Potential Funding Sources for OM&R
Compiled by
Title IV: Moneys under Title IV may be used
for the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely
affected by past coal mining. Currently,
DEP has five open Title IV grants totaling over $141M. Of that amount, all funds are committed.
10% Setaside Funds: Title IV of the Federal
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act authorizes grantees to set aside up
to 10% of its annual grant for acid mine drainage abatement and treatment. Because of the likelihood of a lower than
normal grant in 2007, DEP is to not funding the 10% Set Aside Program. Also, since 2003, budget shortfalls have required
the costs of operating the Commonwealth’s AMD treatment plants to be paid from
this funding source.
PA Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act: PA
SMCRA was passed in 1945 as the Bituminous Coal Open Pit Mining Reclamation
Fund. Act 1971-147 changed the
name. This funding source is commonly
called the 20 Fund.
Sources of income include:
1. Permit fees and annual license fees charged to surface
mining operators who mine coal or other minerals. Permit fees are deposited in the Clean Water
Fund.
2. Fines on operators who fail to apply for and receive an operator's license or mining permit before beginning operations, and who violate any provision of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act, any rule, regulation, or order of the Department, or an condition of any permit.
3. Civil penalties
collected for damage to the lands and waters of the Commonwealth, as well as
from the forfeiture of bonds or collateral as a result of an operator's
failure to comply with the requirements of the Act.
4. Costs recovered
under the Clean Streams Law and from interest earned on the investment of fund
monies.
The funds are designated for the primary objective of
reclaiming forfeited sites.
If physically possible, reasonable and necessary, monies
received from the forfeiture of bonds and collateral are to be used for restoration
of the area affected by the operation upon which liability was charged on the
bond. If the Department determines such
restoration to be impossible, unreasonable, or unnecessary, then the forfeited
funds may be used for revegetation or reclaiming other lands affected by
surface mining. Interest earnings, fees
and penalties are also committed to these activities. These funds are committed to their original
sites or to other sites with significant reclamation problems.
EPA 319
Growing Greener I: The total dollar
commitment to the Growing Greener Program was recently doubled from $645
million to $1.3 billion and extended through 2012. DEP's portion of Growing Greener has more
than doubled to $547.7 million over the newly extended life of the program. DEP is authorized to allocate these funds in
grants for watershed restoration and protection, abandoned mine reclamation,
and abandoned oil and gas well plugging projects. The funds available in the Environmental
Stewardship Fund for watershed restoration and protection have been fully
committed every year since the program began.
Growing Greener II: Growing Greener II is a
voter-approved plan that invests $625 million to clean up rivers and streams;
protect natural areas, open spaces and working farms; and shore up key programs
to improve quality of life and revitalize communities across the
Commonwealth. Growing Greener II
provides $230 million to DEP to clean up rivers and streams; take on serious
environmental problems at abandoned mines and contaminated industrial sites;
and finance the development and deployment of advanced energy projects.
$230 million was allocated to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to clean up rivers and streams; take on serious environmental problems at abandoned mines and contaminated industrial sites; and finance the development and deployment of advanced energy projects. Of that amount, at least $60M is to be spent on acid mine drainage abatement and mine cleanup efforts. That amount has already been fully committed to projects.
DEP Special Funds:
Land and Water Conservation and
Reclamation Act (Operation Scarlift), Act 1967-443: The fund
was established in 1968. Revenue is
derived from the sale of Land and Water Development Bonds, from federal
augmentations, and from other miscellaneous sources. As authorized by constitutional amendment
adopted May 16, 1967, bond proceeds are not to exceed $500 million. As of December 31, 1994, $499.7 million in
bonds had been issued. All interest and
investment earnings from this fund are deposited into the Land and Water
Development Sinking Fund.
Fund monies are to be used by the Department of Environmental Protection to reclaim land and water scarred by past mining practices and to develop that land and water for conservation, recreation, and historical purposes. Funds may also be used for administrative expenses associated with these activities, and to provide funding under certain conditions for emergency abatement of hazards resulting from abandoned mines.
Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation
Fund: Section 17 of
the Noncoal Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act established the
fund. Current revenue sources include
license fees and permit fees charged to commercial noncoal surface mining
operations, fines and penalties. Monies
are also received from costs recovered under the Clean Streams Law and from
interest earned on the investment of fund monies; forfeiture of collateral
bonds, cash deposits, or securities for failure to comply with an approved
reclamation plan.
Balances in the fund are
distributed among several appropriations.
All of the balances are designated primarily for the same objective of
reclaiming forfeited sites. However, the
appropriations differentiate among funds received from different sources. The appropriations are the repository for
miscellaneous income items, such as all interest earnings, fees, and penalties;
for the proceeds from bond forfeitures, where the funds must be kept with the
site forfeited; and the for the Payment-in-lieu program. Reclamation of noncoal sites are funded from
this source.
Bituminous Mine Subsidence and
Land Conservation Fund: The Bituminous Mine Subsidence & Land
Conservation Act established this fund.
Monies deposited to the fund are used for the protection of the health,
safety and general welfare of the people of the
Coal Refuse Disposal Fund: All fines, civil penalties, bond forfeitures and
fees collected under this Act shall be used for the elimination of pollution,
the abatement of health and safety hazards and nuisances and such other
purposes as are necessary to implement the provisions of the Act pursuant to the
rules and regulations adopted by the Environmental Quality Board. No personnel costs are paid from this fund.
Other State Agencies Receiving Funding Under Growing
Greener I:
PA Department of Agriculture:
to
administer farmland preservation projects.
PA Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources: for state park renovations and improvements.
PA Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources: Allocated $217.5M to preserve
natural areas and open spaces; improve state parks; and enhance local
recreational needs.
PA Fish and Boat Commission: Allocated $27.5M
to repair fish hatcheries and aging dams.
PA Game Commission: Allocated $20M for habitat-related
facility upgrades and repairs.
PA Department of Community and Economic Development:
Allocated $50M to revitalize communities through investments in housing and mixed-use
redevelopment projects.
PA Department of Agriculture:
Allocated $80M to protect working farms.
U. S. Department of Agriculture
- NRCS – PL 566: The Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act (PL
83-566), August 4, 1954, as amended, authorized NRCS to cooperate with States
and local agencies to carry out works of improvement for soil conservation and
for other purposes including flood prevention; conservation, development,
utilization and disposal of water; and conservation and proper utilization of
land.
NRCS implements the Watershed
Protection and Flood Prevention Act through three programs:
Watershed Surveys and Planning, Watershed Protection and Flood
Prevention Operations, and Watershed Rehabilitation. Under Watershed Operations, the NRCS
provides assistance to sponsoring local organizations of authorized watershed
projects, planned and approved under the authority of the Act. NRCS
provides technical and financial assistance to implement authorized watershed
project plans for the purpose of watershed protection; flood mitigation; water
quality improvements; soil erosion reduction; rural, municipal and industrial
water supply; irrigation water management; sediment control; fish and wildlife
enhancement; and wetlands and wetland function creation and restoration.
Eligibility criteria for authorized watershed projects include Public sponsorship, watershed projects up to 250,000 acres, benefits that are directly related to agriculture, including rural communities that are at least 20 percent of the total benefits of the project.
Watershed Operations provides technical and financial assistance in authorized watershed projects which have public sponsors who conduct public meetings to assure local involvement, obtain all land and water rights and permits required for the installation of works of improvement, provide local share of funds to install works of improvement, and operate and maintain works of improvement.
Watershed Operations funds that
may be available for watershed projects are subject to the following annual
Congressional appropriations, state and national resource priorities,
acquisition of land and water rights, permits, local funding established for
specific project measures, completion of structural, agronomic, and vegetative
designs for project measures, NRCS and the project sponsor approval of an
Operation and Maintenance Agreement involving the measures to be installed.
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
(USCOE): The Army Corps of Engineers carries out environmental and natural
resource management programs at its projects, managing thousands of square
miles as forest and wildlife habitat, monitoring water quality at its dams,
operating fish hatcheries in cooperation with State wildlife agencies, and in
some cases restoring the environment at projects in cooperation with state and
local agencies and organizations.
Environmental stewardship includes compliance measures to ensure that
our projects must meet Federal, state, and local environmental requirements.
Prevention, meanwhile, focuses on eliminating pollution to the greatest extent
possible. Working toward a national goal
of "no net loss of wetlands," the Civil Works program is undertaking
projects to restore existing wetlands, or to create new ones.
FY 2006 and 2007 Targeted
Watersheds Implementation Grant Program: The Targeted Watersheds
Implementation Grant Program is a competitive grant program designed to support
the protection and restoration of the country's water resources through a
holistic watershed approach to water quality management. EPA will award approximately 9 to 20 grants
or cooperative agreements for restoration and/or protection efforts. Anticipated
awards will range from approximately $600,000 to $900,000 each and have a
project period of three to five years.
DEP is in the process of submitting a grant application
under this announcement for the Hollywood/Tyler AMD Treatment Facility in the
Bennett Branch Watershed.
Water Pollution Control: 25 Years of Progress and Challenges for the
New Millennium: Congress responded to the public
outrage over the deplorable condition of the nation's water by enacting the
Clean Water Act.
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES): The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit
program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge
pollutants into waters of the
Total Maximum Daily Loads: This page provides information on EPA's Total Maximum
Daily Load (TMDL) Program under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Water Supply and Water Resources: Helps prepare the primary and secondary regulations for
drinking water and to develop technologies and strategies for controlling
waterborne contaminants.
Other
Non-Governmental Sources of Funding:
For-profit Corporations
Private Individuals