Stream Protection and Vegetation Restoration Act

Environmental Protection

house

senate

president

Introduced on April 18, 2024 by Donald Sternoff Beyer

Rundown

Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to enhance environmental impact controls of surface coal mining.
Introduces the "Stream Protection and Vegetation Restoration Act."
Modifies reclamation plan requirements to adhere to specific time and distance standards.
Defines a significant permit revision to include requests to temporarily cease or suspend mining operations.
Establishes compliance conditions for permits where no coal removal or reclamation has occurred for more than 6 months in any 3-year period.
Introduces environmental protection performance standards, including contemporaneous reclamation not to exceed established time and distance standards.
Specifies rough backfilling and grading schedules for different mining methods, including contour and area mining.
Requires quarterly monitoring of surface water and groundwater during mining and reclamation.
Mandates the maintenance of records for monitoring sites, well logs, and borehole data.
Requires annual assessments of the biological condition of streams and inspections of surface water runoff control structures after significant precipitation events.

Last updated 8/8/2024