PRINTER'S NO. 2377
No. 382 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY FRANKEL, DeWEESE, ARGALL, BASTIAN, BELARDI,
BELFANTI, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CRAHALLA, EACHUS, GEORGE,
GODSHALL, GRUCELA, JAMES, KIRKLAND, LaGROTTA, LEVDANSKY,
MANN, McILHATTAN, MUNDY, PISTELLA, READSHAW, ROBERTS, RUBLEY,
SOLOBAY, STABACK, SURRA, THOMAS, TIGUE, YOUNGBLOOD, YUDICHAK
AND MYERS, JUNE 29, 2005
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY,
JUNE 29, 2005
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing Congress to reauthorize the Abandoned Mine
2 Reclamation Fund.
3 WHEREAS, Substantial coal mining has occurred in Pennsylvania
4 for more than 130 years, and the industry has been a significant
5 employer of our citizens for most of these years; and
6 WHEREAS, Abandoned mines pose hazards in Pennsylvania of
7 dangerous shafts, mountains of black waste, scarred landscapes,
8 acidic drainages polluting more than 3,000 miles of our streams
9 and other hazards threatening human health and safety and
10 depressing local economies; and
11 WHEREAS, At least 44 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties are
12 affected by abandoned coal mines; and
13 WHEREAS, Abandoned mines and abandoned mine lands create
14 negative impacts on local economies by destroying recreational
15 opportunities, lowering land values, leaving desolate
1 communities once the mines are exhausted and ruining sites for
2 further residential, forestry, commercial or agricultural uses;
3 and
4 WHEREAS, Reclamation of abandoned mine sites can add to the
5 economy by creating jobs, increasing community pride, increasing
6 property values, decreasing stress-related costs through stream-
7 based recreation, restoring the health of the environment and
8 providing future sites for commercial or industrial endeavors;
9 and
10 WHEREAS, Congress established the Abandoned Mine Reclamation
11 Fund under Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and
12 Reclamation Act of 1977 to reclaim areas abandoned before 1977
13 and the modern environmental standards requiring mine operators
14 to reclaim their sites; and
15 WHEREAS, The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
16 1977 imposed on coal operators a fee of 35¢ per ton on surface
17 mined coal and 15¢ per ton on underground mined coal to provide
18 a source of revenue for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to
19 help finance the reclamation and remediation of lands mined
20 prior to 1977; and
21 WHEREAS, The collection of fees on mined coal applied to the
22 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund under Title IV of the Surface
23 Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was set to expire on
24 June 30, 2005, but is currently under extension to September 30,
25 2005; and
26 WHEREAS, Pennsylvania has relied upon the Abandoned Mine
27 Reclamation Fund as a primary source of money to clean up toxic
28 mine water in our water supplies, restore land, extinguish mine
29 fires and eliminate other dangerous abandoned mine hazards;
30 therefore be it
20050H0382R2377 - 2 -
1 RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
2 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania memorialize the Congress of
3 the United States to reauthorize the collection of fees on mined
4 coal at the current levels to provide continued funding to the
5 Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund to address abandoned mine
6 hazards, pollution and scarred landscapes in Pennsylvania and
7 other states.
F14L82JAM/20050H0382R2377 - 3 -