Abandoned Mine Land Program

We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are revising our regulations for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund (Fund) and the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program. This rule revises our regulations to be consistent with the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, Public Law 109-432, signed into law on December 20, 2006, which included the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Amendments of 2006 (the 2006 amendments). The rule reflects the extension of our statutory authority to collect reclamation fees for an additional fourteen years and to reduce the fee rates. The rule also updates the regulations in light of the statutory amendments that change the activities State and Tribal reclamation programs may perform under the AML program, funding for reclamation grants to States and Indian tribes, and transfers to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Combined Benefit Fund (CBF), the UMWA 1992 Benefit Plan, and the UMWA Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan (1993 Benefit Plan). Finally, our rule extends incentives reauthorized by the 2006 amendments pertaining to the remining of certain lands and water adversely affected by past mining.