Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act or the ACHE Act
This bill places restrictions and requirements on certain mining projects until the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines whether such projects pose risks to human health. The bill applies to mountaintop-removal coal mining projects that use blasting with explosives in the steep slope regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Specifically, the bill requires the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to conduct or support studies on the health impacts of mountaintop-removal coal mining projects on individuals in the surrounding communities. HHS must use these studies when making its determination on whether such mining presents any health risks to those individuals.
Until HHS makes its determination, entities carrying out such mining must monitor levels of soil, water, air, and noise pollution. HHS must make the results of this monitoring publicly available.
In addition, specified agencies may not issue permits for any mountaintop-removal coal mining project or expansion unless HHS determines that such mining does not present any health risk to individuals in the surrounding communities.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior must assess a one-time fee upon existing mining projects. The fee must cover the federal cost of the studies and pollution monitoring required by the bill.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2073 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2073
To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining
until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and
Human Services, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 18, 2021
Mr. Yarmuth introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining
until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and
Human Services, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Appalachian Communities Health
Emergency Act'' or the ``ACHE Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Communities surrounding mountaintop removal coal mining
projects, which involve surface coal mining including blasting
with explosives in the steep slope regions of Kentucky,
Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia, have raised concerns
that pollution of the water, air, and soil that results from
mountaintop removal coal mining may be causing health crises in
their communities.
(2) Peer-reviewed scientific research and reports have
raised serious concerns about mountaintop removal mining with
respect to elevated risks in categories of birth defects
studied: circulatory, respiratory, central nervous system,
musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal.
(3) Mountaintop removal coal mining has also been
associated with elevated levels of adult hospitalizations for
chronic pulmonary disorders and hypertension that are elevated
as a function of county-level coal production, as are rates of
mortality; lung cancer; and chronic heart, lung, and kidney
disease. These health problems strike both women and men in
mountaintop removal coal mining communities. These elevated
levels of disease, defects, and mortality persist even after
controlling for other variables.
(4) Initial scientific evidence, and the level of public
concern, warrant immediate action to stop new mountaintop
removal coal mining permits and increase environmental and
human health monitoring at existing mountaintop removal coal
mining projects while the reported links between health effects
and mountaintop removal coal mining are investigated by Federal
health agencies.
(5) The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
is uniquely qualified to manage a working group of Federal
health agencies with expertise that is relevant to study of the
reported links.
SEC. 3. HEALTH STUDIES.
(a) Studies.--The Director of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, in consultation with the Administrator
of the Environmental Protection Agency and the heads of such other
Federal departments and agencies as the Director deems appropriate,
shall--
(1) conduct or support comprehensive studies on the health
impacts, if any, of mountaintop removal coal mining on
individuals in the surrounding communities; and
(2) submit to the Secretary, and make publicly available, a
report on the results of such studies.
(b) Determination.--Upon receipt of the report under subsection
(a)(2), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall publish a
determination on whether mountaintop removal coal mining presents any
health risks to individuals in the surrounding communities.
SEC. 4. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING PERMIT MORATORIUM.
Until and unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services
publishes a determination under section 3(b) concluding that
mountaintop removal coal mining does not present any health risk to
individuals in the surrounding communities, a permit or other
authorization may not be issued for any mountaintop removal coal mining
project, or for any expansion of such a project, by--
(1) the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of
Engineers, or a State, under section 404 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344);
(2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, or a State, under section 402 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342); or
(3) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, or a
State, under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.).
SEC. 5. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING CONTINUOUS HEALTH AND
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING.
(a) Requirement.--Until the Secretary of Health and Human Services
publishes a determination under section 3(b)--
(1) any person conducting a mountaintop removal coal mining
project shall--
(A) conduct continuous monitoring for any pollution
of water and air (including noise) and frequent
monitoring of soil as a result of such project for the
purposes of comprehensively--
(i) characterizing any pollution emitted
from the project; and
(ii) identifying ways in which members of
affected communities might be exposed to these
emissions; and
(B) submit the results of such monitoring to the
Secretary on a monthly basis; and
(2) the Secretary shall make such results available to the
public through the World Wide Web in a searchable database
format not later than 7 days after the date on which the
Secretary receives such results.
(b) Enforcement.--If a person conducting a mountaintop removal coal
mining project fails to conduct monitoring and submit results in
connection with such project as required by subsection (a), a permit or
other authorization may not be issued for the mountaintop removal coal
mining project, or for an expansion of such project, by--
(1) the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of
Engineers, or a State, under section 404 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1344);
(2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency, or a State, under section 402 of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342); or
(3) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, or a
State, under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.).
SEC. 6. FEE TO PAY FOR HEALTH STUDIES AND MONITORING.
(a) Collection and Assessment.--The President, acting through the
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement of the Department
of the Interior, shall assess and collect from each person that, as of
the date of the enactment of this Act, is conducting a mountaintop
removal coal mining project in the United States a one-time fee in an
amount sufficient to recover the Federal cost of implementing sections
3 and 5.
(b) Use of Fee.--Amounts received by the United States as a fee
under this section may be used, to the extent and in the amount
provided in advance in appropriations Acts, only to pay the Federal
cost of carrying out sections 3 and 5.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``mountaintop removal coal mining'' means
surface coal mining that uses blasting with explosives in the
steep slope regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and
Virginia; and
(2) the term ``steep slope'' has the meaning that term has
under section 515(d)(4) of the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1265(d)(4)).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
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