§1298 Alaskan Surface Coal Mine Study

Summary

The Secretary must hire the National Academy of Sciences-National Academy of Engineering, if Congress provides the money in advance, to do a detailed study of surface coal mining in Alaska and decide which parts of this law, if any, should be changed there. The Secretary must send the study results to the President and Congress no later than two years after August 3, 1977, and include a draft bill for any recommended changes. Until one year after that report is sent, or until three years after August 3, 1977 (whichever is sooner), the Secretary may change how the law’s environmental rules apply to any Alaskan surface mine that mined coal in the year before August 3, 1977, if needed to keep it running. Before making such a change the Secretary must publish the proposal in the Federal Register and a local Alaska newspaper and hold a public hearing in Alaska. The Secretary may also issue interim regulations under section 1251(b) to allow new mines and adjust standards for Alaska’s special conditions, while aiming to protect the environment to the same degree as other coal regions. Up to $250,000 is authorized to be appropriated for this work, but no new budget authority is authorized for fiscal year 1977.