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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8062 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8062
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to
strengthen control of the environmental impacts of surface coal mining,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 18, 2024
Mr. Beyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to
strengthen control of the environmental impacts of surface coal mining,
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 ``Stream Protection and Vegetation
Restoration Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT.
(a) Reclamation Plan Requirements.--Section 508(a)(7) of the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C.
1258(a)(7)) is amended by inserting ``, not to exceed the time and
distance standards established in section 515(g)'' after ``reclamation
plan''.
(b) Revision of Permits.--Section 511(a) of the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1261(a)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) A request to temporarily cease or suspend mining operations
is a significant permit revision for purposes of paragraph (2).
``(4) In each case where no active coal removal or reclamation has
occurred at a permitted mine for more than 6 months during any 3-year
period, the applicable permit shall be considered out of compliance
with the reclamation plan--
``(A) unless the permit is in compliance with time and
distance standards established in section 515(g) and does not
have any variances from such standards; and
``(B) until the date on which the regulatory authority
approves--
``(i) a reasonable plan submitted by the operator
to return to production not later than 1 year after the
date on which the operator is notified that the
applicable permit is considered out of compliance under
this paragraph; or
``(ii) an application for a revision of the permit
submitted by the permittee under paragraph (1).''.
(c) Environmental Protection Performance Standards.--Section 515 of
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1265)
is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)--
(A) in paragraph (16)--
(i) by inserting ``, not to exceed the time
and distance standards established in
subsection (g)'' after ``contemporaneously as
practicable with the surface coal mining
operations''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking the
period at the end and inserting a semicolon;
(B) in paragraph (20)--
(i) in subparagraph (A), by inserting
``and'' at the end; and
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the
period at the end and inserting a semicolon;
(C) in paragraph (22)(I), by striking the period at
the end and inserting a semicolon;
(D) in paragraph (23), by striking ``and'' at the
end;
(E) in paragraph (25), by striking the period at
the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(F) by adding at the end the following:
``(26) conduct contemporaneous reclamation so as not to
exceed the time and distance standards established in
subsection (g).''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Rough backfilling and grading for surface mining activities
shall be completed according to one of the following schedules:
``(1) For contour mining, within 60 days or 1,500 linear
feet following coal removal, whichever occurs first.
``(2) For area mining, within 180 days following coal
removal, and not more than 4 spoil ridges behind the pit being
worked, the spoil from the active pit constituting the first
ridge.
``(3) For other surface mining methods, in accordance with
the schedule established by the regulatory authority. For
States with approved State programs, schedules are subject to
the State program approval process.''.
(d) Inspections and Monitoring.--Section 517(b) of the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1267(b)(2)) is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (2), to read as follows:
``(2) the regulatory authority shall--
``(A) require quarterly monitoring of both surface
water and ground water during mining and reclamation;
and
``(B) specify those--
``(i) monitoring sites to record the
quantity and quality of surface drainage above
and below the mine site as well as in the
potential zone of influence;
``(ii) monitoring sites to record level,
amount, and samples of ground water and
aquifers potentially affected by the mining and
also directly below the lowermost (deepest)
coal seam to be mined;
``(iii) records of well logs and borehole
data to be maintained; and
``(iv) monitoring sites to record
precipitation;'';
(2) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (5); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) the regulatory authority shall conduct an annual
assessment of the biological condition of streams to
demonstrate progress with respect to restoring of the pre-
mining biological condition of the stream;
``(4) the regulatory authority shall conduct an inspection
of surface water runoff control structures after each
precipitation event that is at least as intense as a 100-year,
6-hour precipitation event; and''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
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