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Senator Santorum Continues to Fight for Legislation to Clean Up Abandoned Mine Lands
Congressman Shuster joins Senator Santorum to support this historic legislation
October 18, 2006
Altoona, PA – U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, met with representatives from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, sportsmen, and other conservation groups to discuss his legislation, S.2616, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Amendments of 2006.
This landmark legislation would deliver an unprecedented $1 billion to Pennsylvania over sixteen years to clean up abandoned mine land (AML) sites. It also brings together a unique coalition between the Pennsylvania coal industry, coalfield communities, environmental conservation organizations, sportsmen and mine workers. Senator Santorum has been working hard in the Senate to get this legislation passed.
AML sites may consist of one or more of the following features: abandoned strip mines; spoil piles, mine entries; and mine shafts. In Blair County alone there are a dozen AML sites and more than 700 acres of abandoned mine lands. In neighboring Cambria County there are more than 200 AML sites and nearly 5,000 acres of abandoned mine lands.
“I cannot overemphasize the importance of this legislation to our state. This bill will bring an unprecedented amount of funding to Pennsylvania and will sustain multi-year planning for abandoned mine land cleanup. It will also help to create local jobs that will stay in Pennsylvania,” said Senator Santorum.
Senator Santorum was also joined by U.S. Representative Bill Shuster (R-PA-9) who has been instrumental in getting legislation passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I applaud Senator Santorum for his hard work and dedication on this important legislation,” said Rep. Bill Shuster. “With Senator Santorum’s leadership, I worked with the Pennsylvania delegation and the leadership to see that this measure passed the House. Senator Santorum and I know that the cleanup of Pennsylvania's AML sites and toxic streams is a very real and serious problem. We are going to continue fighting for the resources your communities need to make things right. I know that Senator Santorum, with the support of his colleagues in the House, will do everything he can to get this legislation passed in the Senate in November.”
This bill will also pay for healthcare costs of orphan mine workers. Due to a decline in the number of employers contributing to the healthcare plans of orphan beneficiaries (employees from mine companies that have folded or declared bankruptcy), the current structure for financing these benefits is no longer sustainable.
S.2616 has the support of bipartisan cosponsors including Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Robert Byrd (D-WV), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thad Cochran (R-MS). Senator Santorum is hopeful that bringing attention to this legislation now will help bolster more bipartisan support from other states.
“Pennsylvania, more than any state in America, urgently needs Congress to enact the AML Program reauthorization bill that Senators Santorum and Specter are sponsoring,” said John Dawes, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Lands Campaign. “On behalf of hundreds of coalfield communities and watershed groups, I'd like to thank our Senators, because at a time when Congress was on a fast track to pass a bill that would have really hurt Pennsylvania, Senators Santorum and Specter persuaded Senate leadership to support a much better approach that will deliver more than a billion dollars in guaranteed minimum funding to Pennsylvania, so we can really get the worst of the abandoned mine damage cleaned up.”
The following organizations have also expressed support for S.2616: Western PA Watershed Program; Western PA Conservancy; Pennsylvania Environmental Council; Alleghenies Watershed Network; The Community Foundation; Western PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned; Mine Reclamation; Audubon Society; Watershed Assistance Center; Mountain Watershed Association; Bio-Most; PA Association for Conservation Districts; Stream Restoration Inc.; Independence Marsh Foundation; Federation of PA Sportsmen; Allegheny Land Trust; The Stream Team; Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP); United Mine Workers; PA Trout Unlimited; POWR--Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers; and Hedin Environmental.
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