WASHINGTON – The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement today announced more than $4.8 million in fiscal year 2024 funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for Maryland to address dangerous and polluting abandoned mine lands (AML), create good-paying, family-sustaining jobs, and catalyze economic opportunity.
Additionally, Maryland received nearly $300,000 to update its abandoned mine land inventory, supporting future remediation efforts.
Millions of Americans nationwide live less than a mile from an abandoned coal mine. The President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a total of $16 billion to address legacy pollution, including $11.3 billion in AML funding over 15 years, facilitated by OSMRE. This historic funding is expected to address nearly all of the currently inventoried abandoned coal mine lands in the nation, which will help communities address and eliminate dangerous conditions and pollution caused by historic coal mining.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law infuses coal communities with the funding necessary to turn past pollution into future prosperity,” said Principal Deputy Director Sharon Buccino. “This historic funding is making people safer, cleaning up the environment, and creating jobs. Outcomes that these communities need and deserve.”
Today’s announcement builds on more than $9.6 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda allocated to Maryland in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Including today’s
announcement, over $22.9 million in awards for fiscal year 2024 have been awarded nationwide. Funding will be awarded to additional eligible states on a rolling basis as they apply.
“The additional BIL funding for our Abandoned Mine Lands Program has been an incredible opportunity for Maryland to address the environmental impacts of an industry that once played a large part in our growth as a state,” said Tyler Abbott, director of the Maryland Department of the Environment Land and Materials Administration. “This funding will help us restore our waterways, forests, and meadows and ensure they are protected going forward.”
AML reclamation supports jobs in coal communities by investing in projects that close dangerous mine shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, improve water quality by treating acid mine drainage, and restore water supplies damaged by mining. Awards can also enable economic revitalization by reclaiming hazardous land for recreational facilities and other redevelopment, such as advanced manufacturing and renewable energy deployment.
This funding is a part of the Biden-Harris administration’s unprecedented investments in communities and workers to support an equitable transition to a sustainable economy and healthier environment after the closure of mines or power plants. This effort also advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Additionally, reclaiming abandoned coal mines is a pillar of the Biden-Harris administration’s Methane Action Plan, which includes historic efforts to reduce methane emissions—one of the biggest drivers of climate change—while creating jobs and promoting American innovation.
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