WPCAMR Regional Coordinator’s Report
Bruce Golden

February 16, 2005

 

Annual Conference
Plans for the joint statewide conference sponsored by the ongoing conference committee (which includes WPCAMR as a lead organization), OSM and SAC are proceeding.  The 2005 Mine Water Treatment Technology Conference will be held at Station Square Sheraton in Pittsburgh,  Aug 16-18.  The conference will be dominated by technical presentations aimed at transferring AMD/AML technologies.  Aug 16-17 are devoted to treatment systems, Aug 18 to resource recovery.  A pre-conference activity on Aug 15 will be a free workshop on passive treatment technologies.  A website www.treatminewater.com is devoted to the conference.  Currently, there is a solicitation for presentation abstracts which will be open through May 6.  See website for details.

 

OSM’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program

In December it came to light that OSM’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program may be in real danger of evaporation.  (The program provides up to $100,000 in supplemental funds to watershed groups for construction of AMD passive treatment systems.) We learned that no money was allocated to for FY 2005 and no money had been requested for the FY 2006 budget.  We also learned that OSM was in the budget-making process.  I wrote a letter to OSM  Director Jeff Jarrett with our concerns, and also put out an email advisory to other stakeholders who might want to do the same.  We’re aware of about 30 or so communications sent to Mr. Jarrett as a result.  We have subsequently received correspondence on the issue.  Here is the most salient quote.

“Because of budget constraints, we do not anticipate being able to continue funding at quite that level [referring to 2004 awards totaling $3,177,677.50].  However, we are hopeful of being able to maintain a stable program at around $2 million per year for the next couple years.  Funding beyond that will likely be affected by what occurs with the AML fee extension.”

It therefore appears that WCAP is still alive, which was our primary objective.  However, we may want to consider voicing our concerns about future funding.

 

 

SMCRA Title IV Reauthorization

With the June 30, 2005 expiration date approaching, there has been no noticeable action in Washington regarding reauthorization of SMCRA Title IV: no introductions of legislation in either the House or Senate.  The Bush Administration maintains its support for reauthorization and has requested an appropriation in the 2006 budget of $246 million (increase of $58 million). It’s speculated that work may be going on behind closed doors by those having influence. Senator Specter or Congressman Peterson aren’t likely to re-introduce the legislation they did last year in that their bills simply died.  With respect to PA’s Congressional delegation, the feeling is “what can be done, has been done” with our past efforts.  It’s indeed a shame that unfortunate incidents, such as the recent mine pool blowout in McDonald, are among the better ways to shed light on the gravity on the situation.

 

John Dawes of the Western PA Watershed Program expressed a willingness to pay for convening a facilitated strategy session of conservation minded stakeholders.  The problem we face is where influence needs to be applied, and that is outside of Pennsylvania where are reach is limited. 

 

Future Statewide Funding

The future of statewide funding for conservation and environment is still up in the air, now with 2 competing visions:  Gov. Rendell’s Growing Greener II initiative and the GOP alternative, Green PA.  Both propose an $800 million bond issue to offer more money in the upcoming 4 to 7 years.  Otherwise the proposals differ substantially, although details are difficult to come by.   Prior to the announcement of Green PA, I was invited to testify before the state’s Green Ribbon Commission on acid mine drainage on Jan 26th where I touted the great work being done though citizen involvement in restoring the environment and the need for funding at the highest possible levels.  Even though Gov. Rendell is still pushing for Growing Greener II, the administration seems to be open for compromise.  March 17 is the last date that legislation can be adopted to put a bond issue on the spring ballot.  The administration is calling for support for its vision of the legislation.  Any support, however, has to come quickly because of the short timeline.  I’ve requested additional information from DEP so that the two proposals may be compared side by side. 

 

The Green PA alternative has been introduced into the House with the following bills:

 

House Bill 2 (Green PA Bond Act)  would put the Bond Issue on the ballot with the following language:

 

Do you favor the incurring of indebtedness by the
Commonwealth of up to $800,000,000, in annual increments
not to exceed $115,000,000, for the maintenance and
protection of the environment, open space preservation,
watershed protection, abandoned mine reclamation, acid
mine drainage remediation and other environmental
initiatives with debt service on the bonds being paid
with existing waste disposal fees?
 

House Bill 3 

Amending Title 27 (Environmental Resources) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, further providing for definitions;
establishing the Environmental Endowment Account and the
Environmental Stewardship Sinking Fund; continuing the
Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund; further providing for agencies;
providing for intergovernmental coordination, for evaluation
of applications and for extension of fees; authorizing
incurring of indebtedness, sale of bonds, temporary financing
and debt retirement; providing for certification and
publication of certification; further providing for deposit
of disposal fees, for sunset and for adjustments; and making
a repeal.

 

 

 

Wetlands Permitting Issues

Since our last meeting, not much has happened on our end in moving the wetlands permitting issue along.  We have been on hold waiting to find out if the rumored BAMR take-over of the Chapter 105 program for AMD related situations will happen.  Late word is that BAMR’s potential takeover has gained momentum due to a push from higher levels.

 

Concurrently, the DEP’s Bureau of Watershed Management is looking into revamping permitting regulations.  Chapter 105 is of particular interest.  It appears that they are quite interested in removing obstacles to watershed groups whose primary intent is environmental improvement.  They are soliciting comments and suggestions from a select audience which includes conservation districts about potential changes.  I talked with DEP’s Kelly Heffner regarding WPCAMR’s interest in being a part of the process.  She was already aware of our interest and welcomes our participation.

 

 

WPCAMR takes over Payroll from Westmoreland CD

As of January, we have taken over payroll responsibilities from Westmoreland CD (and are very appreciative to the CD for that service over the years).  We are now using a payroll service that is directly tied in with our accounting software, Quickbooks.  The service takes care of filing federal and state taxes and does direct deposit to bank accounts. They guarantee to pay any penalties that might occur.  It was a much more involved and time-consuming process to make this transition than I anticipated, but now that it’s done, the process of doing a payroll only takes a few minutes per pay period.  We are paying about the same for the service as we were to Westmoreland CD.

 

Capturing hydropower from AMD discharges

Recently a member of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association advanced the idea of harnessing the power of a set of high flow AMD discharges to generate electricity which could in turn be used in treating mine drainage.  I’ve talked to several people about the idea, one of which is DEP Deputy Secretary Scott Roberts.  Scott liked the idea and is convening a group of people in March to talk about the concept.  I’ve done an Internet search on small scale hydro generation and created a new topic on our website www.amrclearinghouse.org under the subject “Out of the Box” which provides links to background information useful in understanding how hydro power works.

 

OSM’s Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative

OSM is promoting the reforestation of abandoned mine lands using their Forestry Reclamation Approach:

  • Create a suitable rooting medium for good tree growth that is no less than 4 feet deep and comprised of topsoil, weathered sandstone and/or the best available material
  • Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitutes established in step one to create a non-compacted growth medium
  • Use native and non-competitive ground covers that are compatible with growing trees
  • Plant two types of trees - early succession species for wildlife and soil stability, and commercially valuable crop trees
  • Use proper tree planting techniques

I participated in the signing ceremony of the Statement of Mutual Intent in Roanoke, WV.  See http://www.osmre.gov/news/122004.htm for details.

 

 

Growing Greener Submissions

We plan on submitting the following Growing Greener proposals for the upcoming round:

  • Statewide Conference for Abandoned Mine Reclamation  (new submission)
  • Providing Sample Analysis Support to Watershed Groups for Monitoring Passive AMD Treatment Systems Follow On  (Resubmit modified version)
  • Application of a Market-Based Approach to Mined Land Reclamation  (Resubmit)
  • Fiscal Management for Quick Response Repair of Growing Greener-Type Projects (Resubmit)
  • So. Sandy Watershed Association Organizational Support (Fiscal Sponsor)