May 26, 1977  

 Mr. BAYH.  Mr. President, last week the Senate passed S. 7, the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, hopefully ending almost a decade of Senate debate on strip
mining practices.  Now that the Conress is acting, ending the uncertainty that the mining industry
has lived with for years, we can get on with the development of our Nation's vast coal resources
assured that increased coal production will not result in the ravaging of our land.  

    S8802 The environmental protections incorporated into S. 7 are especially timely now, as we turn
toward coal to help meet our energy needs.  In 1976, over 60 percent of the coal produced in the
United States came from surface mines, disturbing some 1,000 acres of land each week.  As demand
for coal grows, the acreage disturbed will increase further.  This certainty makes the need for
balanced, uniform national standards and special protections for unreclaimable lands more
important than ever.  Once damaged, our non-renewable natural resources - farm lands, water,
parks, and wilderness areas - cannot be restored.  

    S8802 Mr. President, we have enough coal in this country to last us for hundreds of years.  In
most cases, existing technologies have been developed to reclaim stripped land economically and
efficiently.  What the strip mine bill provides are national guidelines to make sure we proceed
responsibly and require operators in all States to meet similar minimum environmental protections. 
We must not act hastily now to meet our energy needs, only to find ourselves without adequate food,
water, and recreational areas in the 21st century.  

    S8802 Mr. President, my State of Indiana will be vitally affected by this legislation and I have
given the key issues raised by S. 7 a great deal of thought in the last few months.  

    S8802 Despite large underground reserves, virtually all of Indiana's coal comes from surface
mines.  Stripping is going on in 16 of Indiana's 92 counties with 95 percent of total State production
concentrated in 7 counties in the southwest corner of the State.  Over 127,000 acres in these seven
counties have been affected by mining operations, totaling about 7 percent of the total land area
there.  

    S8802 These counties also contain large tracts of prime farmland, crucial to the Nation's food and
trade needs, along with the well-being of people all around the world.  Over 736,000 acres of prime
farmland in southwestern Indiana with strippable coal are likely future targets for surface mine
activities, accounting for 46 percent of the prime farmland there.  Other States in the Midwest share
similar dilemmas.  We must make sure that if this land is stripped, it will once again provide the
corn and soybeans and other foodstuffs so badly needed by our own citizens and those elsewhere in
the world.  The same assurances are needed for our western alluvial valleys, which provide scarce
water for western farming and ranching operations.  

    S8802 In addressing the problem of competing food and energy needs, the Senate and House
enacted different provisions affecting prime farmlands. 

    S8802 As passed by the Senate, S. 7 will require a case by case review process, involving the
Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior, as well as the State regulatory authority, for all mining plans
which include more than 10-percent prime farmland.  During the review, operators must
demonstrate that they will be able to restore the land to its prior agricultural productivity in order to
get a permit to mine the land.  All mining operations with permits issued prior to the time President
Carter signs the strip mining bill, and all operations later granted revisions or renewals of such
permits, will be exempt from this requirement.  

    S8802 As originally introduced, this exemption from a special review process would have treated
Indiana inequitably, because under Indiana State law technically there are only new annual permits
and no renewals, even though operators meeting the conditions of their permit routinely get a new or
renewed permit upon application.  

    S8802 I was very gratified that the author of the prime farmland amendment, my distinguished
colleague, Senator CULVER of Iowa, modified his prime farmland amendment at my suggestion, to
give ongoing Indiana stripping operations the same protections afforded operations in other States
despite the unusual procedures mandated by our State's law.  

    S8802 The strip mining bill that passed the House of Representatives included different
protections than S. 7 for prime farmland which, on balance, I would have favored.  

    S8802 The surface mining bill that passed the House allows mining on prime farmlands without a
prior review process, but requires operators to follow very specific reclamation procedures which
agronomists and soil specialists agree can return farmland to its prior productivity.  These
procedures require separation of topsoil and subsoil horizons, protective storage of these materials,
and ultimate replacement of the soil horizons with proper compaction and uniform depth over the
regraded spoil material.  

    S8802 Mr. President, I agree that protection of prime farmlands must be a national priority to
assure our future food supplies.  However, after studying the House and Senate bills, I have
concluded that the language contained in the House bill meets this need without risking the
administrative bottlenecks that may develop if the language in S. 7 prevails in conference.  Experts
consulted at the agriculture school at Purdue University and the Department of Agriculture's Soil
Conservation Service feel the same way.  I hope the conferees will take a very hard look at this issue
before making a final decision.  

    S8802 Finally, Mr. President, I was very satisfied with the way the Senate resolved most of the
other controversial issues raised by S. 7.  

    S8802 One of the most important features of S. 7 is the requirement that strip miners conduct
their blasting operations in such a manner that there will not be damage outside of the permitted
area.  Strip mine blasting practices have become a major problem for people living near
Appalachian and Midwestern coalfields.  It is estimated that strip mine blasting caused damages of
over $200 million in these regions in 1975 alone.  

    {S8803  } In my home State of Indiana, blasting has caused serious difficulties for those who live
near mining operations, particularly in Warrick County.  A survey conducted by Jack Barnes,
professor of geology at Indiana State University, indicates that there was structural damage caused
by blasting to 89 percent of the buildings within a 2 1/2-mile radius of the Ayrshire mine in that
county.  In other areas, blasting has caused serious harm to health, property, and the environment in
the form of dust and fly rock.  

    S8803 I was very gratified that the Senate adopted my amendment to strengthen the blasting
provisions of the strip mining bill.  My amendment will require the strip miner to set out his plans
for blasting in his application, so that the regulatory authority can know in advance if there will be
adequate protection of the local community's health, property, and environment.  Only with such
information can potential problems be nipped in the bud.  Further, a blasting plan will enable the
public to gain a fuller understanding of the mining operation being proposed for their community at
the outset.  Without question, the citizens who will be most effected by mining operations deserve to
know exactly what those operations will entail.  This amendment should protect our citizens from
the suffering others have experienced in the past in connection with strip blasting.  

    S8803 Other provisions of S. 7 with which I am particularly pleased are the protections provided
for alluvial valleys in the West, which provide scarce water for western farming and ranching
operations; the program passed to reclaim abandoned mines, which plague hundreds of thousands of
acres of land in the eastern section of the country; and the program set up to provide assistance to
coal mining research institutes.  The research institutes in my own State have been of great help to
both myself and others in Indiana and around the country trying to grapple with the many issues
surrounding the use of coal as a major source of energy.  In addition, I feel that the treatment
afforded small miners in S. 7 is equitable.  In acting to exempt miners producing less than 100,000
tons of coal annually from compliance with S. 7, the Senate recognized the real cash flow problems
small operators face without, at the same time, allowing operators able to absorb reclamation costs
sooner to skirt their responsibilities.  

    S8803 In closing, Mr. President, let me reiterate once again my satisfaction that the Congress has
finally enacted minimum Federal standards for surface mining.  My own State of Indiana has been
way ahead of the Federal Government on the issue of strip mining control.  In 1967, Indiana enacted
strong and pioneering legislation to control strip mining operations within the State. Under S. 7,
States will have the opportunity to administer and enforce their own State programs as long as they
meet Federal guidelines.  In addition, they will receive Federal assistance in order to improve their
regulatory and enforcement efforts.  

    S8803 Given Indiana's early recognition of the need for environmental protection, its relatively
long experience with regulating mining activities and the Federal assistance S. 7 will provide,
Indiana should not experience any disruption in mining activities as a result of S. 7.  Nor should
other States which take advantage of the long lead time provided in this legislation for developing
satisfactory State programs.  

    S8803 With these environmental protections on the books, I am looking forward to working with
the administration and my colleagues here in the Senate toward increasing domestic coal production
to meet the President's goal of a two-thirds production increase by 1985.