Bob Casey, bipartisan lawmakers look to infrastructure law to pay for acid mine drainage cleanup - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania is on the cusp of receiving an unprecedented amount of federal funding to clean up the dangerous and polluting remnants of past coal mining. Lawmakers from the state want to ensure that a slice of those funds can pay for the long-term costs of keeping abandoned mine drainage from damaging streams.
The acidic waters, rich with iron and other metals, plague waterways in legacy mining states. The drainage is the largest source of stream pollution in Pennsylvania, impairing more than 7,000 miles of waterways — or 8% of the state’s total stream miles — according to the Department of Environmental Protection’s most recent draft integrated water quality report.
In a bipartisan, bicameral effort, lawmakers — including sponsor Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa. — are seeking to amend the recent infrastructure law to mirror existing abandoned mine land grant rules that allow a percentage of funds to treat acid mine drainage in perpetuity.
The infrastructure law released a surge of $11.3 billion for historic coal mining states to clean up scars left by mines abandoned before 1977. Those funds can be used to clean up a host of issues the mines have left behind, including waste heaps, underground fires and releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
“Still, addressing acid mine drainage remains out of reach for many states, representing a significant financial burden due to the high, ongoing costs associated with operating and maintaining [acid mine drainage] treatment facilities,” Mr. Casey said in a statement.
“Without the certainty that funding will be available to cover these long-term costs, states will be unlikely to make the necessary investments to restore our vital waterways,” he said.
The bill introduced last week aims to patch a gap in the infrastructure law that prohibits states from putting a share of this surge of mine cleanup funds into interest-bearing accounts that are used to cover the long-term costs of operating water treatment facilities.
“There is little incentive to spend money on an AMD treatment system if you don’t have the funds to maintain it,” said Rebecca Shelton, director of policy and organizing for the Kentucky-based Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, one of dozens of coal-state community organizations that endorsed the bill. “Ensuring that funds exist for the long-term maintenance of acid mine drainage is essential for making sure that these problems are addressed and that we have waterways that are inviting for recreation and safe for community use.”
Commensurate with having the largest inventory of abandoned mine land problem areas, Pennsylvania received $245 million, the largest amount this year of any other state. West Virginia followed with $141 million.
Over the past five years, Pennsylvania’s federal grants for abandoned mine cleanup hovered at $65.5 million annually.
Now the state is slated to receive up to $4 billion over the next 15 years.
Mr. Casey’s proposed Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines Act, or STREAM Act, co-sponsored with Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., would authorize states to set aside up to 30% of the annual infrastructure law abandoned mine land grants.
A bill by the same name in the U.S. House is co-sponsored by Reps. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., and David McKinley, R-W.Va.
The bills have been referred to each chamber’s committees on Energy and Natural Resources.
Ashley Murray: [email protected]; Laura Legere: [email protected]
First Published April 4, 2022, 3:00am
source: https://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2022/04/04/acid-mine-drainage-infrastructure-law-bill-us-senate-house-bob-casey-pa-department-of-environmental-protection/stories/202203310153
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