Reclaiming Abandoned Mine Land (AML)

Date: March 23, 2023
Contact: news@osmre.gov

WASHINGTON – As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to create good-paying jobs and address legacy pollution harming communities across the nation, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced today more than $126.5 million in fiscal year 2023 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fee-based grants available to States and Tribes for AML reclamation efforts that continue to protect the health and safety of Americans and restore the environment.

“OSMRE is proud to announce today the availability of the 2023 AML fee-based grants,” said OSMRE Deputy Director Glenda Owens. “These grants will continue to ensure our state and Tribal partners have the resources needed to continue their decades of successful reclamation work on our nation’s abandoned mine land sites.”

OSMRE, through its AML Reclamation Program, addresses the hazards and environmental degradation posed by legacy coal mine sites. AML fee-based grants are funded in part by a fee collected on all coal produced in the United States to help eliminate dangerous conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reauthorized and extended the AML fee at a reduced rate through September 30, 2024, ensuring AML fee-based grants to states and Tribes through 2035.

In fiscal year 2023, 24 coal-producing states and two Tribal AML reclamation programs are eligible to receive AML grants according to a congressionally mandated formula based on their past and current coal production. The total amount available for fiscal year 2023 AML fee-based grants was reduced by the mandated sequestration amount of 5.7%, resulting in the $126.5 million allocated towards AML fee-based grant distribution.

These funds are in addition to the $11.3 billion in AML funding provided by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which resulted in $725 million being distributed to eligible States and Tribes in FY 2022, and the $135 million that OSMRE recently made available through the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program, which is designed to promote economic revitalization in hard-hit coal communities.  

OSMRE has distributed approximately $8 billion in grants to states and Tribes under the AML Fee-based Reclamation Program, supporting efforts to address the physical hazards posed by lands and waters mined and abandoned or left inadequately restored before 1977, when the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was enacted. These funds have directly contributed to the closure of more than 47,000 dangerous mine shafts and openings and the elimination of more than 1,050 miles of dangerous highwalls.

Visit www.osmre.gov/resources/grants-resources to learn more about the fiscal year 2023 grant distribution. Visit OSMRE’s YouTube Channel to watch videos highlighting award-winning AML reclamation projects.

– OSMRE –

OSMRE carries out the requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 in cooperation with states and Tribes. OSMRE’s objectives are to ensure that coal mining activities are conducted in a manner that protects citizens and the environment during mining, to ensure that the land is restored to beneficial use after mining, and to mitigate the effects of past mining by aggressively pursuing reclamation of abandoned coal mines.

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