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 Nearly a dozen Appalachian coal mining communities have passed
resolutions over the past few weeks supporting President Barack
Obama's Power + program, which was outlined in his 2016 budget. It
will be considered in the fall when Congress returns from recess.
From towns such as Norton, Virginia, to Letcher County, Kentucky,
local officials have called on their Washington representatives to
back the proposal that would provide public funds for new economic
activities around reclaimed coal mines in the Appalachian Mountains.
"This isn't a partisan issue here," said Eric Dixon, policy
coordinator for the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center in Whitesburg,
Kentucky, which has helped push the resolutions across the region.
"We have Republicans and Democrats in the mountains who support this
plan."
In Washington, however, Republican lawmakers have been reluctant to
support Power +. They contend that the administration's energy
policies, including regulations forcing power plants to reduce
carbon emissions tied to burning coal, have caused a contraction in
the industry that has seen some of the country's biggest coal
companies go into bankruptcy.
WAR ON COAL?
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who represents Kentucky and
has accused the Obama administration of waging a "war on coal," has
balked at endorsing Power +.
"Senator McConnell thinks that any bill introduced in the Senate
that seeks to help coal miner’s suffering under this
Administration’s war on coal should be carefully considered, but
that no amount of federal relief can paper over the devastating
damage this president and his policies have had on coal country,"
the senator’s spokesman Don Stewart said.
Funding for the Power + plan would come from the government's
Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) program, which has nearly $2.5 billion in
unused funds from fees on coal companies. The AML funds are
allocated to states to clean up mines.
The Obama administration wants to tap $1 billion of that money for
states to use for economic redevelopment projects at old mine sites.
The money is currently intended to be distributed after 2021.
The prospect of getting an injection of cash that can be used for
programs ranging from agriculture to tourism resonates on the ground
in Appalachia, where another half-dozen coal communities plan to
vote in the coming weeks on similar resolutions demanding that
Congress agree to Power +.
Carl Shoupe, a retired miner and member of nonprofit Kentuckians for
the Commonwealth, said Obama’s plan to finance mine reclamation
projects could put people back to work. "We could be creating jobs
in farming, energy, tourism, and more on these reclaimed mines," he
said.
States in the Appalachian coal belt include Virginia, West Virginia,
Kentucky and Tennessee.
The White House has said it has been meeting with lawmakers from
both parties, looking for a sponsor for legislation this fall that
would authorize releasing the AML funds.
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COAL COUNTRY HURTING
Coalfield Congressional Republicans favor federal help for their
distressed economies, but they want to see major changes in the
plan.
Congressman Hal Rogers, who represents eastern Kentucky's coal
counties and chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said federal
aid needs to be paired with "regulatory relief" from environmental
rules "responsible for the downturn in the Eastern Kentucky coal
industry," his spokeswoman Danielle Smoot said.
Rogers also wants the White House to provide more information about
how the money would be distributed.
Both McConnell and Rogers said they have supported other elements of
the Power + proposal, such as $25 million to support hard-hit coal
communities and enhance broadband access in those remote regions,
and $19 million for an employment program for laid-off coal miners.
Rogers's Appropriations Committee passed a $30 million pilot project
he proposed as an alternative to the Obama proposal that would give
grants to three Appalachian states to convert old mine sites for new
uses like hospitals and community centers.
Gregory Conrad, executive director of the Interstate Mining Compact
Commission, which is in charge of AML restoration projects, said
lawmakers are likely to spar over how and where the money would be
spent. He also noted that tapping the AML would require changes to
the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, which could usher in more
legislative inertia.
There could also be opposition from Wyoming, a state that pays the
most into the AML because it is still an active low-sulfur coal
producer, yet stands to see the federal money go to older coal
mining regions like Appalachia.
Joseph Pizarchik, director of the Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement that oversees the AML, said that only
“minor amendments” would be needed to make the money available now.
"We know that people in coal country are hurting. We are asking
Congress to let us use the money we have now to create the
conditions to help people help themselves," he said.
(Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
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