Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fee Reauthorization Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3971 To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to make modifications to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2020 Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to make modifications to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abandoned Mine Land 4 Reclamation Fee Reauthorization Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. RECLAMATION FEE. 6 (a) AMOUNT.—Section 402(a) of the Surface Mining 7 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(a)) 8 is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3971 IS (1) by striking ‘‘28 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘18.2 1 cents’’; 2 (2) by striking ‘‘12 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘7.8 3 cents’’; and 4 (3) by striking ‘‘8 cents’’ and inserting ‘‘5.2 5 cents’’. 6 (b) DURATION.—Section 402(b) of the Surface Min- 7 ing Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 8 1232(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘September 30, 2021’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2028’’. 10 SEC. 3. INCREASED REVENUE SHARING WITH COAL-PRO- 11 DUCING STATES. 12 Section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 13 191(a)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘50 14 per centum thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘50 percent of the 15 amount received, or in the case of any amount received 16 from coal leases, 60 percent of the amount received,’’. 17 SEC. 4. SEQUESTRATION PROVISIONS. 18 (a) EXEMPTION OF PAYMENTS TO STATES AND IN- 19 DIAN TRIBES FROM THE ABANDONED MINE RECLAMA- 20 TION FUND FROM SEQUESTRATION.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 255(g)(1)(A) of the 22 Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 23 Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(g)(1)(A)) is amended by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3971 IS inserting after ‘‘Payments to Social Security Trust 1 Funds (28–0404–0–1–651).’’ the following: 2 ‘‘(1) ‘‘Payments to States and Indian Tribes 3 from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and 4 payments to States and Indian Tribes under section 5 402(i)(2) of the Surface Mining Control and Rec- 6 lamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(i)(2)) (12– 7 50q5–0–2–999).’’. 8 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 9 paragraph (1) shall apply to any sequestration order 10 issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency 11 Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) 12 on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 13 (b) PAYMENT FROM WITHHELD AMOUNTS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts withheld pur- 15 suant to section 251A of the Balanced Budget and 16 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 17 901a) from payments to States and Indian tribes 18 under section 402(g) of the Surface Mining Control 19 and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(g)) 20 during fiscal years 2013 through 2020, the Sec- 21 retary of the Interior shall distribute for fiscal year 22 2021 to each State and each Indian tribe from 23 which the amounts were withheld an amount equal 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3971 IS to the total amount so withheld from the State or 1 Indian tribe. 2 (2) USE.—Amounts distributed under para- 3 graph (1) may be used by a State or Indian tribe 4 only for the purposes authorized by section 402(g) 5 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 6 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(g)). 7 SEC. 5. AMOUNTS DISTRIBUTED FROM ABANDONED MINE 8 RECLAMATION FUND. 9 Section 401(f)(2) of the Surface Mining Control and 10 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231(f)(2)) is 11 amended— 12 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 13 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by strik- 14 ing ‘‘2022’’ and inserting ‘‘2037’’; and 15 (B) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 16 striking ‘‘2022’’ and inserting ‘‘2037’’; and 17 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 18 (A) in the subparagraph heading, by strik- 19 ing ‘‘2023’’ and inserting ‘‘2038’’; 20 (B) by striking ‘‘2023’’ and inserting 21 ‘‘2038’’; and 22 (C) by striking ‘‘2022’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘2037’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3971 IS SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN TRANSFER REQUIRE- 1 MENT TO PAYMENTS TO STATES AND INDIAN 2 TRIBES. 3 Section 402(i)(3) of the Surface Mining Control and 4 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(i)(3)) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—Subparagraph (B) 7 shall not apply to transfers to the Secretary of 8 the Interior for distribution to States and In- 9 dian tribes under paragraph (2).’’. 10 SEC. 7. ADDITIONAL GRANTS FROM ABANDONED MINE 11 RECLAMATION FUND. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Surface Mining 13 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 is amended by in- 14 serting after section 415 (30 U.S.C. 1244) the following: 15 ‘‘SEC. 416. ADDITIONAL GRANTS FOR PRIORITY 1 AND PRI- 16 ORITY 2 SITES. 17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE STATE OR INDIAN 18 TRIBE.—In this section, the term ‘eligible State or Indian 19 tribe’ means a State or Indian tribe— 20 ‘‘(1) with an approved State Reclamation Plan 21 under section 405; and 22 ‘‘(2) that is not certified under section 411(a). 23 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL GRANTS.—Of amounts in the fund 24 that are not otherwise appropriated, $140,000,000 shall 25 be made available to the Secretary, without further appro- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3971 IS priation, for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2036, to 1 make grants to eligible States and Indian tribes for the 2 conduct of reclamation projects designed to achieve the 3 priorities described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 4 403(a). 5 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENT.—In making grants under sub- 6 section (b) to eligible States and Indian tribes, the Sec- 7 retary shall allocate the grants to those States and Indian 8 tribes based on the amount of coal historically produced 9 in the State or from the Indian lands concerned before 10 August 3, 1977, in the same manner as under section 11 402(g)(5).’’. 12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 13 (1) Section 401 of the Surface Mining Control 14 and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231) is 15 amended— 16 (A) in subsection (c)— 17 (i) in paragraph (10), by striking 18 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 19 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (11) 20 as paragraph (12); and 21 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (10) 22 the following: 23 ‘‘(11) to make additional grants under section 24 416; and’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3971 IS (B) in subsection (d)(3), by inserting ‘‘and 1 section 416’’ before the period at the end. 2 (2) Section 402(g) of the Surface Mining Con- 3 trol and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 4 1232(g)) is amended— 5 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre- 6 ceding subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and sec- 7 tion 416’’ after ‘‘subsection (h)’’; and 8 (B) in paragraph (3), by adding at the end 9 the following: 10 ‘‘(F) For the purpose of section 416.’’. 11 SEC. 8. STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR RE- 12 MEDIATION OF MINE DRAINAGE; COMMUNITY 13 RECLAIMER PARTNERSHIPS. 14 (a) STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR 15 CERTAIN REMEDIATION OF MINE DRAINAGE.—Section 16 405 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 17 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1235) is amended by adding at the 18 end the following: 19 ‘‘(m) STATE MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING FOR 20 REMEDIATION OF MINE DRAINAGE.— 21 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the ap- 23 proval of the Secretary and the Administrator 24 of the Environmental Protection Agency (re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3971 IS ferred to in this subsection as the ‘Adminis- 1 trator’) under paragraph (4), a State with an 2 approved State Reclamation Plan may enter 3 into a memorandum of understanding with rel- 4 evant Federal or State agencies to remediate 5 mine drainage on abandoned mine land and 6 water impacted by abandoned mines within the 7 State. 8 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—A memorandum of un- 9 derstanding entered into under subparagraph 10 (A) may be updated as necessary and resub- 11 mitted for approval under paragraph (4). 12 ‘‘(2) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING RE- 13 QUIREMENTS.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A memorandum of 15 understanding entered into under paragraph 16 (1)(A) shall establish a strategy to address 17 water pollution resulting from mine drainage at 18 sites eligible for reclamation and mine drainage 19 abatement expenditures under section 404, in- 20 cluding specific procedures for— 21 ‘‘(i) ensuring that activities carried 22 out to address mine drainage will result in 23 improved water quality; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3971 IS ‘‘(ii) monitoring, sampling, and re- 1 porting of collected information as nec- 2 essary to achieve the condition required 3 under clause (i); 4 ‘‘(iii) operation and maintenance of 5 treatment systems as necessary to achieve 6 the condition required under clause (i); 7 and 8 ‘‘(iv) other purposes, as considered 9 necessary by the State or Federal agencies 10 that are parties to the memorandum of un- 11 derstanding, to achieve the condition re- 12 quired under clause (i). 13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The strategy estab- 14 lished under subparagraph (A) shall be satisfac- 15 tory to the State and Federal agencies that are 16 parties to the memorandum of understanding. 17 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before submitting a 19 memorandum of understanding to the Secretary 20 and the Administrator for approval under para- 21 graph (4), a State shall— 22 ‘‘(i) invite interested members of the 23 public to comment on the memorandum of 24 understanding; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3971 IS ‘‘(ii) hold not less than 1 public meet- 1 ing concerning the memorandum of under- 2 standing in a location reasonably accessible 3 to persons who may be affected by imple- 4 mentation of the memorandum of under- 5 standing. 6 ‘‘(B) NOTICE OF MEETING.—Not later 7 than 15 days before the date of a meeting 8 under subparagraph (A), the State shall publish 9 notice of the meeting in local newspapers of 10 general circulation, on the internet, and by any 11 other means considered necessary or desirable 12 by the Secretary and the Administrator. 13 ‘‘(4) SUBMISSION AND APPROVAL.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Before entering into a 15 memorandum of understanding under para- 16 graph (1)(A), a State shall submit the memo- 17 randum of understanding to the Secretary and 18 the Administrator for approval. 19 ‘‘(B) DEADLINE.—Not later than 120 days 20 after the date on which a State submits the 21 memorandum of understanding for approval 22 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary and the 23 Administrator shall approve or disapprove the 24 memorandum of understanding. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3971 IS ‘‘(C) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary and 1 the Administrator shall approve a memorandum 2 of understanding under this paragraph if the 3 Secretary and Administrator find that the 4 memorandum of understanding will facilitate 5 additional activities to improve water quality 6 under the approved State Reclamation Plan of 7 the State. 8 ‘‘(5) TREATMENT AS PART OF STATE PLAN.— 9 A memorandum of understanding that is approved 10 by the Secretary and the Administrator under this 11 subsection shall be considered to be part of the ap- 12 proved State Reclamation Plan of the State.’’. 13 (b) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER PARTNERSHIPS.—Sec- 14 tion 405 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation 15 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1235) (as amended by subsection 16 (a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 17 ‘‘(n) COMMUNITY RECLAIMER PARTNERSHIPS.— 18 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY RE- 19 CLAIMER.—In this subsection, the term ‘community 20 reclaimer’ means any person who— 21 ‘‘(A) seeks to voluntarily assist a State 22 with a reclamation project under this section; 23 ‘‘(B) did not participate in any way in— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3971 IS ‘‘(i) the creation of site conditions at 1 the project site; or 2 ‘‘(ii) activities that caused any land or 3 waters at the project site to become eligible 4 for reclamation or drainage abatement ex- 5 penditures under section 404; 6 ‘‘(C) is not a past or current owner or op- 7 erator of any site with ongoing reclamation obli- 8 gations; and 9 ‘‘(D) is not subject to outstanding viola- 10 tions listed pursuant to section 510(c). 11 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF COMMUNITY RE- 12 CLAIMER PROJECTS.—The Secretary may authorize 13 a community reclaimer to carry out a reclamation 14 project under this section for which a request for ap- 15 proval submitted by the State under paragraph (3) 16 has been approved by the Secretary in accordance 17 with paragraph (4). 18 ‘‘(3) PROJECT SUBMISSION.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A State may submit 20 to the Secretary a request to authorize a com- 21 munity reclaimer to carry out a reclamation 22 project under this section in the State. 23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A request sub- 24 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3971.IS S3971 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3971 IS ‘‘(i) a description of the project, in- 1 cluding any engineering plans that include 2 the seal of a professional engineer; 3 ‘‘(ii) a description of the 1 or more 4 project sites, includi [Text truncated for display. 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