Biden Administration Announces Over $244 Million to Address Legacy Pollution Across Pennsylvania

The U.S. Interior Department and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on Oct. 24 announced over $244 million funding for fiscal year 2024 to address hazardous and polluting abandoned mine lands, create jobs, and facilitate economic opportunity in Pennsylvania’s coal communities. This marks the largest annual state allocation under the Abandoned Mine Land, or AML program, funded by a one-time $11.3 billion investment from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The law provides $11.3 billion in grants for states and Tribes to reclaim abandoned coal mines, with $25 million for updating abandoned mine land inventories. It also allocates $4.7 billion for plugging, remediating, and restoring orphaned wells, creating jobs and supporting the clean energy transition. This includes $4.3 billion for wells on state and private lands, $250 million for public lands like parks and forests, and $150 million for Tribal lands.

The announcement builds on over $489.7 million allocated to the state for the AML reclamation in the fiscal years 2022 and 2023. AML reclamation assists with employment opportunities in coal communities by investing in projects that shutdown hazardous mine shafts, enhance water quality by treating acid mine drainage, retrieve unstable slopes and restore water supplied negatively impacted by mining. Moreover, funding is expected to favour projects that provide employment opportunities to both current and former employees of the coal industry.

Reclaiming abandoned mines is also a vital part of the Biden Administrations Methane Action Plan, which entails efforts to lower methane emissions.