, 1995.
    ``(7)(A) Any State may receive and retain, without regard to the 3-
year limitation referred to in paragraph (1)(D), up to 30 percent of 
the total of the grants made annually to the State under paragraphs 
(1), (3), and (5) if the amounts are deposited into an acid mine 
drainage abatement and treatment trust fund established under State law 
pursuant to which the amounts (together with all interest earned on the 
amounts) are expended by the State to undertake acid mine drainage 
abatement and treatment projects. The projects shall provide for the 
abatement of the causes or the treatment of the effects of acid mine 
drainage within qualified hydrologic units affected by coal mining 
practices.
    ``(B) Any State that receives and retains funds pursuant to 
subparagraph (A) may apply to the Secretary for a grant in an amount 
not to exceed 50 percent of the cost of an acid mine drainage abatement 
or treatment project. A grant to a State under this paragraph shall be 
made from amounts available to the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (3). 
An application submitted to the Secretary under this subparagraph shall 
include a description of--
            ``(i) the qualified hydrologic unit;
            ``(ii) the extent to which acid mine drainage is affecting 
        the water quality and biological resources within the 
        hydrologic unit;
            ``(iii) the sources of acid mine drainage within the 
        hydrologic unit;
            ``(iv) the project and the measures proposed to be 
        undertaken to abate the causes or treat the effects of acid 
        mine drainage within the hydrologic unit; and
            ``(v) the cost of undertaking the proposed abatement or 
        treatment measures.
    ``(C) If the Secretary determines that an application made pursuant 
to subparagraph (B) meets the requirements of this paragraph, the 
Secretary may approve the application. In approving applications 
submitted under subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall give priority to 
applications that will be implemented in coordination with measures 
undertaken by the Secretary of Agriculture under section 406.
    ``(D) As used in this paragraph, the term `qualified hydrologic 
unit' means a hydrologic unit--
            ``(i) in which the water quality has been significantly 
        affected by acid mine drainage from coal mining practices in a 
        manner that adversely impacts biological resources; and
            ``(ii) that contains lands and waters that are eligible 
        pursuant to section 404 and promote any of the priorities 
        stated in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of section 403(a).''.

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