Interior provides over $291 million for Abandoned Mine Land reclamation grants
U.S. Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced March 19 the availability of the Fiscal Year 2019 Abandoned Mine Land reclamation grants through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. This year’s grants will provide more than $291.2 million for states and tribes to reclaim and repurpose abandoned coal lands.
“These grants are a great example of Interior partnering with states, tribes, and local governments to provide resources for conservation efforts and infrastructure and public safety improvements, like fixing embankments, stabilizing land above underground mines, and restoring streams,” said Acting Secretary Bernhardt. “The investment we’re making back into coal country helps protect people, land, water and property, and enhances the lives of local citizens.”
Abandoned Mine Land grants, funded in part by a fee based on coal produced in the United States, help to eliminate dangerous conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining. Abandoned Mine Land-funded projects have closed dangerous mine shafts, eliminated highwalls, reclaimed unstable slopes, treated acid mine drainage, and restored water supplies damaged by mining.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement provides Abandoned Mine Land reclamation grants to the 25 coal-producing states and three tribes according to a congressionally mandated formula based on their past and current coal production. Each year, after the distribution is announced, eligible states and tribes apply for annual reclamation grants to access money in their allocations. The office evaluates and verifies the requests and makes the award amounts available.
The authority to collect Abandoned Mine Land reclamation fees is slated to expire in September 2021 unless Congress reauthorizes the fee as it did in 2006.
The FY 2019 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation funding available to states and tribes is as follows:
| State / Tribe | Amount Allocated |
| Alabama | $5,139,869 |
| Alaska | $2,814,000 |
| Arkansas | $2,814,000 |
| Colorado | $3,117,101 |
| Illinois | $18,678,495 |
| Indiana | $8,072,975 |
| Iowa | $2,814,000 |
| Kansas | $2,814,000 |
| Kentucky | $18,296,295 |
| Louisiana | $177,816 |
| Maryland | $2,814,000 |
| Mississippi | $102,445 |
| Missouri | $2,814,000 |
| Montana | $7,747,222 |
| New Mexico | $2,814,000 |
| North Dakota | $2,814,000 |
| Ohio | $10,285,761 |
| Oklahoma | $2,814,000 |
| Pennsylvania | $53,846,935 |
| Tennessee | $2,814,000 |
| Texas | $2,515,463 |
| Utah | $1,362,163 |
| Virginia | $5,607,813 |
| West Virginia | $35,754,311 |
| Wyoming | $87,833,889 |
| Crow Tribe | $1,211,505 |
| Hopi Tribe | $588,522 |
| Navajo Nation | $2,817,230 |
| National Total | $291,295,810 |
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