§1240a Certification

Summary

Governors or tribal leaders with an approved mine-reclamation program can tell the Secretary that they have finished all the high-priority cleanup work. The Secretary will agree if, after a public notice and comment period, the Secretary finds the claim is correct. The Secretary can also make that agreement on their own after notice and comment. Once the Secretary agrees, the rules for which lands and waters can get annual grants change: eligible sites are those mined or processed for minerals and abandoned or left unrepaired before August 3, 1977, and that have no ongoing cleanup duty under state or federal law. For Forest Service lands the cutoff date is August 28, 1974, and for Bureau of Land Management lands it is November 26, 1980. Money spent on these sites must follow three priorities in order: protect people and property from extreme danger, protect health and safety from other harms, and restore the land and water and the environment. Sites listed for cleanup under the Uranium Mill Tailings law or the Superfund law are not eligible. Repairing or building utilities and public facilities tied to mining impacts counts as part of these priorities, and certified States or tribes may use annual grants for such projects if the Secretary agrees. The Secretary must pay States or tribes the unspent amounts that were allocated to them (the “amount due” = unappropriated amounts allocated before October 1, 2007) from the designated fund. Those payments are reallocated into the grant pool and were to be paid in seven equal yearly installments starting in fiscal year 2008. For States or tribes whose annual payment was limited to $15,000,000 in 2013 and $28,000,000 in 2014, the Secretary must, no later than December 10, 2015, make four special payments: two of $82,700,000 and two of $38,250,000. Amounts allocated on or after October 1, 2007, are paid to certified States or tribes equal to their unspent allocations. The first three payments to any State or tribe are reduced to 25%, 50%, and 75% of the full amount; the amounts held back are paid later in two equal payments starting in fiscal year 2018. Annual amounts from certified States or tribes are reallocated to grants that are shared based on how much coal was mined before August 3, 1977.