[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8062 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8062

  To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 
strengthen control of the environmental impacts of surface coal mining, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2024

  Mr. Beyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to 
strengthen control of the environmental impacts of surface coal mining, 
                        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 ``Stream Protection and Vegetation 
Restoration Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT.

    (a) Reclamation Plan Requirements.--Section 508(a)(7) of the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
1258(a)(7)) is amended by inserting ``, not to exceed the time and 
distance standards established in section 515(g)'' after ``reclamation 
plan''.
    (b) Revision of Permits.--Section 511(a) of the Surface Mining 
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1261(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
    ``(3) A request to temporarily cease or suspend mining operations 
is a significant permit revision for purposes of paragraph (2).
    ``(4) In each case where no active coal removal or reclamation has 
occurred at a permitted mine for more than 6 months during any 3-year 
period, the applicable permit shall be considered out of compliance 
with the reclamation plan--
            ``(A) unless the permit is in compliance with time and 
        distance standards established in section 515(g) and does not 
        have any variances from such standards; and
            ``(B) until the date on which the regulatory authority 
        approves--
                    ``(i) a reasonable plan submitted by the operator 
                to return to production not later than 1 year after the 
                date on which the operator is notified that the 
                applicable permit is considered out of compliance under 
                this paragraph; or
                    ``(ii) an application for a revision of the permit 
                submitted by the permittee under paragraph (1).''.
    (c) Environmental Protection Performance Standards.--Section 515 of 
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1265) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (16)--
                            (i) by inserting ``, not to exceed the time 
                        and distance standards established in 
                        subsection (g)'' after ``contemporaneously as 
                        practicable with the surface coal mining 
                        operations''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting a semicolon;
                    (B) in paragraph (20)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 
                        ``and'' at the end; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting a semicolon;
                    (C) in paragraph (22)(I), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting a semicolon;
                    (D) in paragraph (23), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (E) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (F) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(26) conduct contemporaneous reclamation so as not to 
        exceed the time and distance standards established in 
        subsection (g).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) Rough backfilling and grading for surface mining activities 
shall be completed according to one of the following schedules:
            ``(1) For contour mining, within 60 days or 1,500 linear 
        feet following coal removal, whichever occurs first.
            ``(2) For area mining, within 180 days following coal 
        removal, and not more than 4 spoil ridges behind the pit being 
        worked, the spoil from the active pit constituting the first 
        ridge.
            ``(3) For other surface mining methods, in accordance with 
        the schedule established by the regulatory authority. For 
        States with approved State programs, schedules are subject to 
        the State program approval process.''.
    (d) Inspections and Monitoring.--Section 517(b) of the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1267(b)(2)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), to read as follows:
            ``(2) the regulatory authority shall--
                    ``(A) require quarterly monitoring of both surface 
                water and ground water during mining and reclamation; 
                and
                    ``(B) specify those--
                            ``(i) monitoring sites to record the 
                        quantity and quality of surface drainage above 
                        and below the mine site as well as in the 
                        potential zone of influence;
                            ``(ii) monitoring sites to record level, 
                        amount, and samples of ground water and 
                        aquifers potentially affected by the mining and 
                        also directly below the lowermost (deepest) 
                        coal seam to be mined;
                            ``(iii) records of well logs and borehole 
                        data to be maintained; and
                            ``(iv) monitoring sites to record 
                        precipitation;'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) the regulatory authority shall conduct an annual 
        assessment of the biological condition of streams to 
        demonstrate progress with respect to restoring of the pre-
        mining biological condition of the stream;
            ``(4) the regulatory authority shall conduct an inspection 
        of surface water runoff control structures after each 
        precipitation event that is at least as intense as a 100-year, 
        6-hour precipitation event; and''.
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