03.12.21

Livestream Next Week: Hearing on Abandoned Mine Cleanups, Economic Revitalization Strategies for Rural America Next Thursday

Washington, D.C. – The Natural Resources Committee is holding one livestreamed event next week.

Thursday, March 18

The Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, led by Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), will hold a hearing titled Restoring Abandoned Mine Lands, Local Economies, and the Environment on the following bills:

  • H.R. 1146 (Rep. LaHood), Community Reclamation Partnerships Act
  • H.R. 1733 (Rep. Cartwright), Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More Act (RECLAIM Act of 2021)
  • H.R. 1734 (Rep. Cartwright), Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Amendments of 2021

The hearing is especially timely because, with more than $11.4 billion in remaining abandoned coal mine cleanup costs nationwide, it is essential that the Abandoned Mine Land program be reauthorized past its current expiration date of September 2021. Taken together, the bills represent a comprehensive approach to cleaning up abandoned mines in a way that protects public health, revitalizes economies abandoned by the mining industry, and shifts cleanup costs from taxpayers to polluters.

Witnesses include:

Panel 1

  • Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.)
  • Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.)

Panel 2

  • Marissa Lautzenheiser

Program Director, Rural Action

  • Bobby Hughes

Executive Director

Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation

  • Susan Kozak

AML Division Director

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship

President

National Association for Abandoned Mine Land Programs

  • John Stefanko

Deputy Secretary, Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations

PA Department of Environmental Protection

On behalf of:

Interstate Mining Compact Coalition

  • Todd Parfitt (Minority Witness)

Director

Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality

When: 12:00 p.m. Eastern time

Watch Live: http://bit.ly/3rOf6uo (Facebook) or https://youtu.be/gaohhwxmwFs (YouTube)

Press Contact

Media Contact: Adam Sarvana

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 578-6626 mobile