THE AML PROGRAM NEEDS TO BE CONTINUED BEYOND 1992 AT
LEAST UNTIL THE AML MONEYS ARE EXPENDED.

OSMRE EFFORT TO ADDRESS THE RECLAMATION OF THE ORPHAN
AML SITES THAT RESULTED AFTER AUGUST 3, 1977 AND WERE
NOT SUBJECT TO PERMANENT PROGRAM BONDING REQUIREMENTS
THRU THE USE OF FEDERAL CIVIL PENALTIES IS LAUDABLE.
OSMRE NEEDS TO FURTHER STUDY AND ADDRESS THIS ISSUE.

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE REMINING PROGRAM IS NEEDED.
LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVES TO REQUIRE SUPPORT FROM FEDERAL
ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY,
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY AND OTHERS AGENCIES
TO ENCOURAGE REMINING. FOR EXAMPLE, IF FERC WERE TO
CLASSIFY ALL COAL WASTES AS A WASTE FUEL, THEN BITUMINOUS
COAL WASTE TO ENERGY PLANTS MAY PROVE COST EFFECTIVE
AND RESULT IN RECLAMATION OF COAL WASTE DISPOSAL AREAS.

WE BELIEVE THAT THE CHANGES DESCRIBED ABOVE WOULD NOT PROVIDE INSTABILITY BUT WOULD RESULT IN A MORE STABLE PROGRAM LEADING TO A MORE EFFECTIVE PROGRAM.

TO STATE SMCRA HAS FAILED, OSMRE HAS FAILED, AND THE STATES HAVE FAILED IMPLIES THAT WE ALL HAVE FAILED INCLUDING CONGRESS. THE COMPACT BELIEVES THAT SMCRA HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL

AND THERE ARE SUCCESSES. YES, THERE ARE PROBLEMS, BUT THEY ARE

A CIVIL PENALTY PROGRAM IS NEEDED BUT IT SHOULD BE REEVALUATED IN TERMS OF WHETHER IS IS A DETERENT. THE COMPACT BELIEVE THAT PERMIT BLOCKING IS A MORE EFFECTIVE TOOL TO INSURE AND TO GAIN COMPLIANCE THAN CIVIL PENALTIES.

OSMRE NEEDS FLEXIBILITY WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF SMCRA

TO ALLOW STATES TO REGULATE CERTAIN ACTIVITIES UNDER
OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS ALREADY IN AFFECT WITHIN
THAT STATE. THIS WOULD ALLOW THE PROBLEMS TO BE ADDRESSED

IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANNER WITHOUT A MAJOR

UPHEAVEL OF THE STATE PROGRAM.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO ADDRESS THE BONDING PROBLEM. ONE
AREA THAT IS NEEDED IS FOR CONGRESS TO AUTHORIZE
INCREMENTAL BONDING. INCREMENTAL BONDING CAN PROVE
BENEFICIAL TO THE STATES IN IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM
AND CAN PROVIDE INDUSTRY RELIEF IN TODAYS TIGHT BOND
MARKETS. THE INCREMENTAL BONDING CAN BE DESIGNED TO
ENSURE ADEQUATE BOND COVERAGE. AN INCREMENTAL BONDING
PROGRAM CAN BE DEVELOPED TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNS OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY BY ESTABLISHING A PERMIT BLOCKING
MECHANISM WHICH WOULD REQUIRE THE PERMITTEE TO BE IN
COMPLIANCE BEFORE THE NEXT INCREMENTAL BOND IS APPROVED.
WHEN VIEWED IN THIS MANNER, INCREMENTAL BONDING CAN

BECOME A MAJOR TOOL TO INSURE COMPLIANCE WITH THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF SMCRA.

BEING ADDRESSED. GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY FOR STABILITY WITHOUT
ANOTHER MAJOR REVISION OF THE REGULATIONS, REORGANIZATION OF OSMRE,
AND REDIRECTION OF POLICY AND GUIDANCE, AND BY ENCOURAGING AND
APPLAUDING THE STATES FOR THEIR SUCCESS RATHER THAN CHASTISING
THEM WILL PROVIDE A MORE STABLE CLIMATE RESULTING IN THE GOALS OF
SMCRA BEING ACHIEVED.

THE COMPACT AND ITS MEMBER STATES ARE WILLING TO WORK WITH OSMRE AND CONGRESS TO BRING ABOUT APPROPRIATE CHANGES..

ANSWER.

IF THE COMMITTEE HAS ANY QUESTIONS, I AM WILLING TO

THANK YOU.

TESTIMONY OFFERED BY

BEN LUSK

WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVE
DRUMMOND COMPANY, INC.

ON BEHALF OF

THE NATIONAL COAL ASSOCIATION AND
THE AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS

BEFORE THE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS

AUGUST 3, 1987

Good morning Mr. Chairman, my name is Ben Lusk. I am here today representing the Drummond Company, Inc. of Birmingham, Alabama, as well as the National Coal Association and the American Mining Congress.

It's difficult to believe that a decade has passed since the passage of Public Law 95-87. It seems it was just yesterday that you and I and others stood in the Rose Garden and watched Jimmy Carter sign the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. The President's action that day ended over seven years of debate and controversy and resulted in one of the most comprehensive and technically complex statues ever written by Congress. And while few of us who were involved in that struggle were totally satisfied with the final bill, I think we all believed that we had reached enough of a common ground to attain our main objective, which was the continuation of responsible surface coal mining and effective reclamation of mined land.

But with all that said, it is equally difficult to believe that after all these years the program is as controversial today as it was in 1977. And the thing that is most disturbing to me, Mr. Chairman, as I expect it is to you, is that there are people trying to convince the Congress and the American people that the program is a failure. I submit, Mr. Chairman, that nothing is farther from the truth.