(File Photo)
(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, the U.S. Department of Interior announced that nearly $725 million in funding has been made available to states to reclaim abandoned mine lands (AML), allocated as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17) announced that Pennsylvania is eligible to receive up to $244 million in the first funding phase announced. Lamb supported this program’s inclusion in the infrastructure package.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated a total of $11.3 billion in AML funding over 15 years, which will help communities eliminate dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining. For much of the twentieth century mining companies could use our natural resources and leave their sites without restoration. Congress changed that in the 1970s, taking steps to increase funding for remediating these sites, but hundreds of thousands of acres of Pennsylvania remain impacted. This historic funding accelerates that process and is expected to address the vast majority of inventoried abandoned mine lands in this country. This is especially important for Pennsylvania, as the Department of the Interior estimates the state accounts for approximately 46 percent of the United States’ remaining reclamation costs.
“America relied on coal from Pennsylvania for hundreds of years, now we must restore the land and prepare it for the opportunities presented by the new economy. This federal funding will reclaim our lands and create good-paying jobs across our state, and passed with strong bipartisan support in Congress,” said Lamb.
AML reclamation projects also enable economic revitalization by reclaiming hazardous land for recreational facilities and other economic redevelopment uses, such as advanced manufacturing and renewable energy deployment. Lamb’s legislation, the Advancing Energy Manufacturing in Coal Communities Act (H.R. 5367), was also included and will help manufacturers near or in coal communities modernize their facilities to produce energy technologies.
As required by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this funding will prioritize projects that employ dislocated coal industry workers. AML funding will enable Pennsylvania to remediate abandoned mines that are leaking methane – a key contributor to climate change. Furthermore, this funding marks an unprecedented investment in coal, oil and gas and power plant communities, including through the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities which coordinated federal investment to support economic revitalization in energy communities.
Click here for more details on how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will deliver for Pennsylvania.