House Report No. 93-1072
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Legislative History House Report No. 93-1072 |
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Preamble
Mr. HALEY, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted
the following
REPORT
together with
ADDITIONAL, DISSENTING, SEPARATE AND SUPPLEMENTAL VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 11500]
The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 11500) To provide for the regulation of surface coal mining operations in
the United States, to authorize the Secretary of Interior to make grants to
States to encourage the State regulation of surface mining, and for other
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION AND DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS
154 The Executive Communication dated February 15, 1973, together with
reports from the Department of the Interior dated April 3, 1973, April 9, 1973,
and February 6, 1974; and the Department of Agriculture dated April 9, 1973, are
set forth below:
155 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington,
D.C., February 15, 1974.
155 Hon. CARL ALBERT, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington,
D.C.
155 DEAR MR. SPEAKER: There is enclosed a draft bill "To provide for the
cooperation between the Federal government and the States with respect to
environmental regulations for mining operations, and for other purposes".
155 We recommend that this bill, a part of the environmental program
announced February 15, 1973, by the President in his Environment and Natural
Resources State of the Union Message, be referred to the appropriate committee
for consideration and that it be enacted.
155 The adverse environmental effects that can result from mining operations
have been a subject of growing national concern in recent years. The ever
increasing demand for minerals, coupled with dramatic developments in our
ability to recover them has led to an increase in mining activity. These
activities will continue to be an important part of the American economy.
155 Mining operations, however, also pose a serious threat to the
environment. In varying degrees State legislatures and mining companies have
responded to the problem, but this effort suffers from lack of uniformity and
unanimity.
155 The proposed bill would require that all ongoing and future mining
activities be conducted in a way as to minimize their adverse environmental
effects. The legislation provides for the development of State regulations
based on minimum Federal performance standards which will require environmental
consideration to be built into the mining operation.
155 The Administration's bill recognizes that the responsibility for
developing and enforcing regulations rests with the States, while also
recognizing that the effort must be nationwide with minimum standards enforced
to protect the environment, and to the extent possible, place industry on an
equal level in every State. The bill gives the States the opportunity to
develop and submit regulations, in accordance with specific minimum performance
standards, for approval by the Secretary of the Interior. If the State fails to
develop an acceptable program within two years after enactment or if the State
fails to enforce effectively its approved program at any time, the bill
authorizes the Secretary to administer and enforce a mining and reclamation
program within the State.
155 This legislation is long overdue. The longer it is put off, the larger
the ultimate cost will be.
155 The Office of Management and Budget has advised that this legislative
proposal is in accord with the program of the President.
155 Sincerely yours,
155 ROGERS C.B. MORTON, Secretary of the Interior.
156 A BILL to provide for the cooperation between the Federal government and
the States with respect to environmental regulations for mining operations, and
for other purposes
156 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the
"Mined Area Protection Act of 1973".
156 TITLE I
156 Section 101. Definitions
156 For the purpose of this Act, the terms -
156 (a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior;
156 (b) "mining operations" means (1) activities conducted on the surface or
underground for the exploration for, development of, or extraction of minerals,
organic or inorganic, from their natural occurrences, including strip or auger
mining, dredging, quarrying, open pit, in situ distillation or retorting and
leaching; and (2) the cleaning, concentrating, refining, or other processing or
preparation (excluding smeltering) and loading for interstate commerce of crude
minerals at or near the mine site. It does not include the extraction of
minerals in a liquid or gaseous state by means of wells or pipes unless the
process includes in situ distillation or retorting. For the purposes of this
Act, prospecting activities are excluded from this definition;
156 (c) "prospecting" means the first on-the-ground or airborne phase of a
search limited to the gathering of evidence of mineralization of potential
commercial worth and is not for the purpose of establishing mineral reserves.
Prospecting includes geological reconnaissance, the use of geophysical and
geochemical methods, and preliminary sampling but does not include the
construction of access roads, mechanical trenching, construction of
semi-permanent camp facilities or other activities which will result in
appreciable disturbances to the natural condition of the area;
156 (d) "underground mining operations" means those mining operations
carried out beneath the surface by means of shafts, tunnels, or other
underground mine openings and such use of the adjacent surface as is incidental
thereto;
156 (e) "surface mining operations" means those mining operations carried
out on the surface, including strip, area strip, contour strip, or auger mining,
dredging, and leaching, or any combination thereof, and activities related
thereto;
156 (f) "open pit mining" means that surface mining method in which the
overburden is removed from atop the mineral and in which, by virtue of the
thickness of the deposits, mining continues in the same area proceeding
predominantly downward with lateral expansion of the pit necessary to maintain
slope stability and necessary to accommodate the orderly expansion of the total
mining operation. For the purposes of this Act, this definition shall include
caving methods and leaching activites associated with open pit mining. For the
purposes of this Act, the mining of surface coal deposits, except those relating
to open pit anthracite coal operations, is excluded from this definition;
156 (g) "mined area" means the surface and subsurface of an area in which
mining operations are being or have been conducted including private ways and
roads appurtenant to any such area, land excavations, workings, refuse banks,
tailings, spoil banks, and areas in which structures, facilities, equipment,
machines, tools, or other materials or property which results from or are used
in, mining operations are situated;
157 (h) "operator of a mining operation" means an individual, society, joint
stock company or a partnership, association, corporation, or other organization,
controlling or managing a mining operation;
157 (i) "previously mined area" means a mined area on which mining
operations have been abandoned prior to the enactment of this Act or a mined
area on which mining operations are abandoned subsequent to the enactment of
this Act due to the impracticability of the mining operation under reclamation
standards established by or under regulations pursuant to this Act;
157 (j) "State" means a State of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa,
and Guam;
157 (k) "reclamation" means the process of restoring a mined area affected
by a mining operation to its original or other similarly appropriate condition,
considering past and possible future uses of the area and the surrounding
topography and taking into account environmental, economic and social
conditions; and
157 (1) "soil" means all of the overburden materials that overlay a natural
deposit of minerals, organic or inorganic, and also means such overburden
materials after removal from their natural state by mining operations.
157 SEC. 102. Congressional Findings and Declarations. The Congress finds
and declares -
157 (a) that mining operations are essential activities affecting interstate
commerce which contribute to the economic well-being, security and general
welfare of the Nation;
157 (b) that there are mining operations on public and private lands in the
Nation which adversely affect the environment by destroying of diminishing the
availability of public and private land for commercial, industrial,
recreational, agricultural, and forestry purposes, by causing erosion and
landslides, by contributing to floods and the pollution of waters and air, by
destroying fish and wildlife habitat and impairing natural beauty, by
frustrating efforts to conserve soil, water and other natural resources, by
destroying public and private property, and by creating hazards to life and
property;
157 (c) that the initial and principal continuing responsibility for
developing and enforcing environmental regulations for mining operations should
rest with the States;
157 (d) that the cooperative effort established by this Act is necessary to
the prevention and elimination of the adverse environmental effects of present
and future mining operations; and
157 (e) that it is the purpose of this Act to encourage a nationwide effort
to regulate mining operations to prevent or substantially reduce their adverse
environmental effects, to stimulate and encourage the development of new,
environmentally sound mining and reclamation techniques, and to assist the
States in carrying out programs for those purposes.
158 TITLE II - ENVIRONMENTAL REGISTRATION FOR MINING OPERATIONS
158 Section 201. State environmental regulations for mining operations
158 (a) Each State, after public hearings and within two years of the date
of enactment of this Act, may submit to the Secretary for review and approval or
disapproval in accordance with this section State environmental regulations for
mining operations on all lands within such State, except Federally-owned land or
land held in trust by the United States for Indians. A State may at any time
thereafter submit revisions to such regulations to the Secretary for review and
approval or disapproval in accordance with this section. The Secretary shall
approve the regulations or revision of such regulations submitted to him if in
his judgment:
158 (1) the regulations require that, for any mining operation or mining
operation activity, as defined in section 101(b), not in existence on the date
of the Secretary's approval of the regulations, the operator proposing to
initiate such operation or activity must obtain a permit prior to the
commencement thereof from a State agency established to administer the
regulations and provide that such a permit will be issued only after the
operator (i) files a mining and reclamation plan describing the manner in which
his reclamation activity will be conducted showing that such activity will be
conducted in a manner consistent with the regulations and (ii) establishes to
the satisfaction of the State agency that the operator has the physical and
financial capacity to conduct his mining and reclamation activity in accordance
with the reclamation plan;
158 (2) the regulations require operators of mining operations in existence
on the date of the Secretary's approval of the regulations to obtain permits in
accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection within one year of such date,
except that (i) permits issued for such operations may allow up to two years
from the date of the Secretary's approval of the regulations for the operators
to come into compliance with performance standards adopted or designated under
paragraphs (b)(3), (b)(4), and (b)(5) of this section; and (ii) permits issued
for such operations producing less than 10,000 tons per year of mine run
material may allow departures from the performance standards for up to five
years from the date of the Secretary's approval of the regulations, to the
extent found by the State agency to be necessary on the basis of the small size
of such operations, their significance to the local economy, and the extent of
possible environmental damage;
158 (3) the regulations contain requirements designed to insure that the
mining operation (i) will not result in a violation of applicable water or air
effluent or emission standards and regulations, (ii) will control or prevent
erosion or flooding, release of toxic substances, accidental subsidence of mined
areas or land or rock slides, underground, outcrop, or refuse bank fires, damage
to fish, or wildlife or their habitat, or public or private property, and
hazards to public health and safety, and (iii) will be in conformance with any
State land use planning process or program;
158 (4) the regulations require reclamation of mined areas and that
reclamation work be performed as an integral part of the mining operation and be
completed within reasonable prescribed time limits, and that, in the case of
mining operations for which the Secretary has adopted performance standards;
except that in order to encourage the reworking and reclamation of previously
mined areas, the regulations may allow reclamation to depart from the
specifications adopted by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(ii) in
those individual cases where the State determines that the cost of reclamation
on a previously mined area in strict compliance with such specifications is
impracticable, and that the environmental quality of the entire permit area
would, on balance, be clearly enhanced;
159 (5) the regulations allow the State agency, in order to encourage
advances in mining and reclamation practices, to authorize departures in
individual cases on an experimental basis from the specifications adopted by the
Secretary pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(ii) of this section, if the experimental
practices are potentially more or at least as environmentally protective, during
and after mining operations, as those required by such specifications, and if
the mining operation is no larger than necessary to determine the effectiveness
and economic feasibility of the experimental practices;
159 (6) the regulations require posting of performance bonds or other
equally appropriate financial arrangements, in amounts and upon conditions at
all times sufficient to insure the reclamation of mine areas in the event that
the regulations are not complied with or that reclamation is not completed in
accordance with the mining and reclamation plan;
159 (7) the regulations provide for filing, updating, and permanent
retention of engineering maps of all active surface and underground mining
operations and of all inactive surface and underground mining operations for
which engineering or other maps are available;
159 (8) the regulations provide that the responsible State agency will
identify areas or types of areas in the State which, if mined, cannot be
reclaimed with existing techniques to satisfy applicable performance standards
adopted by the Secretary, and that the State agency will not issue permits to
mine such areas until it determines that the technology is available to satisfy
applicable performance standards;
159 (9) the regulations provide that regular reports will be made to the
Secretary concerning the progress made by the State in carrying out the purposes
of this title;
159 (10) the regulations require operators to make periodic reports to the
responsible State agency, showing the progress of mining operations and of all
required reclamation activities, and require regular monitoring by the State
agency of environmental changes in mined areas to assess the effectiveness of
the environmental regulations for mining operations;
159 (11) the regulations designate a single agency, or with the Secretary's
approval, an interstate organization upon which the responsibility for
administering and enforcing the regulations is conferred by the State or States
and will insure full participation of those agencies responsible for State land
use planning and management, air quality, water quality and other areas of
environmental protection;
159 (12) the State agency or interstate organization responsible for the
administration and enforcement of the regulations has vested in it the
regulatory and other authorities necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act
including, but not limited to, the authority to obtain the cessation of mining
operations for violation of applicable laws and regulatitons adopted pursuant to
this Act;
160 (13) the regulations were developed with full participation of all
interested Federal departments and agencies, State agencies, local governments,
and other interested bodies and groups;
160 (14) the regulations provide for regular review and updating, and for
public notice and an opportunity for public participation in their revision;
160 (15) funding and manpower are or will be committed to the administration
and enforcement of the regulations sufficient to carry out the purposes of this
title;
160 (16) the regulations are authorized by law and will become effective no
later than sixty days after approval by the Secretary;
160 (17) training programs will be established, as necessary, for persons
engaged in mining operations and in enforcement of enviromental regulations;
160 (18) the regulations are compatible to the maximum extent practicable
with approved regulations of adjacent States; and
160 (19) the regulations which are developed by the State agency to meet or
exceed performance standards should consider in addition to relative degrees of
environmental protection, the relative costs involved;
160 (b)(1) In choosing among specifications or other requirements which
satisfy the performance standards in this subsection the Secretary shall
consider in addition to the relative degrees of environmental protection, the
relative costs involved.
160 (b)(2) The criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this section shall be
further elaborated by the Secretary through guidelines which will be issued
within 90 days after enactment of this Act and revised periodically as the
Secretary deems appropriate.
160 (3) Within 180 days after enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall by
regulation adopt performance standards for the reclamation of mined areas
affected by surface mining operations. Those performance standards shall
include specifications that will ensure (i) that mined areas will be returned,
as soon as feasible, to their original contour or to a contour similarly
appropriate considering the surrounding topography and possible future uses of
the areas; (ii) that there is no deposition of spoil material, except as
necessary to the original excavation of earth in a new mining operation, on the
undisturbed or natural surface within or adjacent to the mined area, and that
reclamation be conducted concurrently with the mining operation; except that the
State agency may allow departures from such specifications either through a
State approved program pursuant to (a)(5) of this section or if the operator
demonstrates that such departures will provide equal or better protection of
life, property, and environmental quality; (iii) that throughout the mined area,
soil conditions be stabilized and water management be conducted such that
landslides are prevented, erosion is minimized, and water pollution by siltation
and by acid, highly mineralized or toxic material drainage is minimized; and
(iv) that the original type or similarly appropriate type of vegetation will be
re-established on the area disturbed by the mining operations as soon after the
soil handling is completed as feasible. He shall revise all such performance
standards periodically as necessary.
161 (4) Within 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
by regulation adopt performance standards for the reclamation of areas affected
by open pit mining, taking into consideration the unique nature of such
operations. Those performance standards should ensure (i) that new mined areas
should be returned, to the extent feasible, to approximately their original
contour or to a contour similarly appropriate considering the surrounding
topography and possible future uses of the area; (ii) that, to the extent
feasible, there is no permanent deposition of spoil material or undisturbed or
natural surfaces within or adjacent to the mined area; (iii) that, throughout
the permit area, soil conditions will be stabilized and water management
conducted, such that landslides are prevented, erosion is minimized, and
pollution of water, including that in water impoundments created by the mining
operation, by siltation and by acid, highly mineralized and toxic material
drainage is minimized; and (iv) that, to the extent feasible, original type or
similarly appropriate type vegetation will be re-established on the disturbed
land areas. He shall revise all such performance standards periodically as
necessary.
161 (5) Within one year after enactment of this Act the Secretary shall by
regulation adopt performance standards for reclamation of areas affected by
underground mining operations in order to prevent, minimize or correct
environmental harm, including standards for minimizing subsidence and the
continuing discharge of acid, mineralized and toxic material drainage. He shall
revise all such performance standards periodically as necessary.
161 (c) To advise the Secretary in developing guidelines and performance
standards under subsection (b) of this section, there is established an Advisory
Committee composed or representatives from the Departments of Agriculture and
Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Tennessee Valley Authority
and the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Council of State Governments, and
such other respresentatives as the Secretary may designate. In order to ensure
consistency with the purposes of the Clean Air Act and the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, the Secretary shall obtain the concurrence of the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in those aspects of the
guidelines and regulations under subsection (b) which affect air or water
quality.
161 (d) The Secretary shall not approve regulations submitted by a State
pursuant to this section until he has solicited the views of Federal agencies
principally interested in such regulations. In order to ensure consistency with
the purposes of the Clean Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act,
the Secretary shall obtain the concurrence of the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency in those aspects of each State's regulations
which affect air or water quality. The Secretary shall approve or reject the
State regulations within 180 days after such regulations are filed.
161 (e) If the Secretary approves the regulations or revision thereof
submitted to him by a State for approval, he shall conduct a continuing review
and evaluation of the effectiveness of the regulations and the administration
and enforcement thereof. As a result of the evaluation and review the Secretary
may determine that:
162 (1) the State has failed to enforce the regulations adequately;
162 (2) the State's regulations require revision as a result of experience
or the guidelines on regulations issued by the Secretary pursuant to section
201(b);
162 (3) the State has otherwise failed to comply with the purposes of this
Act.
162 Upon making such determination the Secretary shall notify the State and
suggest appropriate action, remedies, or revisions to the regulations affording
the State an opportunity for a hearing. If within a reasonable time, as
determined by the Secretary, the State has not taken appropriate action as
determined by the Secretary, the Secretary shall withdraw his approval of the
regulations, and issue regulations for such State under section 202 of this
title. After withdrawal of his approval and pending the issuance of regulations
under section 202, the Secretary may administer and enforce the State
regulations. Following the issuance of regulations under section 202 and while
they are in effect, the Secretary is authorized to administer and enforce such
regulations within such State.
162 Section 202. Federal regulation of mining operations
162 (a) If, at the expiration of two years after the date of enactment of
this Act, a State has failed to submit enviromental regulations for mining
operations, or has submitted regulations which have been disapproved and within
such period has failed to submit revised regulations for approval, the Secretary
shall promptly issue environmental regulations for mining operations within such
State. The Federal regulations issued by the Secretary for a particular State
shall meet the requirements of the principles set forth in subsection (a) and
(b) of section 201 of this Act.
162 (b) Regulations under this section shall be issued pursuant to the
Federal Rule making procedures set forth in 5 U.S.C. 553.
162 (c) The Secretary may from time to time revise such regulations in
accordance with the procedure prescribed in 5 U.S.C. 553.
162 Section 203
162 Where the Secretary administers and enforces the program for the State,
or when the Secretary administers and enforces State regulations under section
201(e) of this title, he shall recover the full cost of administering and
enforcing the program through the use of mining permit charges to be levied
against operators of mining operations within the State.
162 Section 204. Termination of Federal regulations
162 If a State submits proposed State regulations to the Secretary after
Federal regulations have been issued pursuant to section 202 of this title, and
if the Secretary approves such regulations, such Federal regulations shall cease
to be applicable to the State at such time as the State regulations become
effective. Such Federal regulations, as changed or modified by the Secretary,
shall again become effective if the Secretary subsequently withdraws his
approval of the State regulations pursuant to subsection (e) of section 201 of
this title.
163 Section 205. Inspections and investigations
163 The Secretary is authorized to make such inspections and investigations
of mining operations and mined areas as he considers necessary or appropriate to
evaluate the administration and enforcement of any State's regulations, or to
develop or enforce Federal regulations, or otherwise to carry out the purposes
of this Act, and for such purposes authorized representatives of the Secretary
shall have the right of entry to any mining operation and into any mined areas.
In order to enforce the right of entry into a specific mining operation or mined
area the Secretary may obtain a warrant from the appropriate district court to
authorize such entry.
163 Section 206. Injunctions
163 At the request of the Secretary, the Attorney General may institute a
civil action in a district court of the United States or a Federal District
Court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam or the
High Court of American Samoa for an injunction or other appropriate order (1) to
prevent any operator of a mining operation from engaging in mining operations
in violation of Federal regulations issued under section 202 of this title or
State regulations which the Secretary is authorized to enforce under section
201(e) of this title; (2) to prevent an operator of a mining operation from
placing in commerce the minerals produced by a mining operation in violation of
State regulations approved under section 201 of this title; (3) to enforce a
warrant issued under section 205 of this title; or (4) to collect a penalty
under section 207(a) of this title. The district court of the United States or
a Federal District Court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands,
and Guam or the High Court of American Samoa for the district in which such
operator of a mining operation resides or is doing business shall have
jurisdiction to issue such injunction or order.
163 Section 207. Penalties.
163 (a) If any person fails to comply with any regulation issued under
section 202 of this title for a period of fifteen days after notice of such
failure, the Secretary may order cessation of such person's mining operations
and such person shall be liable for a civil penalty of not more than $1 000 for
each day of continuance of such failure after said fifteen days.
163 (b) Any person who knowingly violates any regulation issued pursuant to
section 202 of this title shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine not
exceeding $1 0,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both.
163 (c) The penalties prescribed in this section shall be in addition to any
other remedies afforded by this title or by any other law or regulation.
163 Section 208
163 (a) Review of the Secretary's action in (i) promulgating any standards
of performance under section 201(b)(2), (b)(3), (b)(4), and (b)(5); and (ii)
approving or disapproving a State environmental regulations and standards or
revision to those under section 201(a); may be had by any interested person in
the Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States for the Federal judicial
district in which such person resides or transacts such business upon
application by such person. Any such application shall be made within 90 days
from the date of such determination, approval, promulgation, issuance or denial,
or after such date only if such application is based solely on grounds which
arose after such ninetieth day.
164 (b) Action of the Secretary with respect to which review could have been
obtained under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall not be subject to judicial
review in any civil or criminal proceeding for enforcement.
164 Section 209. Research.
164 The Secretary is authorized to conduct or promote research, or training
programs to carry out the purposes of this title. In so doing, the Secretary
may enter into contracts with institutions, agencies, organizations, or
individuals and make grants to non-profit organizations and collect and make
available information resulting therefrom.
164 Section 210. Grants.
164 (a) The Secretary is authorized to make a grant to any State for the
purpose of assisting such State in developing, administering and enforcing
environmental regulations under this title provided that such grants do not
exceed 80% of the program development costs incurred during the year preceding
approval by the Secretary and do not exceed 60% of the total costs incurred
during the first year following approval, 45% during the second year following
approval, 30% during the third year following approval and 15% during the fourth
year following approval, at which time the Federal grants shall cease.
164 (b) The Secretary is authorized to cooperate with and provide
nonfinancial assistance to any State for the purpose of assisting it in the
administration and enforcement of its regulations. Such cooperation and
assistance may include:
164 (1) technical assistance and training, including provision of necessary
curricular and instructional materials, in the administration and enforcement of
the State regulations or program; or
164 (2) assistance in preparing and maintaining a continuing inventory of
mining operations and mined areas in such State for the purposes of evaluating
the effectiveness of its environmental regulations for mining operations
programs and identifying current and future needs of the State's activities
under this Act.
164 Section 211
164 In extending technical assistance to States under section 210 and in the
enforcement of regulations issued by the Secretary under section 202 concerning
matters relating to the reclamation of areas affected by surface mining, the
Secretary may utilize the services of the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and may transfer funds to
cover the cost thereof.
164 Section 212
164 Any records, reports, or information obtained under this Act shall be
available to the public, except that upon a showing satisfactory to the
Secretary by any person that records, reports, or information, or particular
part thereof, to which the Secretary has access under this Act if made public,
would divulge methods or processes entitled to protection as trade secrets of
such person, the Secretary shall consider such record, report, or information or
particular portion thereof confidential in accordance with the purposes of
section 1905 of title 18 of the United States Code, except that such record,
report, or information may be disclosed to other officers, employees, or
authorized representatives of the United States concerned with carrying out this
Act or when relevant in any proceeding under this Act.
165 Section 213. Rules and regulations
165 The Secretary is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as
he considers necessary to carry out the provisions of this title.
165 Section 214. Authorization of Appropriations
165 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may
be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
165 TITLE III
165 Section 301
165 (a) The heads of all Federal departments or agencies which have
jurisdiction over land on which mining operations are permitted are authorized
to promulgate environmental regulations to govern such mining operations. Such
department or agency heads shall issue regulations to assure at least the same
degree of environmental protection and reclamation on lands under their
jurisdiction as is required by any law and regulation established under an
approved State program for the State in which such land is situated. Each
Federal department and agency shall cooperate with the Secretary and the States,
to the greatest extent practicable, in carrying out the provisions of this Act.
165 (b) Nothing in this Act or in any State regulations approved pursuant to
it shall be construed to conflict with any of the following Acts or with any
rule or regulation promulgated thereunder:
165 (1) the Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act (80 Stat. 772; 30
U.S.C. 721-740);
165 (2) the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (83 Stat. 742);
165 (3) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (79 Stat. 903), as amended,
the State laws enacted pursuant thereto, or other Federal laws relating to
preservation of water quality;
165 (4) the Clean Air Act, as amended (79 Stat. 992; 42 U.S.C. 1857); and
165 (5) the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended (79 Stat. 997; 42 U.S.C.
3251).
165 Section 302. Separability
165 If any provision of this Act of the applicability thereof to any person
or circumstance is held invalid the remainder of this Act and the application of
such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
165 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington,
D.C., April 9, 1973.
165 Hon. JAMES A. HALEY, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular
Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.
165 DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: We have recently conducted a careful review of the
Administration's proposed Mined Area Protection Act, introduced as H.R. 4863, in
an effort to identify those provisions which might be changed to further
strengthen the bill.
166 Mindful that adequate time must be allowed for the Federal Government
and the State Governments to develop the stringent program provided by this
bill, we have reduced a number of our time requirements to achieve the
earliest realistic implementation of this program. We again urge the enactment
of H.R. 4868 with these amendments.
166 Our amendments are attached to this letter.
166 Sincerely yours,
166 JOHN C. WHITAKER, Under Secretary of the Interior.
166 Enclosure.
INTRODUCTION
51 H.R. 11500 would establish a national program for the regulation of
surface mining of coal as well as the surface effects of underground coal
mining. As is discussed below, the legislation is timely both in terms of
adequate environmental protection - which has been too long delayed - and in
view of the certain expansion of the Nation's coal industry. The rules which
will govern the extraction of coal by surface methods need to be established so
that industry can proceed to grow and develop in an orderly and environmentally
acceptable fashion.
51 The purpose of H.R. 11500 is to assure the establishment of a nationwide
program for the regulation of surface coal mining in order to reduce
environmental impacts and to provide for the reclamation of previously mined and
unreclaimed lands by -
51 (1) covering all coal surface mining (contour and area stripping and
open-pit operations), the surface impacts of coal processing from surface and
underground mines;
51 (2) establishing administrative, environmental, and enforcement standards
for regulatory programs to be administered by the States on non-Federal lands
and by tribes on lands within Indian Reservations;
51 (3) providing authority for a Federal regulatory program to augment State
or Tribal programs if necessary on non-Federal lands and establish a Federal
regulatory program for Federal lands;
51 (4) establishing a program for the reclamation of previously mined and
inadequately reclaimed lands;
51 (5) establishing a program for designating areas unsuitable for surface
coal mining and a more limited program for minerals other than coal;
51 (6) establishing a new Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement for implementing provisions on this Act;
51 (7) establishing a Federal grant-in-aid program to the States for State
mining and mineral resource research institutes;
51 (8) establishing procedures for public review of the administrative and
enforcement program through access to data, hearings, inspections and standing
to sue for damages and for non-compliance with the Act; and
51 (9) recognizing the rights of surface owners and off-site water users.
51 Following the discussion of the need for legislation, the most
significant elements of the bill are described in greater detail.
NEED
52 A. Coal and Other Energy Resources
52 Coal has always been a major contributor to the United States energy
needs. For various reasons, the growth of the coal industry, in terms of U.S.
consumption per year, has been relatively stagnant, or even declining during
past decade. (see Table No. 1 p. 53). In 1973, coal contributed only 18
percent of the Nation's energy supply, while petroleum and natural gas combined
to produce approximately 77 percent. Hydropower supplied a further 4 percent
and nuclear, 1 percent.
52 In spite of the currently small proportion of the energy market served by
the coal industry, coal repreesnts over 90 percent of our total hydrocarbon
energy reserves. (see Table No. 2, p. 53). This fact alone dictates that coal
will be called upon to supply a significant proportion of our energy needs in
the years to come. The further fact that oil and gas are in short or uncertain
supply means that coal is likely to become an increasingly important source of
fuel for the Nation through the year 2000. (see Table No. 3, p. 53).
52 According to the latest Bureau of Mines figures, coal production in 1973
amounted to 591 million tons. Total U.S. consumption was approximately 556
million tons, while exports amounted to 52.870 million tons. The overwhelming
majority of domestic consumption was in electrical power generation
(approximately 69 percent). Other uses included: bunker fuels, beehive coke
plants, oven coke plants, and other manufacturing and retail deliveries (see
Table No. 4, p. 53). Of the total 1973 U.S. production of coal, almost 50
percent was produced by surface mining methods, representing a sharp increase in
the past few years.
52 B. Disturbed lands
52 Surface mining of coal in the United States involves the temporary or
permanent degradation of vast tracts of land. With some outstanding exceptions,
there has been little effort on the part of coal operators to restore disturbed
areas to their previous levels of productive capacity.In the light of an
unprecedented growth rate for the surface mine industry (see Table No. 5, p. 54)
the passage of laws regulating coal surface mining in some 29 states has proven
to be generally ineffective in bringing about necessary reclamation of the
disturbed land areas.
52 A number of experts in government and industry think the continuation of
the majority of the rapid growth in the coal surface mining industry will most
likely occur in the West. The imminent disturbance of these lands is due to the
large quantities of strippable reserves located primarily in the Northern Great
Plains region. A National Petroleum Council report indicates that there are
some 32 billion tons of bituminous, sub-bituminous coal and lignite in the West
which are recoverable through surface mining techniques. (see Table Nos. 6 and
7, pp. 54-55).The fact that many of these deposits are extremely thick, as
compared with those of the eastern and mid-western United States makes them
economically attractive. Federal regulation of this development is made
mandatory by the fact that 80 percent of Western coal is owned by the Federal
government. The total coal reserves located on Indian lands is estimated by the
U.S. Geological Survey to be in the vicinity of 25 billion tons.
53 A report issued by the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of
Agriculture concerning the status of land disturbed as of January 1, 1974,
indicates the scope of the problem state by state.Quoting a previous estimate by
the Department of Interior to the effect that "153,000 acres of land were
disturbed in 1964 by strip and surface mining", the report notes that in the
past two years that rate has been exceeded by 35 percent.
53 "The present concerns about energy, combined with the knowledge about our
huge coal reserves make it quite likely that the annual rate of land disturbance
will be even greater," the report concludes. (see Table No. 9, p. 56).
*2*
TABLE
1. -
Annua
l
U.S.
consu
mptio
n of
bitum
inous
coal,
1963-
73
*2*(
In
thous
ands
of
tons)
1963 409,225
1964 431,116
1965 459,164
1966 486,266
1967 480,416
1968 498,930
1969 507,275
1970 517,158
1971 494,873
1972 516,776
n1
1973 556,022
53 n1 Preliminary figures.
53 Source: "Bituminous Coal Data", 1972 edition, National Coal Association.
*2*TABLE 2. - TOTAL
U.S. HYDROCARBON
RECOVERABLE
RESERVES
Number Times1015Btu Percent
Coal (billion tons) 182.0 4,136 88.4
Oil (billion
barrels) 48.3 270 5.8
Natural gas
(trillion cubic
feet) 266.0 274 5.8
53 Source: Bureau of Mines.
*5*TABLE 3. - COAL
AS AN ENERGY SOURCE
IN THE UNITED
STATES, PROJECTED
*5*[USDI, 1972,
table 18]
Year Total energy demand Energy demand for coal
Percent Percent
Trillion Btu increase Trillion Btu increase
1971 69,000 14,000
1975 80,000 16 16,000 14
1980 96,000 39 18,000 29
1985 116,500 69 24,000 72
2000 192,000 178 34,000
142
53 Source: U.S. Energy through the Year 2000. U.S. Department of interior,
December 1972.
*2*TABLE 4. - 1973 U.S. domestic coal consumption n1
*2*[In thousands of tons]
Electrical power utilities 386,879
Bunker fuels 116
Beehive coke plants 1,310
Oven coke plants 92,324
Steel and rolling mills 6,356
Other manufacturing 60,837
Retail dealer deliveries 8,200
53 n1 Preliminary figures.
53 Source: Bureau of Mines.
54
*3*TABLE 5. - AMOUNT OF
TOTAL U.S. COAL PRODUCTION
PROVIDED BY SURFACE MINING
Total tonnage coal
produced (in million short Percentage produced by
Year tons) surface mining
1973 n1 591 49.0
1972 595 48.9
1971 552 50.0
1970 603 43.8
1969 561 38.1
1968 545 36.9
1967 553 36.9
1 966 534 36.5
1965 512 35.0
1964 487 33.9
1963 459 33.2
1962 422 33.4
1961 403 32.3
1960 416 31.5
1959 412 31.3
1958 410 30.0
1957 493 26.8
1956 501 27.0
1955 465 26.2
1954 392 26.3
1953 457 23.4
54 n1 Preliminary figures.
54 Source: Bureau of Mines.
*6*TABLE 6. -
SUMMARY OE
ESTIMATED
RESERVES OF
STRIPPABLE
BITUMINOUS
COAL IN THE
UNITED STATES
N1
*6*[Million
short tons]
Minimum coal Maximum Economic
Remaining Available bed overburden stripping
Region and strippable strippable thickness thickness ratio
State reserves reserves (inches) (feet) (feet:feet)
Appalachia:
Alabama 607 134 14 120 24:1
Kentucky -
East 4,609 781 28 120 14:1
Maryland 150 21 28 120 15:1
Ohio 5,566 1,033 28 120 15:1
Pennsylvania 2,272 752 28 120 15:1
Tennessee 483 74 28 120 19:1
Virginia 2,741 258 28 120 15:1
West virginia 11,230 2,118 28 120 15:1
Subtotal 27,658 5,171
Midwest:
Arkansas 200 149 14 60 30:1
Illinois 18,845 3,247 18 150 18:1
Indiana 2,741 1,096 14 90 20:1
Iowa 1,000 180 28 120 18:1
Kansas 1,388 375 12 120 15:1
Kentucky -
West 4,746 977 24 150 18:1
Michigan 6 1 28 100 20:1
Missouri 3,425 1,160 12 120 15:1
Oklahoma 434 111 12 120 15:1
Subtotal 32,785 7,296
Rocky
Mountain and
Pacific
Coast:
Alaska n2 1,201 480 14 120 10:1
Colorado 870 500 60 50-120 4:1-10:1
Utah 252 150 60 39-150 3:1-8:1
Subtotal 2,323 1,130
Total n3 62,766 13,597
54 n1 Based on recent Bureau of Mines study of strippable coal reserves of the
United States.
54 n2 Includes 478,000,000 tons of reserves in Northern Alaska fields (North
Slope) that may not be economically strippable at this time.
54 n3 Strippable bituminous coal reserves for Idaho, Montana, New Mexico,
and Washington were not estimated.
54 Source: "U.S. Energy Outlook, Coal Availability," National Petroleum
Council, 1973.
55
*6*TABLE 7. -
SUMMARY OF
ESTIMATED
RESERVES OF
STRIPPABLE
SUBBITUMINOUS
AND LIGNITE
COAL IN THE
UNITED STATES
n1
*6*[Million
short tons]
Minimum Maximum Economic
Remaining Available coalbed overburden stripping
Region and strippable strippable thickness thickness ratio
State reserves reserves (inches) (feet) (feet:feet)
Subbituminous n2
Rocky
Mountain and
Pacific
Coast:
Alaska 6,190 n3 3,926 60 120 12:1
Arizona 400 387 60 130 8:1
California 100 25 60 100 1:1
Montana 7,813 3,400 60 60-125 2:1-18:1
New Mexico 3,307 2,474 60 60-90 8:1-12:1
Washington 500 135 60 100 10:1
Wyoming 22,028 13,971 60 60-200 1.5:1-10:1
Total 40,338 24,318
Lignitet
Southwest:
Arkansas 32 25 60 100 15:1
Texas 3,272 1,309 60 90 15:1
Subtotal 3,304 1,334
Rocky
Mountain and
Pacific
Coast:
Alaska 8 5 0 0 0
Montana 7,058 3,497 60 60-125 2:1-18:1
North Dakota 5,239 2,075 60 50-125 3:1-12:1
South Dakota 399 160 60 100 12:1
Subtotal 12,704 5,737
Total 16,008 7,071
Total all
ranks 119,112 44,986
55 n1 Based on recent unpublished Bureau of Mines study of strippable coal
reserves of the United States.
55 n2 Subbituminous coal reserves not estimated for Colorado and Oregon;
lignite reserves not estimated for Alabama, Kansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
55 n3 Includes 179,000,000 tons of undifferentiated subbitumous-lignite and
3,387,000,000 tons of subbituminous coal reserves in the Northern Alaska Fields
(North Slope) that may not be economically strippable at this time.
55 Source: U.S. Energy Outlook, Coal Availability, National Petroleum
Council, 1973.
56
*3*TABLE 9. - STATUS OF
LAND DISTURBED BY COAL
SURFACE MINING IN THE
UNITED STATES AND NEEDING
RECLAMATION AS OF JAN. 1,
1974, BY STATES
*3*[Acres]
Reclamation not required Reclamation required by
State by law law
Alabama 57,878 118
Alaska 2,400
Arizona 150
Arkansas 9,451 494
California
Caribbean area
Colorado 4,687 641
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho 175
Illinois 49,748 20,891
Indiana 2,500 6,000
Iowa 25,650
Kansas 43,700 2,500
Kentucky 69,000 117,000
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland 2,250 3,851
Massachusetts
Michigan 500
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri 72,506 1,250
Montana 300 300
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico 25,798
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota 10,000 200
Ohio 23,926 45,825
Oklahoma 13,858 6,350
Oregon
Pennsylvania 159,000 33,000
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota 790
Tennessee 20,500 5,200
Texas 5,470
Utah 120
Vermont
Virginia 18,000 5,014
Washington 471 1,101
West Virginia 25,720 51,560
Wisconsin 234 76
Wyoming 3,078 2,828
Total 621,887 337,081
56 Source: U.S. Soil Conservation Service.
56 C. Social and Environmental Impacts
56 The social and environmental impacts of surface and underground coal
mining have been enormous. The most serious effects are to be seen in the
Appalachian region, where the entire socio-economic infrastructure of parts of
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee and Alabama
has been profoundly affected by decades of extracting coal from the rich
bituminous deposits.As a consequence of the hazardous environment associated
with both underground and surface mining of coal, the health and safety of
people living and working near the coal mines of the region are in more or less
constant peril. One example of exposure of the general public to dangerous
conditions is the disastrous collapse of a mine waste impoundment on Buffalo
Creek, West Virginia, in which 124 people were killed and 4,000 rendered
homeless in 1972.
57 The side-effects of coal mining in the humid areas of the East and
mid-West-acid drainage which has ruined an estimated 11,000 miles of streams;
the loss of prime hardwood forests and the destruction of wildlife habitat by
strip mining; the degrading of productive farm land; recurrent landslides;
siltation and sedimentation of the river systems; the destructive movement of
boulders; and perpetually burning mine waste dumps - these constitute a
pervasive and far-reaching ambience. Tragically, coal mining in America has
left its crippling mark upon the very communities which labored most to produce
the energy which once impelled the Nation's industrial plant and now generates
much of its electrical power.
57 In the western States and the Northern Great Plains region the discovery
of vast reserves of lignite and sub-bituminous coal has inspired plans for the
expansion of coal surface mining on a very large scale, thus major adverse
impacts to the region's land and people lie ahead. Since the climate is arid
and water therefore in short supply, the removal of thick coal seams and the
consequent disruption of stream and river channels forming part of the
hydrologic regime of the area will pose difficult and in some cases
insurmountable reclamation problems. A 1973 study by the National Academy of
Sciences entitled, "Rehabilitation Potential of Western Coal Lands" has this to
say about re-establishing vegetation in these circumstances:
57 The potential for rehabilitation of any surface mined area in the West is
critically site specific. Nevertheless, some broad principles apply to all
sites. The rehabilitation of a specific site will depend on the detailed
ecological and physical conditions at that site, the projected land use for the
site after mining, the available technology that is applied to the site, and the
skill in applying that technology.
57 We believe that those areas receiving 10 inches (250 mm) or more of
annual rainfall can usually be rehabilitated provided that evaporation is not
excessive, if the landscapes are properly shaped, and if techniques that have
been demonstrated successful in rehabilitating disturbed rangeland are applied.
(p.3)
57 The drier areas, those receiving less than 10 inches (250 mm) of annual
rainfall or with high evapotranspiration rates, pose a more difficult problem.
Revegetation of these areas can probably be accomplished only with major,
sustained inputs of water, fertilizer, and management. Range seeding
experiments have had only limited success in the drier areas. Rehabilitation of
the drier sites may occur naturally on a time scale that is unacceptable to
society, because it may take decades, or even centuries, for natural succession
to reach stable conditions. (p.3-4)
57 Since much of the Nation's prime grazing and farming land is located in
the band of western states where these immense coal deposits are located - North
Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah - the possibility for
permanently despoiling thousands of acres of productive agricultural lands is
very real indeed, as the Committee is well aware. Other land uses associated
with surface coal mining and concommitant power and fuel development, are also
expected to impact the region as poulation inflow creates residential,
commercial and industrial growth in sparsely settled areas. Over-all water
demands, socioeconomic stresses and pollution loads of various kinds brought by
expected westward migration provide cause for genuine concern.
58 Officials, coal operators and other interested citizens testifying before
the Subcommittee on Environment and the Subcommittee on Mines and Mining in 1973
touched on many of these environmental issues. The following sampling indicates
abreadth of concern behind the strong dissatisfaction with existing state
regulation of surface mining, evident throughout the hearings.
58 Joe Begley (Blackey, Letcher County, Kentucky):
58 Strip mining is completely destroying hte land, its hills and its people.
For 130 years people here have lived hard lives, no money, no medicine, no
education. They live in fear of the only industry they have known, the coal
industry - and what that industry has done to the people here in the past. Now
our valuable minerals and fossil fuels are being taken at even a faster rate and
yet our people starve to death living on the top of a gold mine . . . Strip
mining means just what it says. It strips the people of everything they have .
. .
58 Russell Train (then Chairman, President's Council on Environmental
Quality):
58 Additional damage can occur from strip mining - devastated wildlife
habitat, landslides, silt and acid choked streams, and a blighted landscape. In
particularly rich farmland, area strip mining can adversely affect future
fertility, as it can the opportunities for revegetation in the arid West.
58 Dr. Moid Ahmad (Professor of Hydrology and Geophysics, Ohio University):
58 Satellite pictures indicate that the scars due to strip mining are deep
and permanent and show that the soil and hydrological characteristics are
different than the surrounding land.Strip mines are producing acid water, salty
water in the West, and toxic elements. They will continue to produce these for
a long time.
58 Liane B. Russell (Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning):
58 We supported passage of the Tennessee Strip Mine Law of 1967; and when
this law and its enforcement proved to be quite inadequate to control the
ravages of ever-increasing strip-mining in our State, we drafted and supported
strong, yet still moderate, State legislation . . . We have also been in
frequent contact with the Division of Surface Mining and Reclamation of the
Tennessee Department of Conservation in an attempt to promote strong
administration. These State efforts have been only partially successful, both
at the legislative and administrative level.
59 E. A. Nephew (Oak Ridge Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee):
59 There is much that can be learned from the German experience in restoring
surface mine lands. Their program has been in effect for some twenty years and
has helped greatly to minimize social dislocations and environmental damage from
brown coal mining.
59 Ernest Preate (Attorney, Scranton, Pennsylvania):
59 Too often in the past the purpose has been to shut (citizens) out of
participating in these extremely important matters with a result that abuse and
non-enforcement of State surface mining laws has created the very groundswell of
public opinion which has necessitated this committee and this Congress focusing
their attention on this problem . . . with respect to the drafting of a strong
Federal surface mining law.
59 James L. Coen (Blacksburg, Virginia):
59 It is my belief that the State government itself is either unwilling or
unable to deal with the problems strip mining presents. The failure of the
Virginia Legislature to pass the minimal regulatory bill is quite indicative of
the situation. When our State officials fail to provide for the needs of its
constituency, we must turn to our Federal Government for relief.
59 Robert Handley (President, Coal River Improvement Association, West
Virginia):
59 (Answering a question as to whether it is his impression that, whatever
the wording of the law in West Virginia or the way it is administered, the
primary criterion is to enable the operator to maximize his profit) "I think
that is unquestionable."
59 James W. McGlothlin (President, Tri-County Independent Coal Operators
Association, Grundy, Virginia):
59 The majority of my membership and myself included favor a very strong
reclamation program. It will no doubt be expensive, however, I think that the
cost of that is going to be borne by every citizen in the Nation if they decide
to use electricity from coal. I really favor a Federal program to cause each
State to pass a reclamation law and cause each State to enforce it.
59 Walter Heine (Associate Deputy Secretary for Mines and Land Protection,
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources):
59 We would welcome wise Federal legislation in the area of surface mine
control so that the unfair competitive advantage now enjoyed by States which are
allowing poorly regulated strip mining to devastate the countryside, will not
continue.Some of these State programs have been quite ineffective because of
weak laws, inadequate funding, and frankly, political interference.
60 Henry Clandillon Phibbs, II, Sierra Club, Wilson, Wyoming):
60 In Wyoming, there is another factor which makes Federal action
imperative. This is the simple fact that the Federal government owns roughly 50
percent of Wyoming's land surface and roughly 70 percent of its minerals. It is
a fundamental Federal responsibility to protect and utilize these land and
mineral resources for the immediate and long range benefit of the entire
country. This is not a question that can be left to the individual states.
60 Bruce Hagen (Commissioner, North Dakota Public Service Commission):
60 Governor Link says he wants to emphasize that our State law only covers
privately owned and State lands, and he believes that Federal legislation is
urgently needed to cover all lands that are surface mined in the United States.
60 As this sampling of testimony shows, the social and environmental
side-effects of coal surface mining and the related failure of State regulation
to provide an adequate degree of protection, are matters of widespread concern.
At the present time when world food shortages are placing increasing pressures
on America's once-overabundant food and fiber production, the Nation cannot
afford to lose any productive range and farmland. Neither can the Nation afford
to waste prime timberland, nor jeopardize the shrinking water resources of its
river systems, whether in the Rockies or in the Appalachians. The likelihood of
a materials scarcity and the possibility of public health problems resulting
from contaminated or depleted water supplies, should serve to emphasize the
foolhardiness of continuing on the present course in coal surface mining
regulation.
60 D. A National Issue
60 President Nixon has urged the passage of a bill to regulate coal surface
mining nationally. In his message to Congress of January, 1974, he stated:
60 A Mined Area Protection Act is needed to encourage the development of
State programs which permit the mining of coal and other minerals to go forward
in a way that is environmentally safe. The absence of clear legislation in this
area is inhibiting the development of our coal reserves.
60 Across the Nation, church organizations, environmental and public
interest groups and others have reacted against the excesses of coal surface
mining by pressing for enactment of Federal legislation outlawing this method of
coal mining. These groups claim that reclamation has been shown to be neither
feasible nor enforceable. Some industrial groups are equally opposed to strong
Federal enforcement of environmental standards for coal surface mining.
60 The Committee has taken the position that coal surface mining is
essential to fulfilling the Nation's energy requirements. The Committee is
equally convinced that equity requires that environmental and social costs which
have heretofore been relegated to off-site property owners and to the community
at large, must be borne by the producers and users of coal. The means of
accomplishing such restitution is through a system of minimum Federal
enforcement standards established in the Act to protect environmental values and
property rights.
61 E. State regulation of coal surface mining
61 Twenty-nine States, responding to popular discontent regarding the social
and environmental impacts of coal surface mining, at various times have enacted
regulatory legislation imposing more or less stringent controls on the industry.
(see Table No. 10, p. 62). Such laws have been often hailed as the strictest in
the Nation. Citizens who organized and lobbied for the new State laws generally
assumed that old abuses were ended; that the rights of other property-owners
would be respected by surface mine operators; and that the environmental
resources of the community, would be fully protected by the State regulatory
authority.
61 Unfortunately, public confidence in State regulation of surface coal
mining has frequently been misplaced. As environmental problems multiply rather
than recede, popular discontent has reasserted itself. The reasons for the
failure of State regulation vary from State to State.
61 One factor in the disappointing record of State regulation has been the
continued rapid expansion of the industry relative to the States' capability of
managing such mines due to the relatively low cost and high profits of surface
mining. Because it is capital-intensive rather than labor-intensive
consequently offering an alternative to the mounting costs of labor in
underground coal mining operations, surface mining has proved attractive to
operators. In some States, the increasing trend toward surface mining has
placed heavy burdens on the State regulatory agency. Even where State law is
strong and unambiguous, enforcement agencies have often been under-staffed,
under-equipped and under-financed.
61 Political influence is another factor in the failure of State regulation.
Subtle or otherwise, it is often used to moderate enforcement of State laws. In
States where the coal industry dominates the economy as a major source of jobs
and taxes, powerful leverage is available.
61 Some studies have examined the effectiveness of coal surface mining
regulation in two States, Kentucky and West Virginia. In 1972, the Stanford
Research Institute completed a study for the West Virginia legislature, which
was then considering legislation to outlaw surface mining of coal. This study
indicates that although West Virginia coal surface mining had been under
continuous State surveillance since 1941, the results of reclamation
requirements were not impressive. The amount of vegetative cover was selectod
as the prime indicator of overall effectiveness of reclamation required by the
State, and on that basis, a 75 percent vegetative cover was considered
acceptable. The results were as follows:
61 A total of 6,565 linear miles (248,078 acres) were disturbed by contour
strip mining in West Virginia as of October 1971. However, mining affects lands
beyond the limits of the mines themselves. These affected areas could be from 3
to 5 times the area disturbed in mining or from 744,234 acres to 1,240,390
acres.
62 "A total of 2,868 linear miles (109,613 acres) had less than 50 percent
cover and were classified as not reclaimed. An additional 2,001 miles (76,463
acres) had more than 50 percent cover from natural sources. However if the
standard measurement for natural revegetation were raised to 75 percent cover,
most lands would be considered not reclaimed since they have less than this
value. If added to the acres with less than 50 percent cover, more than 71
percent of all surface mined land would be considered not reclaimed . . .
*2* Table No. 10. - Summary of
provisions included in current State
coal surface mining laws
Type of provision Number of States
States having coal surface mining laws 29
Hearings:
Public hearings at time of permit
application
Public hearings at other times 14
Enforcement and penalties:
Closing of surface mine for
noncompliance 15
Fines for violations 23
Bond forfeiture requirements 27
Denial of future permit for violation 25
Imprisonment for violations 7
Bonding:
Bonding requirements 29
Partial bond release 8
Performance standards:
Separation of topsoil 2
Slope limitation on reclaimed area 11
Time period for completion of
reclamation 20
Specified treatment of highwalls 5
Source: Congressional Research Service.
62 In reviewing the policy decisions which led up to this result, the
Stanford Report comments "the Executive Branch has taken the position that there
is no specific proof or evidence that surface mining causes certain types or
degrees of environmental damage, although environmental consequences are
acknowledge. In the absence of being able to provide such proof, the Executive
Branch has interpreted the statute to apply the operational letter of the law
regardless of the environmental consequences . . ."
62 A second study, sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission and the
Commonwealth of Kentucky, Department for Natural Resources and Environmental
Protection, was completed by Ford, Bacon & Davis of New York for MATHEMATICA,
Inc., of Princeton, New Jersey. The focus of this study is on surface mining
and reclamation technologies and the economics thereof. However, some
observations of State regulatory efficiency and recommendations for improvements
were offered in the course of the study. In referring to a marked disparity
between the record of violations per inspection (taken as an indicator of the
alertness of State inspectors) as shown for different inspection areas, the
study noted that the disparity was eventually acknowledged to be the result of
"widespread corruption and inefficiency" in the inspection area in question.
"Division personnel claim knowledge of this prior to disclosure, but noted their
inability to deal effectively with the situation because of political
constraints," the study comments.
63 Apart from the deficiencies of State regulatory systems (although some,
to be sure, function with marked efficiency) perhaps the greatest handicap faced
by conscientious State regulators consists of the very real possibility of job
and tax loss to the State if its laws are strictly enforced so as to drive
surface mine operators into more lenient neighboring States.The ease with which
small surface mining equipment can be transported long distances, and the
relative simplicity of gaining access to coal for surface mining operations,
allows many Eastern operators a high degree of flexibility as to where and when
they will mine coal. Only Federal regulation establishing uniform requirements
can deal with this situation.
63 The obvious inability of the States to develop any coherent,
comprehensive national or regional policy covering the surface mining of
Federally-owned coal or coal under Indian lands is a further limiting factor
related to the broader aspects of regulation already mentioned. Federal grants
to the States and Federal enforcement standards uniformly applied to provide
the necessary minimum protection of environmental values and off-site properties
will ensure continuance of coal surface mining to meet the energy needs of the
Nation, and will also eliminate many if not all of the regulatory problems which
have plagued the States and frustrated citizens of the coal-producing regions.
63 F. Surface mining methods and techniques
63 In contrast to underground coal mining (which requires removing coal from
the earth), surface mining consists of removing earth from the coal. If the
size of the coal deposit justifies the cost of large equipment, surface mining
operators may penetrate the surface to a depth of 500 feet or more. Equipment
depends upon the terrain, the ratio of coal to overburden, and the value of the
coal deposit per acre. In general, there are three broad categories of surface
mining operations: contour, area and open pit.
63 Contour mining occurs on steep terrain, the steepness being defined
differently state-by-state. In the mountains of Appalachia where contour mining
is prevalent, the operator excavates a portion of the hillside (the "first cut")
on the coal seam where it intersects with the surface. He then proceeds to
strip off the overburden, following the seam along the contour and excavating as
far into the mountain as may be profitable. Component parts of a contour mine
are: The "bench," or flat area from which the coal is removed; the "outslope" or
spoil bank, consisting of overburden material which has been cast over the
downhill side of the bench; the "highwall," a more or less vertical bank marking
the inner limit of the bench; and the "haulroad" which permits access to the
mine site. "Augering," or drilling into the coal seam under the highwall to
recover more of the coal, frequently accompanies contour mining.
63 A variant of contour mining is called "mountain-top removal". This
method of mining proceeds entirely through the elevation, following the coal
seam. It permits nearly complete recovery of the coal seam, or of multiple coal
seams if done sequentially.The overburden is placed downslope in the so-called
"head-of-the-hollow fill." The end result is not a serpentine bench and highwall
but rather a flat area comprising the "solid bench" from which the coal has been
removed, and the contigous "fill bench" where the overburden has been deposited.
64 Area mining occurs on flat or rolling country-side, which may include
relatively steep areas, depending on the size of the equipment being used.
Overburden is piled to one side in a ridge on the area from which coal has been
removed. This continuous backfilling results in a furrowed mine site
terminating in a ditch and a highwall which marks the final "cut", usually at
the limit of the disturbed area. Area mining is practiced in the western
Appalachians and in the Midwest and West.
64 Open pit mining is similar to area surface mining in some respects.
Except for one or two special cases in the West, this type of mining does not
resemble deep open pit copper mines. The terms "pit" is appropriate mainly
because the ratio of overburden to coal is small as compared to the ratio found
in area surface mining (i.e., the thickness of coal removed is greater than the
thickness of the overburden removed). As a result, the amount of overburden is
insufficient to fill the pit and a depression or hollow configuration is the end
product.
64 Surface mining equipment includes bulldozers used to provide access to
the site and to prepare coal for loading, as well as drill rigs used to bore
holes in which explosives are detonated, shattering the overburden. The most
costly part of the operation is removal of the overburden, which is accomplished
in contour mining with front-end loaders or small power shovels.On bigger
operations requiring massive movements of rock and soil, giant drag-lines, wheel
excavators and power shovels are preferred (Big Muskie, the world's largest
drag-line, based near Cumberland, Ohio, weighs 27 million pounds and is capable
of moving 325 tons of rock at a time). Smaller shovels and front-end loaders
generally load the exposed coal into trucks which may carry as much as 200 tons
per trip. Some mechanical augers are able to drill horizontally 250 feet into
the coal seam, in the process removing coal from under the highwall.
Transportation of the coal to final destination is usually by train or barge.
64 Following removal of the coal, reclamation of the mining site takes
place, in two phases. First comes the back-filling, drainage and regrading
required to achieve the desired configuration of the surface and proper drainage
of water on or under it. Next comes revegetation: the preparation of topsoil,
fertilization, cultivation, and seeding or planting desired species. Special
equipment designed to spray a mixture of fertilizer, seed and mulch is widely
utilized either with trucks or with helicopters for revegetation on rough
terrain.
64 Both regrading and revegetation must be integrated into the total mining
plan of the operator. The most serious off-site environmental impacts result
from exposure of overburden to the weather with consequent erosion,
sedimentation, siltation, acid drainage, landslides, and leaching of toxic
chemicals. The essence of good reclamation therefore consists of reducing as
much as possible the time from initial disturbance of the land surface to the
successful re-establishment of a vegetative cover, to achieve which, performance
standards relating to environmental protection must be carried on concurrently
with the mining operations, except under special circumstances.
64 New surface mining methods, such as mountain-top removal, are generally
modifications of existing methodology, made possible by the increased
versatility of different types of self-propelled machinery now available.
Combinations of rubber-tired and tracked vehicles together with semi-stationary
equipment such as augers, are often used to great effect. Most of this
equipment has been adapted from the construction industry and in fact is
sometimes used interchangeably.
65 Aside from the development of safe, powerful explosives replacing
nitroglycerine, perhaps the most significant development in coal surface mining
during the past decade has been its enhanced earth-moving capability. The range
of existing technology needs to be brought fully to bear upon accomplishing
rapid and effective reclamation of disturbed areas, as regards both current
operations and, in addition, those areas which have been improperly reclaimed in
the past and abandoned.
65 In the humid East, retention of overburden material on the bench,
avoiding all unnecessary placement of unconsolidated material on steep slopes,
would contribute most significantly to the elimination of slides, sedimentation,
siltation and other off-site effects which threaten downstream areas. The basic
concept embodying this principle is returning the mining site to its
approximately original contour.
65 Approximate original contour is equally valid when applied to midwestern
and western coal surface mining, inasmuch as the concept includes the idea of
blending the site into the surrounding terrain to the greatest degree possible.
It also embodies conformity to the prevailing hydrologic pattern. Because low
rainfall and erodability of soil severely handicap reclamation efforts in the
West, minimizing the impacts to the hydrologic balance of the mine site and
surrounding area takes on special significance in assuring that the reclamation
objectives of the Act are met.
65 The emphasis on return to the approximate original contour, should not
obscure the fact that the appropriate methodolgy will vary from site to site.
Responsibility for devising methods for reaching any necessary reclamation goals
should be left up to the operator. Within the limits of economic constraints,
the available equipment and his own ingenuity, the surface mining operator will
develop whatever approach best suits his needs and the peculiarities of his
mining site.Considering the remarkable increase in productivity which economies
of scale and adaptation of suitable equipment have achieved in coal surface
mining, and considering the novel means for handling overburden being practiced
in some States, new reclamation techniques will certainly be forthcoming to meet
higher reclamation requirements.
65 G. Timeliness of Federal regulation
65 A primary constraint upon the coal industry in discharging its
reclamation responsibilities is the poor competitive position of coal relative
to oil and natural gas. In the 1940's and 1950's the industry experienced the
trauma of losing its steamship market to oil. Subsequently, the switch of
railroads to diesel engines and the relinquishment of the home heating market to
oil and gas further stunted the growth of the coal industry. Economic
depression haunted the coal fields for years, held at bay only by expansion of
the electric utility market for high sulfur-low Btu steam coal, and by the
rising demand of Canadian, Japanese and other foreign steel mills for high
Btu-low sulfur metallurgical coal.
66 This picture has altered radically since the onset of the national energy
crisis precipitated by the Arab oil embargo. The Nation's dangerous
over-reliance on imported oil and the parallel inadequacy of its domestic oil
and natural gas supplies have brought about a general awareness that increased
development of our coal reserves is a matter of top priority in terms of
protecting economic growth and national security. The Federal government has
responded to the crisis with a series of proposals which will ensure a
long-range, continuous demand for coal both as a direct source of energy and as
converted into various substitutes for oil and natural gas.
66 The Federal Energy Office has instituted a program calling for the
conversion, where possible, of electric power generating plants to coal
consumption. The House of Representatives recently approved the Energy Research
and Development Appropriations Act. This Act includes $2 83,400,000 channeled
to the Office of Coal Research and a further $1 03.7 million to the Bureau of
Mines for coal-related research. (see Table No. 11, p. 60). A large portion of
these funds are earmarked for coal gasification and liquefaction projects.
Other funds are to be expended on stack gas emission removal technology to
enable the burning of medium and high sulfur coal by electric utilities which
are currently finding the availability of adequate sources of low-sulfur coal
conforming to the requirements of Federal air quality standards limited.
66 These Federal programs signal a widespread commitment ot the development
and utilization of coal in the Nation's energy furture. The coal industry has
responded to this renewed interest with major increases in prices. (see Table
No. 12, p. 67). The import of these recent events is to belie the claim that
fluctuations in demand for coal and concomitant price uncertainties make the
cost of reclaiming surface mined land economically unacceptable.
*2* Table No. 11. - Research and
development funds for coal as
authorized in the Energy Research and
Development Appropriations Act for
fiscal year 1975
Office of Coal Research:
Coal liquefaction 79,600,000
High Btu gasification 37,800,000
Low Btu gasification 49,000,000
Advanced power systems (including $7
,500,000 for MHD) 12,700,000
Direct boiler combustion 34,000,000
"Pioneer plant" projects 42,100,000
Advanced research and supporting
technology; systems studies 21,637,000
Administration 6,563,000
Total 283,400,000
Bureau of Mines:
High Btu gasification 19,200,000
Coal liquefaction 27,388,000
Basic research on chemistry of coal and
conversion processes 3,200,000
Other coal projects 2,712,000
Surfur-oxides removal from powerplant
stack gases (cirate process) 2,00,000
Improved coal mining technology 46,200,000
Total 100,700,000
U.S. Geological Survey:
Determination location and properties
of coal resources; coal environmental
analysis 2,496,000
Investigations on coal hydrology (water
needs for development of this resource 1,250,000
Total 3,746,000
Total coal research and development
appropriations 387,846,000
66 Source: Congressional Record, Apr. 30, 1974, p. H3356.
*5*TABLE 12. -
JANUARY 1974 FUEL
REPORTS FROM
AMERICAN PUBLIC
POWER ASSOCIATION
MEMBER UTILITIES
USING COAL
Plant State Percentage of rise in price from - n1
Plant State December 1973 June 1973 January 1973
Wallingford Connecticut 7.5 18 32.0
Rochelle Illinois NA NA 10.0
Cedar Falls lowa NA 16 16.5
Kansas City Kansas NA NA 16-24.0
Lansing Michigan NA 13 17.0
Detroit Lakes Minnesota 31.0 NA NA
Fairmont do NA NA 9-27.0
Austin do NA NA 49.0
Independence Missouri NA NA 40.0
Fremont Nebraska n(2) n(2) n(2)
Nebraska-Public
power district NA 14 15.0
Jamestown New York 13.0 NA 59.0
Burlington Vermont NA 52 NA
Danville Virginia NA NA 78-89.0
Richland Center Wisconsin NA NA 8.0
66 n1 The percent figures show the rise in price from the date indicated in
the column heading to January 1974.
66 n2 Increase by 30 from September 1973 to January 1974.
66 Source: American Public Power Association.
66 Because the industry can be confident that the Federal government is
committed to a program of reserch and development which will vastly expand the
market for coal, the future for the industry is assured. The coal industry can
also be assured of a reasonable return on its investment. On a per-Btu basis,
coal remains one of the cheapest of all of our energy resources. (see Table No.
13, p. 69).
66 Thus the argument that reclamation is prohibitively expensive, if it was
ever valid, is certainly no longer so. In regard to the most stringent
performance standards, namely those associated with returning the mining site to
the approximate original contour, recent studies have shown that even in the
steepest Appalachian terrain, reclamation according to these requirements is
economically feasible using currently available equipment. There is evidence,
in fact, that compliance in some cases increases profitability to the operator.
66 A report by the President's Council on Environmental Quality entitled
"Coal Surface Mining and Reclamation; An Environmental and Economic Assessment
of Alteratives" states that:
66 . . . the cost of advanced reclamation techniques are small compared to
the market value of coal, e.g. only three to nine percent of the price of coal
at the mine. In fact, since coal can be produced by surface mining in
Appalachia for $0.75 to $2 .50 per ton less than by underground mining, the
competitive position of surface mined coal would not deteriorate even at the
highest range of reclamation costs.
68 (See Table No. 14, p. 69).
68 Recent rises in the price of coal give this statement even greater
emphasis. Responsible spokesmen within the industry have pointed out that
reclamation costs are economically acceptable. For example, a report entitled
"Coal and the Energy Shortage" presented by the Continentali Oil Company, (of
which Consolidation Coal Co., the Nation's second largest producer of coal is a
wholly owned subsidiary) states that:
68 even taking the largest of these (reclamation) costs would add only two
to three percent to the average residential electric bill.
68 A recent study done by Mathematica, Inc., of Princeton, New Jersey,
entitled Design of Surface Mining Systems in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Fields,
(January 29, 1974), states that the estimated average total reclamation costs
for surface mined land in Eastern Kentucky is $1 65 per disturbed acre. The
report points out that this cost " . . . is equivalent to aproximately $0 .32
per ton based on the oft-used estimate of 0.5 disturbed acres per 1,000 tons of
coal produced. Note that this estimate excludes charges for depletion and
depreciation, since these are not true cash flows. If, however, these charges
were included, estimated reclamation costs would be about $0.38 per ton."
68 Recent coal price increases unrelated to reclamation costs have already
added considerably more than this amount. Bituminous coal prices (f.o.b. mine)
rose over 50 percent between 1969 and 1971, according to "Bituminous Coal Data"
for 1972, issued by the National Coal Association. (see Table No. 15, p. 70).
Since then prices on the spot market have skyrocketed, to the point where many
utilities report having difficulty in locating reasonably accessible supplies of
coal. (see Table No. 12, p. 67). It therefore appears that the ability of the
industry to absorb any increased costs of reclamation consistent with the
standards of the Act is no longer in doubt. (see Table No. 16, p. 69).
68 H. Research and Trained Technicians
68 The consequences of dependence on foreign powers for one of the basic
mineral fuels - petroleum - has been brought home to Americans; but that
dependence does not stop with petroleum. In 1972, minerals and mineral fuels
accounted for a $7 .5 billion deficit in the U.S. balance of trade, an increase
of $4 billion in two years (as compared with only a $2 .3 billion increase over
the ten-year period of the '60's). The thrust of Title VIII of the Act is not
an immediate solution to the energy crisis as a whole or to the specific
problems of extraction, reclamation, and processing of minerals and fuels, in
particular. Its purpose is to assure that the U.S., in the future, will have
the research base, the technological capability, and the qualified man-power to
avoid repeated crises of mineral supply and technology. Only thus can it avoid
disadvantageous dependence upon foreign sources for these items so critical to
its domestic welfare.
69 The need to provide a more adequate national program of mining and
minerals research through the establishment of mining and minerals research
centers is documented in House Report No. 92-1028. The Report focused upon the
expanding consumption of non-renewable resources in the United States; the
failure of the U.S. to develop mineral and mineral fuel technology at a rate
fast enough to cope with increased consumption; and, finally, the current
inadequate and decreasing supply of trained manpower in the mineral engineering
fields.
*4*TABLE 13. - COST
OF COAL VERSUS
OTHER HYDROCARBON
ENERGY RESOURCES,
MAY 1973
Average price
Percentage of total (cents per million
Quantity delivered Btu's Btu's)
Coal 34,120,000 tons 58.5 39.5
Oil 38,900,000 barrels 18.3 71.1
295,690,000,000
Gas cubic feet 23.2 33.7
69 Source: Federal Power Commission.
*6*TABLE 14. -
ESTIMATED
INCREMENTAL
PRODUCTION COSTS
FOR VARIOUS
RECLAMATION COSTS
Calculated
production per
acre mined n1 Costs of reclamation, cents/ton
$1,000 per $2,000 per 3,000 per
mined acre mined acre mined acre
$4,000 per mined
acre
Appalachia Region:
Alabama 4,030 24.8 49.6 74.4
99.2
Kentucky (eastern) 4,460 22.4 44.8 67.2
89.6
Ohio 5,330 18.8 17.6 56.4
35.2
Pennsylvania 4,610 21.8 43.6 65.4
87.2
Tennessee 4,180 24.0 48.0 72.0
96.0
Virginia 5,900 17.0 34.0 51.0
68.0
West Virginia 7,060 14.2 28.4 42.6
56.8
Average 5,080 20.4 40.8 61.2
81.6
Central Region:
Illinois 7,200 13.8 27.6 41.4
55.2
Indiana 6,620 15.0 30.9 45.0
60.0
Kentucky (western) 7,340 13.6 27.2 40.8
54.4
Average 7,050 14.2 28.4 42.6
56.8
Western Region:
Colorado 12,100 8.2 16.4 24.6
32.8
Montana n2 66,100 1.6 3.2 4.8
6.4
Wyoming 66,100 1.6 3.2 4.8
6.4
Average 48,000 3.8 7.6 11.4
15.2
69 n1 Based on density of 1,440 tons of bituminous coal per acre-foot at 80
percent recovery, based on 1960 data.
69 n2 Montana entry changed to reflect mining of sub-bituminous coal in
Power River Basin.
69 Source: Advanced from Surface Mining and Our Environment, Department of
Interior, 1967, p. 114. Coal Surface Mining and Reclamation An Environmental
and Economic Assessment of Alternatives, Council on Environmental Quality.
*3*TABLE 16. - INCREASED PROFITS OF SELECTED MAJOR INDEPENDENT COAL
PRODUCERS 1969-70
Profits as
percentages
of sales
1969 1970
Pittston 4.1 6.9
Westmoreland Coal Co 1.5 5.2
North American Coal Co 2.9 3.4
Eastern Gas & Fuel 5.8 7.7
69 Source: "Concentration by Competing Raw Fuel Industries in the Energy
Market and its Impact on Small Business," hearings before the Subcommittee on
Special Small Business Problems of the Select Committee on Small Business, House
of Representatives, 92d Cong., 1st sess., vol. 1, p. 41.
70
*5*
TABLE
15. -
AVERA
GE
VALUE
OF
BITUM
INOUS
COAL
*5*[
Per
ton
f.o.b
.
mine]
Year Strip mines n1 Auger mines Underground mines Total all mines
1940 $1.56 $1.94 1.91
1945 2.65 3.16 3.06
1950 3.87 5.15 4.84
1955 3.48 $3.60 4.86 4.50
1956 3.74 4.17 5.20 4.82
1957 3.89 4.12 5.52 5.08
1958 3.80 3.60 5.33 4.86
1959 3.76 3.83 5.23 4.77
196 0 3.74 3.37 5.14 4.69
1961 3.67 3.24 5.02 4.58
1962 3.64 3.33 4.91 4.48
1963 3.57 3.25 4.82 4.39
1964 3.55 3.35 4.92 4.4 5
1965 3.57 3.36 4.93 4.44
1966 3.64 3.58 5.05 4.54
1967 3.68 3.59 5.18 4.62
1968 3.75 3.53 5.22 4.67
1969 3.98 3.81 5.62 4.99
1970 4.69 6.08 7.40 6.26
1971 5.19 6.57 8.87 7.07
70 n1 Includes power strip pits proper and excludes horse stripping
operations and mines combining stripping and underground in the same operation
1940. Includes data on all strip mines subsequent to 1940.
70 Source: National Coal Association "Bituminous Coal Data" 1972 edition.
70 The Minerals Resources Research Act, which was the forerunner of Title
VIII is supported by the Final Report of the National Commission on Materials
Policy, June 1973; and again in "Mining and Minerals Policy, 1973," Second
Annual Report of the Secretary of Interior under the Mining and Minerals Policy
Act of 1970.
70 It is well-known that demand for all minerals is growing rapidly, both
domestically and worldwide. Most of the known, rich, easily recoverable
deposits of minerals have been developed. The United States must now turn to
exploration for new deposits and development of known low grade ore deposits.
Research will also be needed into substitution, alternative uses of minerals,
improved mining and processing technology and deep seabed mining. This effort
will require an increasing amount of trained talent in the mining and minerals
engineering fields.
70 The urgency of sustaining grants (on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis)
and other Federal financial assistance for mining and minerals research and
training centers to ward off the progressive weakening of mineral engineering
disciplines in U.S. colleges and universities is evident. Neither industry, the
States, nor the Federal government provide sufficient support to halt and
reverse present downward trends in research and research manpower at a time when
both should be expanding to meet present deficiencies and growing needs.
70 I. Data on Coal Reserves and Leases
70 Tables presenting following data have been included at the conclusion of
this section of the Report: Total coal reserves (see Table No. 17, p. 71);
Federal coal leases (see Table No. 18, p. 71). Indian coal leases (see Table
No. 19, p. 72).
71
*8*TABLE
17. -
TOTAL
ESTIMATED
REMAINING
MEASURED
AND
INDICATED
COAL
RESERVES
OF THE
UNITED
STATES AS
OF JAN.
1, 1970
n1
*8*[In
beds
28-in and
more
thick,
for
bituminou
s,
anthracit
e, and
semianthr
acite,
and 5 ft
or more
thick for
subbitumi
nous and
lignite
beds -
million
tons]
Total -
All ranks Measured
more than and
14 in and indicated
3,000 ft as
overburde percent
State Remaining measured and indicated reserves n of total
Anthracit
e
Bituminou Subbitumi semianthr
s nous Lignite acite Total
Alabama 1,731 0 n(2) 0 1,731 13,444 12.9
Alaska 667 5,345 n(3) n(4) 6 ,012 130,087 4.6
Arkansas 313 0 n(2) 67 380 2,420 15.7
Colorado 8,811 4,453 0 16 13,280 80,679 16.5
Georgia 18 0 0 0 18 18 100.0
Illinois 60,007 0 0 0 60,007 139,372 43.1
Indiana 11,177 0 0 0 11,177 34,661 32.2
Iowa 2,159 0 0 0 2,159 6,513 33.1
Kansas 328 0 0 0 328 18,678 1.8
Kentucky
west 20,876 0 0 0 20,876 36,482 57.2
Kentucky
east 11,049 0 0 0 11,049 28,850 38.3
Maryland 557 0 0 0 557 1,168 47.7
Michigan 125 0 0 0 125 220 56.8
Missouri 12,623 0 0 0 12,623 23,339 54.1
Montana 862 31,228 6,878 0 38,968 221,698 17.6
New
Mexico 1,339 779 0 2 2,120 61,455 3.4
North
Carolina n(5) 0 0 0 n(2) 110 0
North
Dakota 0 0 36,230 0 36,230 350,649 10.3
Ohio 17,242 0 0 0 17,242 41,568 41.5
Oklahoma 1,583 0 0 0 1,583 3,195 49.5
Oregon n(6) n(6) 0 0 n(6) 332 0
Pennsylva
nia 24,078 0 0 12,525 36,603 69,686 52.5
South
Dakota 0 0 757 0 757 2,031 37.0
Tennessee 939 0 0 0 939 2,606 36.0
Texas n(6) 0 6,870 0 6 ,870 12,918 53.2
Utah 9,155 150 0 0 9,305 32,070 29.0
Virginia 3,561 0 0 125 3,686 9,817 37.3
Washingto
n 312 1,188 0 0 1,500 6,183 24.3
West
Virginia 68,023 0 0 0 68,023 101,186 67.3
Wyoming 3,975 25,937 n(3) 0 29,912 120,684 24.8
Other
States n(6) n(6) 46 0 46 4,721 1.0
Total 261,510 69,080 50,781 12,735 394,106 1,556,840 25.3
71 n1 Figures are reserves in ground, about half of which may be considered
recoverable. Includes all beds under less than 1,000 ft of overburden and over
28-in in bed thickness for bituminous and anthracite and 5 ft or more for
subbituminous and lignite.
71 n2 Small reserves of lignite in beds less than 5 ft thick.
71 n3 Small reserves of lignite included with subbituminous reserved.
71 n4 Small reserves of anthracite in the Bering River field believed to be
too badly crushed and folded to be economically recoverable.
71 n5 Negligible reserves with overburden less than 1,000 ft.
71 n6 Data not available to make estimate.
71 Source: "U.S. Energy Outlook, Coal Availability," National Petroleum
Council, 1973.
*3*TABLE 18. - COAL LEASES
ON FEDERAL LANDS
State Number of leases Total acreage
Alabama 1 200.00
Alaska 5 2,753.14
California 1 80.00
Colorado 111 120,905.56
Montana 17 36,232.27
New Mexico 29 41,038.12
North Dakota 19 16,275.75
Oklahoma 53 87,013.56
Oregon 3 5,403.18
Utah 194 266,632.49
Washington 2 521.09
Wyoming 89 199,701.04
Total 524 776,756.20
71 Source: U.S. Geological Survey.
72
TABLE 19. - Coal leases on Indian lands
Leases Type of mining on producing leases
1. Peabody Coal Co.:
Hopi-Navajo (Arizona):
(a) Hopi-Navajo, 40,000 acres
(b) Navajo, 24,858 acres
Southern Ute (southern Colorado),
19,452 acres
Northern Cheyenne (southeastern
Montana), 6 leases, 16,035 acres Surface mining.
2. Utah International, Inc.: Navajo
(northwestern New Mexico), 31,416 Do.
3. Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co.:
Navajo (westtana),
13,237 acres Do.
4. El Paso Natural Gas Co., and
Consolidation Coal Co.: Navajo
(northwestern New Mexico), 40,287 acres
5. Westmoreland Resources: Crow
(southeastern Montana), 2 leases,
30,876 acres Do.
6. American Metals Climax: Crow
(southeastern Montana), 14,237 acres
7. Shell Oil Co.: Crow (southeastern
Montana), 30,248 acres
72 Source: Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Issues
72 MINERAL COVERAGE
72 Legislation introduced in the 93rd Congress and referred to the Interior
and Insular Affairs Committee included bills covering (1) only surface mining
for coal, (2) surface coal mining and the surface effects of underground coal
mines, and (3) surface mining for all minerals including the surface effects of
underground mines.
72 The case for controlling the environmental impacts from surface coal
mining can be readily made from the experience of strip mining in the
Appalachian and Mid-West coal fields. The potential for irreparable
environmental damage in the West clearly exists since it is not now known what
the long-term effects of area mining will be and whether successful revegetation
can be achieved.
72 Moreover, the necessity to include regulation of the surface effects of
underground coal mining has been highlighted by the occurrence of such disasters
as the Aberfam mine waste landslide in England in the early 1960's and the
collapse of a mining waste pile impoundment at Buffalo Creek, West Virginia, in
1972. Other hazards to the environment and human health and safety associated
with underground mining include: surface subsidence and the spontaneous
combustion of and long-term land and air pollution resulting from the
disposition of mining wastes. In addition, the adequate control of surface
mining environmental impacts in areas with an extensive mining history may
require the concomitant regulation of the surface effects of underground mining
because actual operations often combine surface and underground mines either on
a contemporary or sequential basis.
72 Surface mining of minerals other than coal also presents environmental
issues. The Committee found however, that the numerous distinctions between the
mining technologies and associated environmental problems of coal surface mining
as opposed to surface mining of such minerals as copper, iron and molvbdenum
militated against inclusion of all minerals in a single bill. The Committee
however, did adopt a separate title which is applicable to such minerals. Title
VI discussed elsewhere, addresses the serious problem of the development of
mining sites in residential or urban areas or other locations that are
inappropriate from a rational land use planning viewpoint.
73 FLEXIBILITY
73 Flexibility is a necessary element in a rational program of surface
mining regulation. While performance standards should be cast in terms of
general applicability, the Committee recognizes that land use considerations may
justify a variance from the general standard or that a variable standard should
be implemented in recognition of the distinctions in climate, terrain, and other
physical features. While the bill allows variances or exceptions to the general
standards, care has been taken to ensure that such exceptions have not been so
broadly drafted that the exception could become the rule.
73 The bill is built upon the Committee's finding that in the vast majority
of cases, certain reclamation goals must be achieved if the term "reclamation"
is to have any real meaning. Nevertheless, the Committee has approved
exceptions to these requirements to achieve flexibility and avoid arbitrary
constraints. For example, the elimination of highways, return of the land to
approximate original contour, establishment of viable vegetative cover and the
prohibition of dumping spoil material on mountain slopes are among the standards
critical to the elimination of the worst effects of coal surface mining and yet
these standards are either subject to exception, framed in variable terms, or
both. Rather than weakening the effectiveness of these standards, such
treatment is viewed by the Committee as justified and desirable.Workable Federal
requirements must be appropriate to the mining setting and such standards should
not preclude practices which are beneficial from a planning viewpoint.
73 Another element of flexibility is the avoidance of excessive detail in
the requirements of the Federal performance standards.The Committee is aware,
however, of the history of the development of State laws on the subject of
regulation of coal surface mining. This history presents a pattern of
increasingly detailed legislation and such detail is often traceable to
regulations which have failed to provide full implementation of the more general
performance standards of the legislation itself. The Committee believes that it
has struck a balance between legislation which merely frames performance
standards in terms of general objectives and standards which are cast in terms
more detailed than those generally found in regulatory legislation. In choosing
a middle path, the Committee is mindful of the past failures on the State level
and thus bases its approval of H.R. 11500 on the expectation that regulations
promulgated under the Act will fully implement the environmental performance
standards. Obviously, the mere reproduction of the statutory environmental
performance standards in the regulations would be inadequate.
73 STATE AND FEDERAL LAND PROGRAMS
73 Every State which has, or contemplates having, coal surface mining
operations is provided with the opportunity to prepare a State program for the
regulation of surface mining within its borders. Within twenty-four months
after enactment of this Act, each such State may submit its State program to the
Secretary of Interior for his approval, which must substantiate the existence of
appropriate State laws, adequate funding, qualified personnel, and a permit
system for surface mining and reclamation operations. The Secretary shall
approve the State program after he has held at least one public hearing within
the State, and after he has received the written concurrence of the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (whose views he must
publicly disclose along with those of the Secretary of Agriculture and of
certain other Federal agencies) and if he has found that the State has the
necessary legal authority and qualified personnel to enforce the Federal
environmental protection standards.
74 Within six months after submission of the State program, the Secretary of
Interior must either approve or disapprove it. In case of disapproval, the
State may resubmit its program within sixty days, provided the resubmission
takes place within thirty months after the enactment of this Act. The Secretary
has another sixty days to approve or disapprove the resubmitted State program.
74 A Federal program is to be implemented within a State only where the
State fails to submit, or the submittal or resubmittal has failed to be approved
by the Secretary, or where an approved State program is not enforced or
implemented by the State regulatory agency. The Secretary is required to
receive a proposed State program even after the Federal program has been
established and when received must render his decision within six months. There
is no limit placed on the number of times a State may resubmit its State plan
under these circumstances.
74 In any event, within thirty-two months after enactment of this Act,
either an approved State program or a Federal program must be established, and
not later than thirty-six months after enactment of this Act every operator must
have a permit issued under the State program or under the Federal program which
is in full compliance with all the provisions of the Act. Prior to the issuance
of such a permit, as discussed in another portion of this report, permits must
be in compliance with the interim performance standards.
74 This bill prohibits all surface coal mining on lands in the National Park
System, the National Wilderness Preservation System, the National Wildlife
Refuge System, the national forests (exclusive of National Grasslands), or the
Wild and Scenic Rivers System. On all other Federal lands, the Secretary is to
prepare and implement a Federal lands program bringing all Federal mineral
leases, contracts and permits into conformity with all requirements of the Act.
Within ninety days after enactment of this Act, all existing surface coal mining
operations on Federal lands are to conform with interim environmental protection
standards, and within eighteen months after eactment of this Act, all
requirements of the Act must be incorporated into the terms and conditions of
every Federal mineral lease, permit, or contract issued by the Secretary. Rules
and regulations covering the preparation and submission of State programs,
development and implementation of Federal programs, and the permanent regulatory
procedure based on the provisions of Title II must be promulgated by the
Secretary within six months after enactment of this Act.
75 The Secretary may enter into joint Federal-State programs regarding
Federal lands where unusual circumstances such as checkerboard ownership
patterns exist, but in no case is a State law to be pre-empted by a less
stringent Federal requirement. The bill provides for the continuance of
existing coal surface mining operations on Federal lands. However, such
operations must be in compliance with the interim environmental protection
standards. "Existing operations" are defined as including those where, although
actual mining may not have started, substantial legal and financial commitments
have been made prior to September 1, 1973.
75 The bill addresses itself to the needs of coal consumers, in particular
electric utilities which may be hard-pressed (under the twin constraints of oil
shortage and Federal air quality standards) to find adequate coal supplies.To
make sure that Federally-owned coal is available to all classes of people on an
equitable basis, the Act authorizes the Secretary to require that permittees,
lessees and contractors as part of their permit application give assurances
that Federal antitrust laws will be complied with.
75 Assistance to the States in developing, administering and enforcing their
State programs has been provided on a matching basis (80 percent the first year,
60 percent the second and 40 percent for the third and fourth years), and a wide
range of other forms of assistance relating to State programs on a cooperative
basis will also be available from the Secretary and from other Federal agencies.
Research and demonstration projects may be carried out by the States and their
political subdivisions under grants from the Secretary. Annual appropriations
beginning at $1 0 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, and
increasing to $20 million for the next two years and $3 0 million for each
fiscal year thereafter are to be available to the Secretary for these and other
administrative purposes.
75 STATE MINING AND MINERAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES
75 In keeping with the decision that the Federal role should be one of
support and encouragement for ongoing State programs, and in view of the
advisability of building on already existing institutions in order to foster the
required growth of research and training in minerals engineering fields, the
Committee has provided for support to the States, on a matching basis to meet
this great need.
75 Grants are to be allotted by the Secretary not only to qualified public
colleges or universities for generalized research and training, but grants are
also authorized to institutes for particular research and demonstration projects
of industry-wide application, and thirdly, to any agencies, institutes, firms or
individuals to undertake research into any aspects of mining and mineral
resources problems related to a mission of the Department of the Interior not
otherwise being studied.
75 A basic grant of $2 00,000 for the fiscal year 1975, would be limited to
one qualified public college or university in a State conducting research and
education in minerals engineering fields. The grant in the second year would be
increased to $300,000 in fiscal year 1976 and to $4 00,000 for each fiscal year
thereafter for five years. An Advisory Committee on Mining and Minerals
Resources Research consisting of the heads of various Federal agencies and four
knowledgeable laymen, is to be organized by the Secretary for the purpose of
determining the eligibility of applicant colleges and universities and to advise
the Secretary on other aspects of the program.
76 A qualified public college or university is one which has a "school,
division or department conducting a program of substantial instruction and
research in mining or minerals extraction or benefication engineering", for a
period of at least two years employing at least five full-time faculty members
for such length of time. In States where more than one college or university is
eligible, the Governor is to make the designation.Where a State has no eligible
public college or university, the Advisory Committee is authorized to allocate
that State's allotment to one private college or university which it deems to be
eligible.
76 The institutes will conduct research in mining and mineral resources and
will train mineral engineers and scientists. Research may include "exploration;
extraction; processing; development; production of mineral resources; mining and
mineral technology; supply and demand for minerals; the economic, legal and
social engineering, recreational, biological, geographic, ecological, and other
aspects of mining, mineral resources and mineral reclamation."
76 Funds for specific mineral research and demonstration projects at the
institutes are to be drawn from annual appropriations of $5 million beginning in
fiscal 1975, and continuing for six years thereafter. These monies are to be
available by application to the Secretary.
76 A third category of funding of $10 million in fiscal year 1975 and
increasing by $2 million each fiscal year thereafter for six years, provides the
Secretary funding for grants to institutions and individuals, including the
institutes establshed under the Act, for the purpose of undertaking research
into any aspect of mining and mineral resources problems related to the mission
of the Department of Interior.
76 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
76 The succes or failure of a national coal surface mining regulation
program will depend, to a significant extent, on the role played by citizens in
the regulatory process. The State or Department of Interior can employ only so
many inspectors, only a limited number of inspections can be made on a regular
basis and only a limited amount of information can be required in a permit or
bond release application or elicited at a hearing. Moreover, a number of
decisions to be made by the regulatory authority in the designation and variance
processes under the Act are contingent on the outcome of land use issues which
require an analysis of various local and regional considerations. While citizen
participation is not, and cannot be, a substitute for governmental authority,
citizen involvement in all phases of the regulatory scheme will help insure that
the decisions and actions of the regulatory authority are grounded upon complete
and full information. In addition, providing citizen access to administrative
appellate procedures and the courts is a practical and legitimate method of
assuring the regulatory authority's compliance with the requirements of the Act.
77Thus in imposing several provisions which contemplate active citizen
involvement, the Committee is carrying out its conviction that the participation
of private citizens is a vital factor in the regulatory program as established
by the Act.
77 H.R. 11500's major citizen participation provisions are as follows:
77 REGULATORY PROGRAMS
77 (a) Regulations - 180 days following enactment, the Secretary is to
promulgate regulations for the Act's permanent program after holding at least
one public hearing. (Sec. 202)
77 (b) Approval of State plan - Prior to the approval or disapproval of a
State program, or approval or disapproval of a State's resubmitted program, the
Secretary must hold at least one public hearing in the State. (Sections 203 and
217)
77 PERMIT PROCESS
77 (a) Permit Approval or Denial - Prior to submitting an application for a
mining permit, the applicant must give notice of intention to submit such
application through newspaper advertisements and a hearing on the application
shall be granted upon the filing of objections to the application. (Section
214)
77 (b) Exceptions from general environmental performance standards - H.R.
11500 provides for exceptions to specific environmental performance standings
relating to spoil placement, backfiling, and other specific standards. Notice
and a public hearing are required before such exceptions may be granted.
(Sections 201 and 211) Public notice and opportunity for a hearing is also
required prior to granting of suspensions of certain reclamation requirements
due to the unavailability of equipment necessary to comply with such
requirements. (Section 201)
77 (c) Bond Release - After notice through newspaper advertisement, an
operator may apply for a full or partial release of his permit bond. Upon the
filing of objections to such release by a citizen, the regulatory authority must
hold a public hearing on the matter. (Section 217)
77 ENFORCEMENT
77 (a) During the interim program, the Secretary is directed to implement a
program of Federal inspections to enforce the Federal interim standards. Upon
the receipt of any information which may be furnished by any person, and which
gives rise to a reasonable belief that the interim standards are being violated,
the Secretary is to order the immediate inspection of the alleged offending
operation. The person who provides the Secretary with the information is to be
notified as to the time of the inspection and may accompany the inspector during
the inspection. (Section 201(f))
77 (b) A provision similar to that described immediately above is operative
after the interim period. (Section 220)
77 The Committee is aware of the concern of some that a relatively open
administrative and judicial procedure will allow the