Order Code RL32993
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee on Coal
Updated April 24, 2006
Nonna A. Noto
Specialist in Public Finance
Government and Finance Division
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee on Coal
Summary
The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, also known as the Abandoned Mine
Land (AML) Fund, is financed by fees levied per ton of domestically produced coal.
The fee is 35 cents per ton for surface-mined coal, 15 cents per ton for underground-
mined coal, and 10 cents per ton for lignite. The fund and the fees were established
by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to finance
restoration of land abandoned or inadequately restored by mining companies before
August 3, 1977. The fees were originally scheduled to expire in 1992, but Congress
has extended them six times. The four extensions since 2004 have been for periods
of under one year. The FY2006 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act (H.R. 2361, P.L. 109-54) enacted on August 2, 2005, extended
the fees for nine months, until June 30, 2006. Thus, the extension of the AML fees
remains an issue for the 109th Congress to address.
The AML Fund has an unappropriated balance of $1.8 billion which earns
interest. Since FY1996, most of the annual interest earnings of the fund have been
transferred to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit
Fund (CBF) to help pay the medical expenses of “orphan” retirees, their spouses, and
dependents. From FY1996 through FY2005, $746 million in interest was transferred.
The law provides that if the regular AML fees sunset, special fees should be
established solely to provide for the annual transfer to the CBF.
Under current law, 50% of the AML fees collected are allocated back to the
state or Indian tribe that collected them (known as the state share). Since 1977, when
SMCRA was enacted, the production of coal has shifted westward, mostly to
Wyoming, while most of the remaining high priority reclamation sites are in eastern
states, the location of historic (pre-1978) coal production. The Office of Surface
Mining estimates that at least $3 billion in additional reclamation expenditures is
needed to clean up remaining Priority 1 and 2 sites. AML fees could be lower, or
collected for fewer years, if the state share allocation were eliminated and the AML
Fund focused on reclaiming these high priority sites. However, western states would
have less interest in supporting the AML Fund if they received nothing in return for
their producers’ contributions.
The Bush Administration’s FY2007 budget requests that the AML fees be
extended through September 30, 2007, at their current levels. This interim extension
is intended to provide time for the Administration to work with Congress to change
the rules governing expenditures from the AML Fund.
In the 109th Congress, there are proposals to extend the AML fees longer term
as part of bills to reauthorize the abandoned mine reclamation program. H.R. 2721
(John Peterson) and S. 961 (Rockefeller) would extend the fees at their current rates
through FY2019. H.R. 1600 (Cubin) would lower all of the fees by 20% and extend
them through FY2020. S. 1701 (Thomas) would lower all of the fees by 20%, in
different stages, and extend them through FY2015. S. 2616 (Santorum) would lower
the fees by 20%, in two stages, and extend them through FY2021. This report will
be updated when legislative events warrant.
Contents
History of Authorizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Fee Levels and Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Relationship to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Economic Burden of the Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Proposals to Extend the Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Bills Introduced in the 109th Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
H.R. 1600 (Cubin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
H.R. 2721 (John Peterson) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Senate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
S. 961 (Rockefeller) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
S. 1701 (Thomas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
S. 2616 (Santorum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
List of Tables
Table 1. AML Fees vs. Coal Prices, by Mine Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee on Coal
History of Authorizations
The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund — also known as the Abandoned Mine
Land or AML Fund — was established by the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).1 Its purpose is to finance restoration for land
abandoned or inadequately restored by mining companies before August 3, 1977.
The AML Fund is supported by fees levied per ton of domestically produced coal.
The AML fees were originally scheduled to expire in 1992, but Congress has
extended them six times.2 The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990
extended the fees from 1992 through FY1995.3 The Energy Policy Act of 1992
(EPACT) extended the fees from 1995 through FY2004.4 The Continuing Resolution
for FY2005 extended the fees for 51 days until November 20, 2004.5 The
Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2005 extended the authorization to collect the
fees for nine months, until June 30, 2005.6 The Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for FY2005 extended the fees for three months, until September
30, 2005.7 Most recently, the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006, enacted on August 2, 2005, extended the AML
1 P.L. 95-87, Title IV; 30 U.S.C. 1231 et seq.
2 The expiration date of the fees is specified in Section 402(b) of SMCRA; 25 U.S.C.
1232(b).
3 P.L. 101-508, Section 6003(a).
4 P.L. 102-486, Section 2515.
5 P.L. 108-309, Making continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2005, and for other
purposes, enacted Sept. 30, 2004, Section 125.
6 P.L. 108-447, enacted Dec. 8, 2004, Division E, Title I, Section 135. This provision
originated in S. 2084, Section 123. See U.S. Congress, Senate, Department of the Interior
and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2005, Report to accompany S. 2084, Report 108-
341, Calendar No. 695, 108th Cong., 2nd Sess., Sept. 14, 2004, p. 47.
7 P.L. 109-13, An act making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Defense, the
Global War on Terror and Tsunami Relief, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005,
and for other purposes, enacted May 11, 2005, Section 6035.
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fees for nine months, until June 30, 2006.8 Thus, the extension of the AML fees
remains an issue for the 109th Congress to address.
A longer-term extension of the AML fees is likely to be linked to the
reauthorization of the abandoned mine reclamation program9 and to plans for federal
assistance to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit
Fund (CBF) for orphan retiree health benefits.
Fee Levels and Collections
Under section 402(a) of SMCRA10 the AML fees were set at the rate of 35 cents
per ton for surface-mined coal and 15 cents per ton for underground-mined coal (or
10% of the value of the coal at the mine, whichever is less). The fee was set at 10
cents per ton for lignite (or 2% of the value of coal at the mine, whichever is less).11
These same rates continued each time the fees were extended.
According to the legislative history of section 402(a) of SMCRA, the lower fee
set for underground mining compared with surface mining reflects the
“... disproportionately high social costs incurred by underground coal mine operators
in meeting responsibilities under the Coal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969, as
amended.”12 The fee for lignite coal was agreed to by the conference committee.
“The compromise reached on the reclamation fee for lignite reflects the conferees
balancing two factors. First, lignite generally has had a lower value than coal and
thus a 10 percent fee could be onerous. Second, many recent long term contracts for
8 P.L. 109-54, Title I, General Provisions, Department of the Interior, Section 129. The AML
fee extension was included in the version of H.R. 2361 approved by the Senate in Title I,
General Provisions, Department of the Interior, Section 127. The counterpart bill approved
by the House (also H.R. 2361) did not contain a similar provision. See CRS Report
RL32893, Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies: FY2006 Appropriations, by Carol
Hardy Vincent and Susan Boren.
9 For further discussion, see CRS Report RL32373, Abandoned Mine Land Fund
Reauthorization: Selected Issues, by Robert L. Bamberger.
10 30 U.S.C. 1232.
11 There is also a federal excise tax on coal that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.
The black lung tax is currently levied at the rate of $1.10 per ton of underground-mined coal
and $.55 per ton of surface-mined coal, not to exceed 4.4% of the price at which the ton is
sold by the producer. There is no black lung tax on lignite, or on imported or exported coal.
See Section 4121 of the Internal Revenue Code and CRS Report RS21935, The Black Lung
Excise Tax on Coal, by Salvatore Lazzari. For more information on the expenditures
financed by this tax on coal, see CRS Report RS21239, The Black Lung Benefits Program,
by Edward Rappaport.
12 U.S. Congress, House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act of 1976, report to accompany H.R. 13950, 94th Cong., 2d sess., H.Rept.
94-1445, (Washington: GPO, Aug. 31, 1976), p. 85. Cited in 69 Federal Register 56912,
Sept. 22, 2004.
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lignite have had prices in the same range as subbituminous coal.”13 Thus the
disparity in rates was not linked to differences in the estimated cost of repairing
damage done to the environment by the alternative methods of coal removal.
The AML reclamation fee is collected quarterly from coal operators, commonly
referred to as producers. It is levied on each ton of coal produced domestically.
From its outset in 1977, the fee was not levied on imported coal. Recently the issue
of whether the fee applies to exported coal has been in litigation. In an April 2005
decision, the Federal Claims Court ruled that applying the fee to exported coal is
unconstitutional. The government still has the option to appeal the decision.
Approximately $100 million in refunds of AML fees are at stake.14
The fee is administered and collected by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM)
in the Interior Department.15 OSM was successful in collecting an estimated 99.6%
of AML fees due in FY2004.16 In FY2004 AML fee collections were $287 million
while total distributions for AML programs were $159 million.17 In FY2005 fee
collections were $293 million and cash outgo was $278 million.18 Cumulatively over
the life of the fund, from January 30, 1978, when the first AML fees were paid,
through September 30, 2005, the AML Fund has collected $7.4 billion.
Appropriations from the fund were $5.7 billion. As of September 30, 2005, the
13 U.S. Congress, Joint Explanatory Statement of the Committee of Conference [To
accompany H.R. 2], 95th Cong., 1st Sess., House Conference Report No. 95-493, July 12,
1977, p. 98.
14 The application of the AML fee to coal destined for export was declared to be
unconstitutional in Consolidation Coal Company, et al. v. U. S., 54 Fed. Cl. 14 (2002),
reversed, 351 F.3d 1374 (Fed. Cir. 2003), remanded, (64 Fed. Cl. 718, Apr. 4, 2005). The
Consolidation Coal case followed in the wake of a 1998 federal district court ruling in
Ranger Fuel (33 F. Supp. 2d at 468) which found that levying the black lung excise tax on
the sale of coal for export was unconstitutional under the Export Clause of the U.S.
Constitution. The IRS accepted that decision in Notice 2000-28, issued May 20, 2000. See
CRS Report RS21935, The Black Lung Excise Tax on Coal, by Salvatore Lazzari, pp. 4-5.
15 The Bush Administration has advanced a proposal that the black lung excise tax, currently
collected by the IRS, also be collected by OSM. In the 108th Congress, this provision was
included in H.R. 3778 and S. 2049, in proposed amendments to section 414(b) of SMCRA.
In the 109th Congress, this proposal is included in H.R. 2721.
16 Calculated by CRS from data on collections presented in U.S. Office of Surface Mining,
Annual Report 2004: Financial Management, Table 14, Collections Management, p. 68.
Available online at [http://www.osmre.gov/annualreports/04fin.pdf].
17 U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Abandoned Mine Land Fee Collections and Funding: 2004, updated Dec. 8, 2004.
Available at [http://www.osmre.gov/amlfunding04.htm].
18 U.S. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Appendix,
Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2007 (Washington: GPO, 2006), pp.
604-605.
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unappropriated balance of the fund was $1.8 billion.19 This balance represents 24%
of cumulative collections.
OSM estimates that at least $3 billion in additional reclamation expenditures is
needed to clean up remaining Priority 1 and 2 sites. Under the current SMCRA law,
50% of the fees collected are allocated back to the state or Indian tribe that collected
them (known as the state share). Ten percent are allocated to the Rural Abandoned
Mine Land Program (RAMP) which has received no appropriation since FY1995.
Twenty percent are allocated to sites ranked Priority 1 and 2 for reclamation, based
on historic coal production. And 20% go to other reclamation projects and
administrative costs. Since 1977 when SMCRA was enacted, the production of coal
has shifted westward, primarily to Wyoming, while most (94%) of the remaining
high priority reclamation sites are in eastern states, the location of historic (pre-1978)
production. Consequently, the state share program now results in high allocations
to western states while the greater reclamation needs are in eastern states.
AML fees could be lower, or collected for fewer years, if the state share
allocation were eliminated and the AML Fund focused on reclaiming high priority
sites. However, western states would have less interest in supporting the AML Fund
if they received nothing in return for their producers’ contributions.
Relationship to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund
The AML Fund first began to earn interest on its unappropriated balance in
FY1992, as the result of legislation enacted in 1990.20 Under provisions of the Coal
Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act (the Coal Act, part of EPACT of 1992), up to
$70 million of the interest earned on the balance in the AML Fund may be transferred
each year to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund. This is to help pay for the health
care expenses of certain “orphan” or “unassigned” retirees whose former employers
have gone out of business, and of their spouses and dependents. The total amount of
interest earnings transferred from the AML Fund to the CBF from FY1996 through
FY2004 was $679 million.21 Another $67 million was transferred in FY2005,22 for
a total of $746 million.
To guarantee this funding source, EPACT contained a proviso that after the
regular AML fees sunset on September 30, 2004, the AML fee should be established
19 U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement,
Abandoned Mine Land Fund Status, updated Oct. 17, 2005. Available at
[http://www.osmre.gov/fundstat.htm].
20 P.L. 101-508, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Section 6002(c). 30 U.S.C.
1231(e).
21 OSM, Annual Report 2004, p. 79. This includes interest earned by the AML Fund during
fiscal years 1992-1995, but transferred in subsequent years.
22 OMB, Appendix, FY2007 Budget, p. 604.
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at a rate to continue to provide for the deposit of funds to the CBF.23 In preparation
for this possibility, on September 17, 2004, OSM published a final rule to permit the
collection of a special AML fee in the event that Congress allowed the regular fee to
expire.24 OSM noted that Section 402(b) of SMCRA did not address whether the
same differences in rates should continue to apply to coal produced after the regular
fees expired.25 In its September 17, 2004 rule, OSM stated its intention to maintain
the same ratios among the per ton fees that were originally established by SMCRA.
The fee per ton of coal produced by underground methods would be 43% of the fee
per ton of coal produced by surface methods. The fee per ton of lignite coal
produced would be 29% of the fee per ton of coal produced by surface methods.26
OSM proposed AML fees for FY2005 of 8.8 cents per ton for surface-mined coal,
3.8 cents per ton for underground-mined coal, and 2.5 cents per ton for lignite coal.27
These fees were based on estimates of coal production by type of mining and were
set with the intention of raising $69 million, the estimated interest earnings of the
AML Fund in FY2005. The exact level of the fees was projected to change each year
from FY2006 through FY2015 in relation to estimated interest earnings and coal
production, but the ratios among the fees were to remain the same.
Economic Burden of the Fee28
For some time, AML fees have been below the statutory percent-of-price limits
of 10% of value for surface- and underground-mined coal and 2% for lignite.
Increases in coal prices in the last few years have further reduced the relative burden
of the fee, measured as a percent of price. Judging by spot prices, the overall price
of coal roughly doubled between 2003 and mid-March 2006; and the relative burden
of the AML fee consequently has fallen by approximately half in the categories
examined in Table 1.
It should be noted that spot prices in recent years have been noticeably higher
than likely contract prices, which apply to the predominant share of U.S. coal
production. Consequently, the actual burden of the AML fee in 2006 probably is
23 P.L. 102-486, Section 2515.
24 30 CFR Parts 870 and 872, Coal Production Fees and Fee Allocations, 69 Federal
Register 56122-56131 (final rule), 56132-56144 (proposed rule) Sept. 17, 2004. The
proposed rule was republished at 69 FR 56908-56920, Sept. 22, 2004, because of a blank
page printing error in the Sept. 17 print edition.
25 69 Federal Register 56126, Sept. 17, 2004.
26 Referring to 30 CFR Paragraph 870.13(b)(3)(ii). 69 Federal Register 56126, Sept. 17,
2004.
27 69 Federal Register 56124, Sept. 17, 2004, Table 1. Because the regular AML fees were
extended through FY2005, and now through June 2006, these special rates did not take
effect.
28 Bernard A. Gelb, Specialist in Industry Economics in the Resources, Science, and Industry
Division of CRS, contributed this section.
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somewhat greater than indicated by the percentages reported in the following text and
table.
For example, the $0.35 AML fee equaled 1.2% of the estimated average U.S.
price of surface-mined bituminous coal in mid-March 2006 ($29.00), compared with
2.6% in 2003 ($13.42). The $0.15 fee equaled 0.3% of the estimated average U.S.
price of underground-mined bituminous coal in mid-March 2006 ($52.00) compared
with 0.6% in 2003 ($26.71). The $0.10 fee was in between at 0.9% of the average
U.S. price of lignite in 2003; no lignite price data are available yet for 2006. For the
AML fees to be at the percent-of-price limits, the price of surface-mined coal would
need to be $3.50 per ton or less, underground-mined coal $1.50 per ton or less, and
lignite $5.00 per ton or less.
In contrast, the black lung excise tax (BLET) runs closer to its limit of 4.4% of
price. The BLET of $0.55 per ton of surface-mined coal equals 1.9% of the estimated
mid-March 2006 average U.S. spot price of surface-mined bituminous coal ($29.00)
but would be 3.8% of the spot price of Powder River Basin coal ($14.40). The twice
as high tax of $1.10 per ton equals 2.1% of the estimated mid-March 2006 average
U.S. spot price of underground-mined coal ($52.00).
Table 1. AML Fees vs. Coal Prices, by Mine Type
Price per tona
AML fee as % of price
AML fee
Mine type or coal rank
Mid-
Mid-
per ton
2003
March
2003
March
2006
2006
Powder River Basin
$6.74
$14.40
5.2
2.4
Other Basins
Surface (bituminous)
$0.35
$22.00b
$49.00b
1.6
0.7
Total United Statesc
13.42
$29.00b
2.6
1.2
Underground
$0.15
$26.71
(bituminous), total U.S.
$52.00b
0.6
0.3
Lignite, total U.S.
$0.10
$11.20
n.a.
0.9
n.a.
Sources: Energy Information Administration, Annual Coal Report 2004, November 2005; Coal
News and Markets, week of March 17, 2006 [http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/coal/page/coalnews/
coalmar.html] visited April 23, 2006. Percentage of price calculated by CRS.
a. Price data are per short ton — at mine mouth for 2003, spot prices for 2006.
b. Price approximated by CRS.
c. Because of wide differences in the specific types of coal mined by surface methods, the average
U.S. price of surface-mined coal is not representative of prices in individual states.
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The relative fee is generally higher on surface-mined coal than on underground-
mined coal — both because the absolute fee is higher and because the price of
surface-mined coal is lower. However, the relative burden of the fee can differ by
specific type of coal within those categories. For example, in mid-March 2006, the
$0.35 AML fee equaled 2.4% of the estimated average spot price of bituminous coal
surface-mined in the Powder River Basin, which has a lower heat content than most
other bituminous coals. It was 0.7% for surface-mined bituminous coal from other
geographic basins. This compares with an average 0.3% burden of the $0.15 fee for
underground-mined bituminous coal.
Proposals to Extend the Fees
In its FY2005 budget, the Bush Administration proposed returning unobligated
state share balances to the states over a 10-year period and henceforth eliminating the
state share allocation so that more of future AML fee collections could be spent on
the reclamation of high priority sites. AML fees could also then be lowered. The
Administration proposed to reduce the fees in three stages, by 15%, 20%, and finally
25%, over the period FY2005-FY2018.29 In contrast, in its FY2006 budget, the
Administration proposed extending the AML fees at their current rates. The
Administration again proposed to allocate more of the AML receipts to the
restoration of the most serious abandoned mine land. The Administration again
expressed its commitment to addressing the financial viability of the UMWA
Combined Benefit Fund.30 The Administration’s FY2006 position on the AML
program reauthorization and the extension of the AML fees is represented by H.R.
2721 (John Peterson) introduced in the first session of the 109th Congress.
In its FY2007 budget, the Bush Administration proposed a temporary extension
of the current AML fees through September 30, 2007. This is to provide time for the
Administration to negotiate with Congress about changes in the rules for AML Fund
expenditures previously proposed in the Administration’s FY2005 and FY2006
budgets.31
29 The Administration’s FY2005 proposal was included in H.R. 3778 (John Peterson) and
S. 2049 (Specter) in the 108th Congress. See also U.S. Executive Office of the President,
Office of Management and Budget, Appendix, Budget of the United States Government,
Fiscal Year 2005 (Washington: GPO, 2004), p. 588.
30 U.S. Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, Budget of the
United States Government, Fiscal Year 2006 (Washington: GPO, 2005), Analytical
Perspectives, pp. 296, 298; Appendix, pp. 597-598.
31 U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining, Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement, Bureau Highlights, AML Reauthorization, p. BH - 28,
available at [http://www.osmre.gov/news/OSM%20FY07%20Budget%20Highlights.pdf],
visited Apr. 18, 2006. Also, “OSM Budget Calls for Reauthorization of AML Fee
Collection Authority, Increases Funding for State and Tribal Regulatory Programs,” Office
of Surface Mining News Release, Feb. 6, 2006, available at [http://www.osmre.gov/
news/020606.htm], visited Apr. 18, 2006.
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In the first session of the 109th Congress, Congress passed the Department of the
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (H.R. 2361
P.L. 109-54), which extended the current AML fees for nine months, until June 30,
2006. Other proposals would extend the fees longer term as part of bills to
reauthorize the abandoned mine reclamation program. H.R. 2721 (John Peterson)
and S. 961 (Rockefeller) would extend the fees at their current rates through FY2019.
H.R. 1600 (Cubin) would lower all of the fees by 20% and extend them through
FY2020; the new rates would be 28 cents per ton on surface-mined coal, 12 cents per
ton of underground-mined coal, and 8 cents per ton for lignite. S. 1701 (Thomas)
would also lower all of the fees by 20%, but in different stages; it would extend the
fees through FY2016. S. 2616 (Santorum) would lower the fees by 20%, in two
equal stages; the first stage would span FYs 2008-2012 and the second stage FYs
2013-2021.
Bills Introduced in the 109th Congress
The following descriptions of bills introduced in the 109th Congress concentrate
on the positions each takes regarding long-term extension of the abandoned mine
reclamation fees. The descriptions also note when a bill largely replicates a bill
introduced in the 108th Congress or contains provisions similar to another bill
introduced in the 109th Congress.
Five of the bills also address the reauthorization of the abandoned mine
reclamation program and four address the transfer of interest earned by the AML
Fund to UMWA retiree health benefit plans. Both of these topics are beyond the
scope of this report.32 A Senate hearing was held on S. 961 and S. 1701.33
House
H.R. 1600 (Cubin). Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation Reform Act of
2005. H.R. 1600 would lower all of the AML fees by 20% and extend them through
FY2020.
H.R. 1600 would amend SMCRA to reauthorize and reform the abandoned mine
reclamation program. H.R. 1600 replicates H.R. 3796 (Cubin and Rahall) introduced
in the 108th Congress, with one exception. H.R. 1600 contains a new Section 3
which gives detailed instructions for the transfers of interest earned by the AML
Fund to three UMWA health benefit plans. This is in place of Section 2(b)(10) of
H.R. 3796.
32 For further discussion of these issues, see CRS Report RL32373, Abandoned Mine Land
Fund Reauthorization: Selected Issues, by Robert L. Bamberger.
33 U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Amend the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, hearing on S. 961 and S. 1701, 109th Cong.,
1st sess., S.Hrg. 109-256, Sept. 27, 2005 (Washington: GPO, 2006).
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H.R. 1600 shares many elements in common with S. 961 (Rockefeller) but has
some differences. H.R. 1600 would lower the AML fees by 20% while S. 961 would
leave them at current levels. H.R. 1600 would extend the fees through FY2020 while
S. 961 would extend them through FY2019. H.R. 1600 includes provisions not
found in S. 961 regarding the payment of state shares to qualified states. H.R. 1600
differs slightly from S. 961 in the provisions regarding the transfer of the interest
earnings of the AML Fund to the three UMWA retiree health benefit plans.
Introduced April 13, 2005; referred to the Committee on Resources; referred to
the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on April 22, 2005.
H.R. 2721 (John Peterson). Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program
Extension and Reform Act of 2005. H.R. 2721 would extend the AML fees at their
current rates through FY2019. H.R. 2721 would amend SMCRA to reauthorize the
collection of the reclamation fees, revise the abandoned mine reclamation program,
promote remining, authorize the Office of Surface Mining to collect the black lung
excise tax, and make sundry other changes. The bill does not make any changes to
the transfer of AML interest earnings to the CBF.
H.R. 2721 represents the Bush Administration’s FY2006 proposal. It replicates
the Administration’s bills introduced in the 108th Congress — H.R. 3778 (John
Peterson) and S. 2049 (Specter) — with just a few differences. The Administration’s
bills in the 108th Congress had proposed lowering the fees in three stages, by 15%,
20%, and finally 25%. H.R. 2721 would raise the proposed minimum allocation to
a state or Indian tribe from $2 million to $3 million. It also includes a new provision
that Tennessee receive an allocation of not less than $3 million. It includes another
new provision regarding the priority to be given by the Secretary of the Interior in
awarding certain grants.
Introduced May 26, 2005; referred to the Committee on Resources; referred to
the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on May 31, 2005.
Senate
S. 961 (Rockefeller). Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Reform Act of
2005. S. 961 would extend the AML fees at their current rates through FY2019. S.
961 would amend SMCRA to reauthorize and reform the abandoned mine
reclamation program.
S. 961 shares many elements in common with H.R. 1600 but has some
differences as noted in the description of H.R. 1600 above. S. 961 is identical to S.
2211 (Rockefeller) in the 108th Congress, with two exceptions. S. 2211 would have
lowered the AML fees by 20%, as H.R. 1600 now does. S. 2211 included the
provisions now found in H.R. 1600 but absent from S. 961 regarding the state share
for qualified states.
Introduced April 28, 2005; referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources. Hearings held September 27, 2005.
CRS-10
S. 1701 (Thomas). Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Reform Act of 2005.
S. 1701 would lower all three fees by 20%, in different stages. The fee on surface-
mind coal would be lowered in three stages. For the period beginning July 1, 2006,
through October 1, 2009, the fee would be lowered from 35 cents to 32 cents per ton;
for October 1, 2009, through October 1, 2013, it would drop to 30 cents; for October
1, 2013, through October 1, 2016, it would drop to 28 cents. The fee on
underground-mined coal would remain at 15 cents per ton through October 1, 2009;
it would drop to 12 cents for the period October 1, 2009, through October 1, 2016.
The fee on lignite would remain at 10 cents per ton through October 1, 2009; it
would drop to 8 cents for the period October 1, 2009, through October 1, 2016. S.
1701 addresses the transfer of interest earnings of the AML Fund to the UMWA
Combined Benefit Fund. S. 1701would make other changes to the AML program,
including the payment of unappropriated state share balances to states and Indian
tribes over several years and promoting remining, among others.
Introduced September 14, 2005; referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources. Hearings held September 27, 2005.
S. 2616 (Santorum). Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
Amendments of 2006. S. 2616 would lower all three AML fees by 20%, in two equal
stages. The first stage would be in effect for fiscal years 2008-2012. The second
stage would be in effect for fiscal years 2013-2021. The fee on surface-mined coal
would drop by 10% from 35 cents to 31.5 cents on October 1, 2007, and to 28 cents
on October 1, 2012. The fee on underground-mined coal would drop from 15 cents
to 13.5 cents and then to 12 cents. The fee on lignite would drop from 10 cents to 9
cents and then to 8 cents.
S. 2616 also would reauthorize the AML program, modify the AML allocation
formulas to provide more funding to historic production states with high priority
reclamation problems, and use Mineral Leasing Act revenues from coal to pay the
states their unappropriated balance of past state share collections over a 10-year
period as well as pay for future state share allocations. S. 2616 would make
substantial changes to the financing of UMWA retiree health benefits protected under
the Coal Act of 1992. It would provide federal funding to the 1993 Multiemployer
Health Benefit Plan, in addition to the Combined Benefit Fund and 1992 Benefit
Plan, to pay for “orphan” retirees whose employers have gone out of business.
Funding would continue to come from the interest earnings of the AML Fund.
Additional funding would now come from coal-related revenues from lease sales,
rents, royalties, and bonuses paid under the Mineral Leasing Act. Still other monies
for the three UMWA health plans would come from amounts allocated but not
appropriated for the Rural Abandoned Mine Land Program (RAMP). The
unassigned beneficiaries premium would be eliminated if possible. Relief from
future premium payments would be provided to “reachback” companies, those
companies that had not signed the 1988 bargaining agreement but were assigned
beneficiaries. Reimbursements, with interest, would be made for health premiums
paid by companies whose assignment of beneficiaries has been revoked by court
decisions but have not yet been repaid (“final judgement” companies).
Introduced April 7, 2006; referred to the Committee on Finance.