COALEX STATE COMPARISON REPORT - 140
March 30, 1990
Jean Backs
Division of Reclamation
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
4383 Fountain Square Court
Building B-3
Columbus, Ohio 43224
TOPIC: STATE SURFACE COAL MINE REGULATIONS PRE-SMCRA
INQUIRY: Which states had statutes and rules in force to regulate surface coal mining prior to the
passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977? Please locate any
information available on pre-SMCRA laws and regulations.
SEARCH RESULTS: Using the COALEX Library, a 1977 Committee Print was identified which
contains the results of a survey conducted by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of
Congress. The survey compared the proposed federal legislation with existing state laws and
regulations. A brief description of the survey and its findings is provided below. A copy of the
Committee Print is attached.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"State Surface Mining Laws: A Survey, A Comparison with the Proposed Federal Legislation, and
Background Information", Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Publication No
95-25, 95th Cong, 1st Sess (June 1977).
BACKGROUND
In November, 1976, a questionnaire was sent out by the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources (formerly the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee) to 39 states that had
surface mining laws for coal or other minerals. The purpose of survey was to: "gather information
concerning State laws and regulations governing surface effects of coal mining, together with
information regarding enforcement of those laws, as compared with the requirements of the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1976 (H.R. 13950 - 94th Congress)." [NOTE: HR
13950 was replaced by HR 2.] Committee Print, p. 29.
Copies of proposed sections 515 and 516 were enclosed with the questionnaire.
The results of the survey, reported as the Committee Print, were "designed to assist the
Committee in determining whether or not Federal legislation to regulate surface mining [was]
necessary and, if it [was], what that legislation might contain." Committee Print, p. 4.
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS
The amount of detail provided in responses to the questionnaire differed widely; however, the
results "suggest[ed]" that "most requirements of the State laws [were] far less stringent than the
proposed Federal regulations in H.R. 13950 would be" and enforcement was "extremely lenient or
even non-existent".
Some of the findings are as follows:
1. Permitting.
Virtually all of the states which have surface mining laws required that mine operators first
obtain permits before engaging in active mining. Procedures for obtaining permits in H.R. 13850
were more detailed than those of the states, with the exception of Ohio. Ohio mining law was
similar to the federal.
2. Abandoned Lands Reclamation.
Only a few states had "implemented any programs of reclaiming land which was mined prior to
the passage of the State mining laws." Kentucky and Virginia had appropriated or procured
money for reclamation. Some of the other states had "initiated programs to reclaim abandoned
lands by using the proceeds from fines for noncompliance or from permit application fees."
3. Mine Inspectors.
In general, there was "an inadequate number of mine inspectors for the number of mining
operations under permit in the state" and the mine inspectors were inadequately trained.
4. Citizens Complaints.
"Many State mining laws [did] not have adequate mechanisms for the filing, consideration, and
disposition of citizen complaints related to coal surface mining."
5. Enforcement.
"[E]ven when violations [were] discovered in a State, fines assessed against the operators were
small in size and in number. Kentucky, Montana, Ohio, and Virginia were among the few States
which [had] actually assessed fines against mine operators for non-compliance with the law."
6. Bonding.
"[T]he most serious shortcoming of the state surface-mining laws seems to be that of not
requiring an adequate amount of performance bond to insure reclamation in the event of
forfeiture by the operator."
Committee Print, pp. 25-28.
RESULTS OF THE SURVEY
According to the survey, the following states had laws in existence in 1977 to regulate surface
mining of coal:
Alaska: had only one operation at the time of the survey.
California: operations were regulated on the county or local level.
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Michigan
Missouri
Montana
Ohio
Pennslyvania
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Washington: had two active mine operations
West Virginia
The following states had laws regulating underground mining but not surface mining of coal:
North Carolina: last mining was conducted in 1950's.
These states had laws regulating other minerals, ores, etc. but not coal:
Hawaii: laws were enacted to mine bauxite.
Maine: enacted regulations for non-coal mining and reclamation.
Minnesota: had laws re mining and reclamation of metallic ores.
New Jersey: rules for stone quarries and sand pits, only.
New York: laws for mining minerals other than coal.
North Carolina: laws regulating non-metallic minerals.
Rhode Island: sand and gravel operations were regulated on the local level, only.
South Carolina
Vermont: had some laws pertaining to mineral development.
Wisconsin: laws for metallic mining.
These states reported that they had no surface mining statutes:
Arizona
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Nebraska
Specific comparisons between the state regulations and the proposed federal statute are
discussed in the Print. A table version of the findings is also a part of the Print. The table, entitled
"matrix", is included as part of the attachment; however, it was reproduced from the computer
database and is difficult to read.
ATTACHMENTS
A. "State Surface Mining Laws: A Survey, A Comparison with the Proposed Federal
Legislation, and Background Information", Senate Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources, Publication No 95-25, 95th Cong, 1st Sess (June 1977).
Research conducted by: Joyce Zweben Scall
