Legislative History

Congressional Records - July 19, 1977

Following is the July 19, 1977 Congressional Record. The text below is compiled from the Office of Surface Mining's COALEX data base, not an original printed document, and the reader is advised that coding or typographical errors could be present.

123 CONG.REC. S12384
July 19, 1977

{S12384} Mr. JACKSON. Mr. President, tomorrow the Senate will be able to end its 7-year struggle to enact a Federal law regulating surface coal mining by approving the conference report on H.R. 2, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

S12384 Approval of this legislation is long overdue. Development of coal is the key to meeting our energy needs for the rest of this century. One of the major inhibiting factors to coal development in all regions of the country -
east and west - is the failure to establish Federal surface mining standards. Our coal indutry must know what the ground rules are to plan their investments and proceed with mining. The conference report on H.R. 2 strikes an appropriate balance between the need to develop our coal resources and protect our land and water. It is flexible enough to be applicable to the mountains of Appalachia, the fertile agricultural areas of the Midwest and the arid, fragile areas in the West. It recognizes the interest of individual States by giving them the principal responsibility for regulation within their borders.

S12384 Mr. President, I am aware that three of my colleagues are concerned about the fact that the conference report contains the language passed by the House of Representatives with respect to the situation where certain private individuals own the surface of land overlying Federal coal. This language is identical to that reported by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in S. 7. The Senate debated this so-called "surface otner consent" issue extensively. On May 19, an amendment to change this language was defeated by a 67 to 25 vote. However, on May 20, the Senate reversed itself and adopted a similar amendment, which I cosponsored, by a vote of 44 to 32. It is obvious that opinions on the surface owner issue are closely divided. It is equally obvious that while the Senate receded on this issue, the Senate prevailed on many other issues.

S12384 As I have already indicated, the end reresult is a good bill which is urgently needed. I strongly believe that the conference report should be adopted by the Senate, and I urge all Senators to vote for it.

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