Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021

Public Law 117-58: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was enacted on November 15, 2021. This enacted legislation included language that directly and indirectly impacts OSMRE.

In addition to the extension of abandoned mine land (AML) fee collections and mandatory AML Grant distributions, $11.293 billion in new funding was authorized to be appropriated for deposit into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.

This key investment will improve federal stewardship of our critical infrastructure and significantly increase OSMRE efforts to support our partners, stakeholders, Tribal nations, and communities, in addition to furthering OSMRE’s commitment to protecting the environment. Implementing this law and delivering meaningful results is a top priority for OSMRE.

With the passage of IIJA, OSMRE takes on a new opportunity to invest in our infrastructure and benefit the American public for the next generation.  

Most notably, this federal law expands investment in the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program. The existing AML program was set to expire in 2021, but the new legislation extends funding through Fiscal Year 2035, allowing OSMRE to continue supporting state and Tribal programs in their efforts to reclaim and restore abandoned mine lands.

In addition to the changes to the existing AML Program, the law authorizes $11.293 billion to be deposited into the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund to be distributed as follows:

• OSMRE will distribute amounts made available in the appropriation to eligible states and Tribes on an equal annual basis over a 15-year period in accordance with the provisions of the infrastructure law.
• Up to 3 percent of the amount appropriated in the law may be used for OSMRE's administration of the program.
• 0.5% of amounts made available in the law must be transferred to the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of the Interior for oversight of funding.
• $25 million for Financial and Technical Assistance - States and Tribes will be provided with the financial and technical assistance necessary for the purpose of making amendments to the Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (e-AMLIS).

The distribution announced on  February 7, 2022 , is the first of 15 annual installments under the law that will provide approximately $10.87 billion (after IIJA directed reductions) for AML reclamation projects, in addition to funds available under AML-fee based grants. As directed by the law, the distribution amounts were based on the number of tons of coal historically produced in each State or from the applicable Indian lands before August 3, 1977. OSMRE relied on the March 1980 Final Environmental Impact Statement (OSM-EIS-2) to ascertain these amounts and then calculated each State’s or Tribe’s percentage of total historic coal production.

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 establishes the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement within the Department of the Interior to carry out the provisions of the law. SMCRA was the first federal environmental statute to regulate a specific industry as opposed to a specific type of pollution. It created two major programs:

• An abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation program, funded by fees that operators pay on each ton of coal produced, to reclaim land and water resources adversely affected by coal mines abandoned before August 3, 1977.
• A regulatory program to ensure that surface coal mining operations initiated or in existence after the effective date of the Act are conducted and reclaimed in an environmentally sound manner.

By reducing legacy pollution with the IIJA, the U.S. Department of the Interior is helping to improve community health and safety, create good paying jobs, and address the climate crisis.

Transforming a legacy of pollution into a legacy of environmental stewardship.

Unreclaimed abandoned mine lands pose risks to public health and safety, and degrade lands and water.

OSMRE-facilitated reclamation of abandoned mine lands problems improves the public’s health and safety, improves water quality and land health, restores ecosystems, and creates good paying jobs.

The application below displays IIJA funding allocations to states and tribes using either a map or chart view. Agency contacts are also provided.

 _{To access funding information in a PDF format, click  here .}  

As IIJA funding supports more reclamation projects, they will be added to the map below. Select a project from the list to learn more!

 _{*This is not a comprehensive list of all finished or in-progress IIJA projects.}  

 _{For a list of projects and descriptions in a PDF format, click  here .} 

The Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (e-AMLIS) is a computer system used to store, manage, and report on the OSMRE Inventory of Abandoned Mine Land Problems. This includes both problems in need of reclamation and those that have been reclaimed.

The inventory contains information on the location, type, and extent of AML impacts, as well as, information on the cost associated with the reclamation of those problems. The inventory is based upon field surveys by State, Tribal, and OSMRE program officials. It is dynamic to the extent that it is modified as new problems are identified and existing problems are reclaimed.

For more information,  click here .