Clarion commissioners support renewal of program

Clarion County commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved the signing of a letter of support for the renewal of a program that benefits areas affected by old strip mines.

A letter from Anne Daymut, watershed coordinator of the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, requested the county’s support for the reauthorization of the federal Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA).

Congress passed the SMCRA law in 1977. The measure established laws and taxes that require present-day coal mine operators to take responsibility for the reclamation and restoration of the land that they temporarily disturb while mining coal.

“Because of SMCRA and other incentives, modern-day coal operators now play an important role in maintaining our environment,” Daymut said. “But more work still needs to be done to heal the scars of the past.”

The mine reclamation coalition says that in December 2006, Congress extended and revamped a federal law that mandated a reclamation fee on each ton of coal produced in the country.

The new law did a much better job of directing reclamation fees to abandoned mine lands problem areas, where funding is needed the most, the coalition says.

“Pennsylvania, for example, will receive a very substantial increase in the annual grant it receives through Title IV for abandoned mine reclamation,” said Daymut.