{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 owner 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.