Tag: Mine Reclamation

Millions In AMLER Funds Coming To Transform Coal Communities

West Virginia will receive $26.6 million in funds from the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement.

West Virginia will receive $26.6 million in funds from the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement.

That’s for the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program. Pennsylvania and Kentucky will receive similar amounts. Ohio, Virginia and Alabama will receive $10.6 million each, and three tribal governments will receive $3.5 million each.

The AMLER program was created in 2016 and has helped repurpose abandoned mine lands and create recreational opportunities for affected communities.

For example, an AMLER grant is helping to close a gap in the Elk River Trail, a new state park built on an abandoned coal-hauling railroad in central West Virginia.

Other AMLER recipients have started new businesses or built solar farms at or near mine sites.

The grants are in addition to the $140 million in Abandoned Mine Land funds for West Virginia from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.

State To Receive An Additional $27 Million For Mine Reclamation

The state will receive nearly $27 million from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. That’s in addition to the $140 million the state received in February.

West Virginia will receive a new round of federal funds to clean up abandoned mines.

The state will receive nearly $27 million from the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. That’s in addition to the $140 million the state received in February.

West Virginia has hundreds of abandoned mines, and the federal Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program helps clean them up, improving the environment, creating jobs and converting hazardous sites to productive use.

Separately, two communities in Southern West Virginia will receive federal COVID-19 relief funds for broadband and water projects.

More than $6 million will go to the McDowell County Public Service District to provide water and fire protection services to about 50 businesses in Welch.

More than $1 million will go to Regional Optimal Communications in Princeton to complete a statewide plan for affordable broadband.

Energy Bills Move Forward As Legislature Winds Down Session

State lawmakers wrapped up energy related legislation in the final hours of the session, including a bill to create a Mining Mutual Insurance Company.

The Senate unanimously approved the final version of Senate Bill 1 on Saturday, and it becomes effective immediately when the governor signs it.

SB 1 creates a five-member board to manage at least $50 million in taxpayer funds. Those funds would back mine reclamation bonds.

An audit last year found that the state’s special reclamation fund was not adequate to cover future mine cleanup obligations, potentially exposing the state to hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities.

Senate President Craig Blair identified SB 1 as one of his top priorities, and in a rare move, he sponsored the bill.

Advanced Batteries

The House sent House Bill 4025 back to the Senate late Saturday with an amendment removed, but the chamber didn’t act on it before the session expired.

The bill would have exempted rare earth minerals mined in the state from severance taxes. Its supporters say that will encourage the development of advanced battery technology for use in electric vehicles and storage batteries for renewable energy.

Carbon Storage

Both chambers finished action earlier this month on House Bill 4491, with the Senate agreeing unanimously to the legislation.

HB 4491 will create a permitting system for underground carbon storage. The system could help carbon-intensive industries, such as power plants, steelmakers and cement companies, meet their carbon-reduction or net-zero goals.

The stored carbon could also be used in the future and meanwhile would not be released into the atmosphere.

Nuclear Power

Senate Bill 4 made it across the finish line and to the governor’s desk last month.

SB 4 repealed the state’s longstanding ban on the construction of new nuclear power facilities. The ban was enacted over concerns about nuclear safety and to protect the state’s coal industry from a competitor.

But times have changed. Gov. Jim Justice, a coal executive, signed the repeal. It will take effect on May 1, 2022.

Mine Safety

A bill to change the state’s mine safety code didn’t get very far.

House Bill 4840 would have made changes that Democrats, many Republicans and the United Mine Workers of America said would have weakened safety.

An intensive lobbying effort by mine workers and their allies effectively sidelined the legislation.

House Of Delegates Approves Bill To Aid Mine Reclamation

The House of Delegates approved a bill on Friday to help cover the cost of reclaiming abandoned mines.

An audit last year found the state’s special reclamation fund is insufficient to cover the cost of cleaning up the state’s mine sites.

The audit said the state could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in mine cleanup obligations. Coal company failures in recent years have worsened the problem.

State lawmakers are proposing a Mining Mutual Insurance Company that would issue bonds to cover those liabilities.

It would consist of five appointees chosen by the governor, the Senate president, the House speaker, the Department of Environmental Protection secretary and the state insurance commissioner.

The five-member board would manage $50 million in taxpayer funds. Its proceedings would be closed to the public and the news media, as lawmakers exempted it from state open meetings law and the Freedom of Information Act.

The House voted 61-36 in favor of Senate Bill 1. It will need a vote in the Senate to become law.

Mining Mutual Insurance Company Board Would Shut Public Out

A bill to create a Mining Mutual Insurance Company raises questions about government transparency.

Senate Bill 1 would exempt the mutual’s five-member board from the state open meetings law and the Freedom of Information Act.

Members of the public and news organizations would not be able to attend or view the board’s activities, nor would they be able to request documents about them.

The company’s board would consist of five political appointees and would oversee at least $50 million in taxpayer funds.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin of Greenbrier County, says the company would be private and that the legislature and the Insurance Commissioner would hold it accountable.

The Open Meetings Law, or Sunshine Act, intended for the proceedings of all public agencies to be conducted in the open. The law provides for such agencies to go into executive session, which is not open to the public, when necessary.

Pat McGinley, who teaches law at West Virginia University, says the board’s proceedings should be transparent.

“Under the Freedom of Information Act, those communications would clearly be, most of them would be, open to the public,” McGinley said. “And clearly, the sponsors of this bill and anyone who votes for it wants to keep the public in the dark.”

The bill passed the Senate unanimously in January, and is now in the House of Delegates.

Board Of State Mine Reclamation Insurer Could Operate In Secret

A new board proposed by the legislature to backstop the state’s mine reclamation fund may be able to operate in secret.

Senate Bill 1 would create a Mining Mutual Insurance Company to issue mine reclamation bonds backed by at least $50 million in taxpayer funds.

But as written, the bill would exempt the five-member board from state open meetings laws and the Freedom of Information Act. That means the board’s activities would be shielded from public view.

The board would consist of a chair appointed by the governor. Other members would be appointed by the secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, the Insurance Commissioner, the Senate president and the House speaker.

Gary Zuckett, executive director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, said SB 1 needs more scrutiny in light of last year’s legislative audit of the state mine reclamation program. The audit found the program’s liabilities far exceeded the available funds.

“We really need to lift up this legislative audit,” he said, “The auditors, I think, did their due diligence on this.”

The audit recommended a commission to study the problem. Instead, the legislature has proposed this solution.

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