[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 20, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2325-E2326]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 BACKGROUND INFORMATION FROM YOUCUT: SAVES UP TO $1.2 BILLION OVER TEN 
                                 YEARS

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 20, 2011

  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, the federal government collects fees 
from coal mining companies to restore abandoned mining sites. Money 
from those fees is paid to states to restore abandoned mines within 
their state. However, several states have successfully restored all of 
their abandoned mining sites and now are permitted to use the federal 
mine cleanup payments for anything they want to spend it on. 
Effectively, for the states that have been ``certified'' as having 
successfully restored critical mining sites, the mine payments serve as 
an unrestricted federal subsidy. Several tribal governments also 
receive payments despite having already remediated all contaminated 
mining sites on their land. The Obama administration has proposed 
terminating these mine reclamation payments to states that no longer 
use them for their intended purpose.*


                       From the budget committee

  Here's suggested text to reform the Abandoned Mine Lands program. 
It's more narrow than the Administration language that adds on whole 
bunches of bells and whistles, like advisory boards and councils and a 
competitive grant component without guaranteeing a net reduction in 
payments. CBO scored our draft language with an initial estimate of $1 
B. This language was in the Joint Committee's Republican proposal.


                 *From the President's proposed budget

        Termination: Unrestricted Abandoned Mine Lands Payments

  Department of the Interior
  The Administration proposes to terminate mandatory payments from the 
Treasury to States and tribes that have finished restoring their 
abandoned coal mines. These payments can now be used for any purpose, 
and therefore do not contribute to the goal of addressing these 
hazards.

[[Page E2326]]

  This proposal is modified from previous Budget proposals in 2010 and 
2011 to competitively allocate the remaining funding to address 
reclamation of the Nation's highest priority abandoned coal mine sites.


                      Funding Summary $1.2 billion

                             Justification

  Coal producers pay a fee on production to fund the reclamation of 
abandoned coal mines around the country. This abandoned mine land (AML) 
fee was created so that the coal industry as a whole would take 
responsibility for cleaning up abandoned coal mines, regardless of 
where the fees were collected or where the mines were located. However, 
the funds were authorized to be distributed by a formula based in part 
on the production volume in each state. Over time, as some States 
completed their coal reclamation sites and were ``certified'' as 
complete, the goal of the AML Program was increasingly distorted as 
``certified'' States and tribes continued to receive the formula grant 
payments equal to half of the fees collected within their borders.
  These payments to ``certified'' States and tribes may be used for any 
purpose, so they do not contribute to the original purpose of restoring 
abandoned coal mine lands. The Administration proposes to focus AML 
fees on coal mine reclamation by eliminating these unrestricted 
payments to certified States and tribes, saving approximately $140 
million in 2012 and $1.2 billion over 10 years. This action will affect 
four States and three tribes, in addition to any States that become 
certified in the future.
  Noncertified States will continue to receive payments, but the 
allocation process would be reformed to address the Nation's most 
hazardous sites each year. Instead of the current production-based 
formula, a new competitive grant program would be used to ensure that 
the Nation's highest priority coal sites are addressed before the AML 
fee expires.
  In December 2010, the President's National Commission on Fiscal 
Responsibility and Reform recommended this termination, eliminating 
payments to States and Tribes that have already been certified as 
completing this reclamation of abandoned coal mines.

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