Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act

Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act - Title I: Findings and Purposes - Sets forth the findings of Congress and declares the purposes of this Act. Title II: Control of Environmental Impacts of Surface Coal Mining Operations - Provides, as an interim regulatory procedure, that on and after 90 days from the date of enactment of this Act, no person shall open or develop any new or previously mined or abandoned site for surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State regulatory authority unless such person has obtained a permit from such regulatory authority. States that within 60 days from the date of enactment of this Act the State regulatory authority shall review and amend all existing permits in order to incorporate in them the interim surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards of this Act. Sets forth the interim surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards that shall be applicable to surface coal mining operations on lands on which such operations are regulated by a State regulatory authority. Declares that not later than the end of the 180 day period immediately following the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate and publish in the Federal Register regulations covering a permanent regulatory procedure for surface coal mining and reclamation operations setting permanent surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards, and procedures and requirements for preparation, submission and approval of State programs, and the development and implementation of Federal programs under this title. Provides that each State in which surface coal mining operations are or may be conducted, and which proposes to assume State regulatory authority under this Act, shall submit to the Secretary, by the end of the twenty-four month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, a State program which demonstrates that such State has the capability of carrying out the provisions of this Act. Establishes the procedure which the Secretary shall follow before approving any State program submitted under this Act. Directs the Secretary to prepare, promulgate, and implement a Federal program for the regulation of surface coal mining operations in any State which fails to submit a State program covering surface coal mining and reclamation operations by the end of the twenty-four month period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act; resubmit an acceptable State program, or portion thereof, within sixty days of disapproval of a proposed State program, in whole or in part; or adequately implement, enforce, or maintain a State program approved pursuant to this Act. Declares that the Secretary, and, in the case of national forest lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall conduct a review of the Federal lands and determine areas or types of areas on Federal lands which cannot be reclaimed with existing techniques to satisfy applicable standards and requirements of law. States that permits for surface coal mining will not be issued to mine such areas unless it is determined, with respect to any such permit, that the technology is available to satisfy applicable performance standards. Provides that in no event is an area to be designated unsuitable for surface coal mining operations on which surface coal mining operations are being conducted on the date of enactment of this Act, or under a permit issued pursuant to this Act, or where substantial legal and financial commitments in such operations are in existence prior to the date of enactment of this Act. Enumerates the permit application requirements. Declares that each applicant for a permit shall be required to submit to the regulatory authority, as part of the permit application, a surface coal mining and reclamation plan. Directs the regulatory authority to notify the applicant for a surface coal mining and reclamation permit within a period of time established by law or regulation, not to exceed ninety days, that the application has been approved or disapproved. Provides that after a surface coal mining and reclamation permit application has been approved but before such a permit is issued, the applicant shall file with the regulatory authority, on a form prescribed and furnished by the regulatory authority, a bond for performance payable, as appropriate, to the United States or the State, under an approved State program, and conditioned that the applicant shall faithfully perform all the applicable requirements under this Act. Makes provisions for the release of performance bonds or deposits. States that during the term of the permit the permittee may submit an application, together with a revised surface coal mining and reclamation plan, to the regulatory authority for a revision of the permit. Provides that any permit issued under any approved State or Federal program pursuant to this Act to conduct surface coal mining operations shall require that such surface coal mining operations shall meet all applicable surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards of this Act. Lists the general surface coal mining and reclamation performance standards that shall be applicable to all surface coal mining and reclamation operations. Lists the mining and reclamation performance standards to be applicable to steep-slope surface coal mining in addition to the general performance standards required by this Act. Provides mining and reclamation performance standards for surface operations incident to underground coal mining. States that the Secretary shall cause to be made such inspections of any surface coal mining and reclamation operations as are necessary to evaluate the administration of approved State programs, or to develop or enforce any Federal program, and for such purposes authorized representatives of the Secretary shall have a right of entry to, upon, or through any surface coal mining and reclamation operations. Provides that if the State regulatory authority, if one exists, fails, within ten days after notification of a violation of this Act, to cause that violation to be corrected or to show good cause for such failure and transmit notification of its action to the Secretary, the Secretary shall immediately order Federal inspection of the surface coal mining operation at which the alleged violation is occurring (unless the information available to the Secretary is a result of a previous Federal inspection of such surface coal mining operation). Allows any person having an interest which is or may be adversely affected by a notice or order issued as a result of the above inspection to apply to the Secretary for review of the notice or order within thirty days of its receipt or within thirty days of its modification, vacation, or termination. Provides a maximum civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation of this Act, and a criminal penalty, for willful and knowing violations of this Act, of not more than a $10,000 fine or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Makes provisions for the applicability of this Act to Federal lands. Title III: General Provisions and Administration - Declares that in carrying out his responsibilities under this Act the Secretary shall: (1) administer the State grant-in-aid program for the development of State programs for surface coal mining and reclamation operations provided for in this title; (2) maintain a continuing study of surface coal mining and reclamation operations in the United States; (3) assist the States in the development of State programs for surface coal mining and reclamation operations which meet the requirements of this Act; (4) publish and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act; and (5) conduct hearings, administer oaths, issue subpenas, and compel the attendance of witnesses and production of written or printed materials as are necessary to carry out his duties under this Act. Directs the Secretary to conduct a full and complete study and investigation of the practices of backfilling all coal mine wastes and coal processing plant wastes in mine voids or other equally effective disposal methods and the control of subsidence to maximize the stability, value, and use of lands overlying underground coal mines. States that the Secretary shall report to the Congress the results of such study and investigation no later than the end of the two-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make annual grants to any State for the purpose of assisting such State in developing, administering and enforcing State programs under this Act.

Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on February 27, 1974. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.

Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.