Sponsor
Darin Lahood
Representative · R-IL
Representative · R-IL
The bill creates clearer pathways, tools, and community roles for remediating mine drainage—likely improving water quality—while shifting financial and administrative burdens to states and taxpayers and introducing legal and sunset-related uncertainties for project partners.
Rural and local communities, downstream landowners, and states gain a clearer federal pathway and practical tools (monitoring/sampling, O&M plans, liability clarity, and improved project visibility) to remediate mine drainage and improve water quality.
State and federal agencies and utilities get clearer statutory drafting and liability rules, reducing interpretive disputes and legal uncertainty and likely speeding rulemaking and project implementation.
A Community Reclaimer pathway lets nonprofits and community entities lead reclamation projects, increasing local engagement and potentially lowering project costs.
State governments and taxpayers could face increased financial exposure and long-term costs if states are held liable for constructing/operating treatment plants or for project costs and damages.
The law sunsets on Sept 30, 2032, creating planning and budget uncertainty for grantees, contractors, nonprofits, agencies, and beneficiaries unless Congress extends the program.
New administrative requirements (annual project lists, permitting/financial-assurance consistency, monitoring/reporting) increase workload for states and applicants and could delay approvals or slow remediation if submissions are incomplete.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes State-entered MOUs and a Community Reclaimer approval pathway under SMCRA to remediate mine drainage, adds project-list requirements, sets public-comment and federal review timelines, and sunsets in 2032.
Official title: To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to authorize partnerships between States and nongovernmental entities for the purpose of reclaiming and restoring land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining activities before August 3, 1977, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Darin Lahood · Last progress May 14, 2025
Creates a temporary authority for States with approved abandoned mine reclamation programs to enter multilateral memoranda of understanding with federal or state agencies to plan and carry out remediation of mine drainage that pollutes streams and waters. It adds a new Community Reclaimer project pathway into the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act process, sets public notice and comment requirements for state-submitted MOUs, requires federal approval timelines, adds required project lists to annual state submissions, amends authority for construction/operation of treatment plants, and sunsets the whole program on September 30, 2032. The bill focuses on improving water quality from abandoned mine lands by clarifying approval processes, establishing operational and monitoring expectations for treatment systems, and creating a faster project approval path for Community Reclaimer projects while preserving federal review and public participation requirements.