ABANDONED MINE LANDS DIVISION (AML)

20 Years of Accomplishments

August, 1997 marked the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act (SMCRA). Passage of SMCRA allowed the State of Wyoming to establish an Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program. The AML Program was created to reclaim abandoned (no reclamation responsibility) mine sites using funds collected by the Secretary of Interior on each ton of coal mined. The first step to establish an AML program was to set up the methods of operation in the State Reclamation Plan. Part of this effort was to identify old mine sites across the state. This process took several years and culminated with approval of Wyoming's AML Program from the Secretary of Interior. In 1981, the AML Program went to work reclaiming abandoned mine sites.

Ahead of us was the daunting task of reclaiming tens of thousands of acres of past mining disturbance, thousands of dangerous mine openings, and addressing the adverse affects on property from old abandoned mines. At first, it seemed as if we would never get past the paper work to even start a reclamation project. Thereafter, we bumbled our way through the first reclamation projects learning as the dirt was flying. Today, the paper work is still there, but the huge number of on-the-ground successes makes the paper work seem less burdensome. In the last twenty years, the Wyoming Abandoned Mine Land Program has turned into a "well oiled" reclamation machine. Wyoming AML has reclaimed over 800 abandoned mine sites encompassing over 27,000 acres.

Wyoming is fortunate to have a healthy coal mining industry. The source of AML funding is based on coal production. Consequently, Wyoming's coal industry gets the credit for funding the reclamation. Since 1977, Wyoming's coal industry has paid over $1 billion in AML fees to the Secretary of Interior. While the law requires half of the money to be returned, Congress has appropriated only $333 million. Over $200 million is being held in the federal AML Trust Fund in Washington, DC. Of the $333 million granted to Wyoming:

$ Approximately $100 million has been spent on coal reclamation. Most of that has been spent for stabilizing mine subsidence in business and residential areas in Rock Springs, Glenrock, and Hanna.

$ $70 million has been spent reclaiming abandoned bentonite pits in the northeast and northern portion of the state.

$ $17 million has been spent in the reclamation of hardrock mine sites throughout the State.

$ Reclamation of abandoned uranium mine sites has accounted for $55 million. Uranium reclamation makes up a bulk of the remaining work to be done, so this amount will grow over the next seven years.

$ In 1990, the law was changed to allow AML to fund public facilities in communities adversely affected by past mining. Wyoming's AML Division has invested over $50 million in public facility projects around the state.

$ The remaining funding has been split among abandoned drill hole plugging, a mine subsidence insurance program, administrative costs, engineering services, and establishing a trust fund to address future mine subsidence and reclamation needs.

In 1987, the State's legislature established a trust fund to set aside AML money for future mine subsidence and mine reclamation work that may occur after federal money is depleted. At that time, federal AML fee collections were to stop in 1992. That date was extended to August, 2004. After 2004, Wyoming will be able to use the state's trust fund to reclaim any previously unknown mine subsidence or other abandoned mine land problems.

Where is AML heading the next seven years? Our first goal is to reclaim all the known abandoned mine sites in Wyoming. The AML tax will be collected through 2004 with our final allocation coming in 2005. The construction season of 2005 will complete the last reclamation of abandoned mine sites. Our second goal is to steadily increase the amount of funding put towards public facilities.

The scars left by mining were considered part of society's cost for the benefits of having an industrial nation. In the last twenty years, Wyoming has made a good start on reclaiming the scars that took over a century of mining to make. However, mining was, and is, vital to Wyoming. It is today's coal mining that allows us to reclaim yesteryear's scars.