Tensions rise over AML bill
Jun. 10--By Ken Ward Jr., The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
A Pennsylvania congressman turned up the rhetorical heat Thursday in the debate over extending the federal government's program to clean up abandoned coal mines.
Byrd won unanimous approval in the Senate Appropriations Committee to extend
the coal tax that funds the AML program through June 30, 2006. Byrd attached the
extension to the Interior Department's budget bill for next fiscal year, a
spokesman said. The measure now goes to the Senate floor.
Already, Byrd had successfully extended the AML tax -- set to expire Sept.
30, 2004, -- through the end of this month, and again through Sept. 30, 2005.
"Time never seems to be on the side of this issue, and the AML program
is in danger of lapsing again," Byrd told committee members Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., blasted an AML reauthorization
plan put forth by Reps. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., and Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va.
Peterson cited a U.S. Office of Surface Mining study that showed the
Cubin-Rahall bill "will continue directing millions of dollars to Wyoming,
despite their lack of abandoned mine problems."
"As this discussion moves forward, we will have to decide whether the
Abandoned Mine Land program is going to be used for abandoned mine reclamation,
as was originally intended, or whether it will continue to be a
multimillion-dollar slush fund for Wyoming," Peterson said in a news
release.
Last year, the Bush administration supported Peterson's version of an AML
extension bill.
Peterson's comments echoed a battle between Eastern and Western coal states
that has stymied efforts to extend the AML program -- a battle that the
Cubin-Rahall bill was aimed at ending.
The problem is that most U.S. coal production currently comes from Western
states -- primarily Wyoming -- while the majority of abandoned mine sites are in
Eastern states with a history of coal production, such as West Virginia and
Pennsylvania.
Under the AML program, coal operators pay 35 cents per ton of surface-mined
coal and 15 cents per ton of underground-mined coal.
The money is supposed to clean up coalmines that were abandoned before 1977,
when the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed.
Since the program began, coal operators have paid more than $7 billion into
the fund. But, more than $1.3 billion of AML money has been diverted to other
projects.
Wyoming, for example, spent about $90 million in AML money on roads, schools
and other infrastructure projects after declaring it had finished cleaning up
its abandoned mines.
Appalachian states with large numbers of retired coal miners have benefited.
More than $665 million in AML interest has funded health-care benefits for
retired coal miners.
The Cubin-Rahall bill would seek to stop some, but not all, of these
diversions.
It would force states to "strictly adhere" to the original AML
priority list, eliminate the "general welfare" clause that states --
primarily Pennsylvania -- have sought to use to allow funding of lower-priority
projects, and force the OSM to conduct an audit of the AML project inventory.
At the same time, the Cubin-Rahall bill would give back to states like
Wyoming, which promised 20 years ago that it had cleaned up its abandoned mines,
millions of dollars in AML taxes the federal government has never appropriated
to states. They could spend the money however they like.
Also, it would allow Wyoming and other "certified" states to
continue to receive the equivalent of their share of future AML taxes. But, that
money would come not from those AML taxes, but from federal mineral leases.
The Cubin-Rahall bill also would increase the amount of AML interest spent to
avoid the financial collapse of the United Mine Workers retiree health-care
plan.
In his bill, introduced May 26, Peterson would give Wyoming back its share of
the AML taxes the state's coal producers already have paid. But in the future,
Wyoming companies would pay AML taxes and the state would not get any of the
money.
In a statement, Rahall said his bill is "clearly superior, as it has
generated union as well as some industry support for it, which is lacking in
other proposals.
"Furthermore, the Cubin-Rahall bill bridges the differences between the
Eastern and Western states, making it more politically viable," Rahall
said. "The bottom line is that we all need to get on the same page, reach
common understandings, and extend this critical program."
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