 Sign at Indian Head Mine, near Beulah, ND. Photo: Chuck Meyers, OSM. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ...
It is the purpose of this Act to - establish a nationwide program to protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal mining operations; assure that the rights of surface landowners and other persons with a legal interest in the land or appurtenances thereto are fully protected...
Wyoming coal mine Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use as fuel. ...
SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. SMCRA also created the Office of Surface Mining, an agency within the Department of the Interior, to promulgate regulations, to fund state regulatory and reclamation efforts, and to ensure consistency among state regulatory programs. The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior. ...
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is a Cabinet department of the United States government that manages and conserves most federally-owned land. ...
Passage SMCRA grew out of a concern about the environmental effects of strip mining. Coal had been mined in the United States since the 1740's, but surface mining did not become widespread until the 1930's. At the end of that decade, states began to enact the first laws regulating the coal mining industry: West Virginia in 1939, Indiana in 1941, Illinois in 1943, and Pennsylvania in 1945. Despite those laws, the great demand for coal during World War II led to coal being mined with little regard for environmental consequences. After the war, states continued to enact and expand regulatory programs, some of which required mining permits or the posting of bonds to ensure that the land could be reclaimed after mining was complete. But these state laws were largely unsuccessful at stemming the environmental impacts of surface mining. One problem was that the law varied from state to state, enabling mining operations to relocate to states where regulations were less strict. Meanwhile, surface mining became increasingly common: in 1963 just 33 percent of American coal came from surface mines; by 1973 that figure reached 60 percent. Wyoming strip mine Surface mining is a type of mining used to extract deposits of mineral resources that are close to the surface. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area Ranked 41st - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 240 miles (385 km) - % water 0. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area Ranked 38th - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²) - Width 140 miles (225 km) - Length 270 miles (435 km) - % water 1. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area Ranked 25th - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 390 miles (629 km) - % water 4. ...
Official language(s) None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area Ranked 33rd - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²) - Width 160 miles (255 km) - Length 280 miles (455 km) - % water 2. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ...
In 1974 and 1975 Congress sent mining regulation bills to President Ford, but he vetoed them out of concern that they would harm the coal industry, increase inflation, and restrict the energy supply. As Jimmy Carter campaigned in Appalachia in 1976, he promised to sign those bills. Congress sent him a bill that was even more stringent than those vetoed by Ford, and President Carter signed it into law on August 3, 1977. Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. ...
James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ...
Structure As stated above, SMCRA has two main parts: regulation of active mines and reclamation of abandoned mine systems.
Regulatory Program The regulation of active mines under SMCRA has five major components:  Blasting a coal seam in Gillette, WY. This single explosion loosened half a million tons of coal. Photo: Chuck Meyers, OSM. - Standards of Performance. SMCRA and its implementing regulations set environmental standards that mines must follow while operating, and achieve when reclaiming mined land.
- Permitting. SMCRA requires that companies obtain permits before conducting surface mining. Permit applications must describe what the premining environmental conditions and land use are, what the proposed mining and reclamation will be, how the mine will meet the SMCRA performance standards, and how the land will be used after reclamation is complete. This information is intended to help the government determine whether to allow the mine and set requirements in the permit that will protect the environment.
- Bonding. SMCRA requires that mining companies post a bond sufficient to cover the cost of reclaiming the site. This is meant to ensure that the mining site will be reclaimed even if the company goes out of business or fails to clean up the land for some other reason. The bond is not released until the mining site has been fully reclaimed and the government has (after five years in the East and ten years in the West) found the that the reclamation was successful.
- Inspection and Enforcement. SMCRA gives government regulators the authority to inspect mining operations, and to punish companies that violate SMCRA or an equivalent state statute. Inspectors can issue "notices of violation," which require operators to correct problems within a certain amount of time; levy fines; or order that mining cease.
- Land Restrictions. SMCRA prohibits surface mining altogether on certain lands, such as in National Parks and wilderness areas. It also allows citizens to challenge proposed surface mining operations on the ground that they will cause too much environmental harm.
Reclamation Program SMCRA created an Abandoned Mine Land (AML) fund to pay for the cleanup of mine lands abandoned before the passage of the statute in 1977. The law was amended in 1990 to allow funds to be spent on reclamation of mines abandoned after 1977. The fund is financed by a tax of 35 cents per ton for surface mined coal, 15 cents per ton for coal mined underground, and 10 cents per ton for lignite. Half the AML fees collected in each state with an approved reclamation program (see below) are given to that state to fund its reclamation program. The other half are used by OSM to respond to emergencies such as landslides, land subsidence, and fires, and to carry out high priority cleanups in states without approved programs. States with approved programs can also use AML funds to set up programs to insure homeowners against land subsidence caused by underground mining. Coal Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by mining. ...
State/Federal Relationship Like most environmental statutes passed in the 1960's and 1970's, SMCRA uses a cooperative federalism approach under which states are expected to take the lead in regulation while the federal government oversees their efforts. Under SMCRA, the federal government can approve a program, which gives the state the authority to regulate mining operations, if the state demonstrates that it has a law that is at least as strict as SMCRA, and that they have a regulatory agency with the wherewithall to operate the program. Currently, most coal-mining states have approved programs. Those states issue their own permits, inspect their mines, and take enforcement action themselves when necessary. In the two states without approved programs (Tennessee and Washington) and on Indian Reservations, the Office of Surface Mining performs those functions. The federal government is required to regulate surface coal mining on federal lands (which include 60 percent of the coal reserves in the West), but can enter into cooperative agreements with states with approved programs. Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Area Ranked 36th - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²) - Width 120 miles (195 km) - Length 440 miles (710 km) - % water 2. ...
This article does not cite its references or sources. ...
BIA map of Indian reservations in the continental United States. ...
References - 25th Anniversary of the Surface Mining Law: A report on the protection and restoration of the nation's land and water resources under the Surface Mining Law, Office of Surface Mining, 2003. Available at OSM website.
- Green, Edward. State and Federal Roles Under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 21 S. Ill. U. L.J. 531 (1997).
External links - Text of SMCRA, 30 U.S.C. ยงยง 1234-1328.
- SMCRA regulations, 30 CFR Part 700 et seq.
- Office of Surface Mining homepage
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