Is the Surface Mining Control and reclamation Act successful?

This is the true success of SMCRA. About 29.5 billion tons of coal have been mined while SMCRA has been in place. Most of that, about 90 percent, was used to generate electrical power. During this same time, the coal mining industry has successfully reclaimed more than 2 million acres (2,238,560) of mined lands.

How does reclamation help the land after coal mining?

Coal mine reclamation is the rehabilitation of land after coal mining operations have stopped. As mining operations cease bulldozers and scrapers are used to reshape the disturbed area. Reclamation should allow for the area to be resistant to soil erosion and, based on the soil requirements, fertilized and revegetated.

What is the benefit of mining reclamation?

The mineral extraction and reclamation process must ensure return of sustainable ecosystem to former degraded land. The revegetation of mine spoil by tree cover stabilizes an ecosystem for the long term via their ameliorative effects on soil quality improving both potential commercial and aesthetic values.

What is geomorphic reclamation?

What is Geomorphic Landform Reclamation? Geomorphic landform reclamation (GMLR) is used to return land that has been disrupted by surface mining to the natural structure that existed pre-mining.

What are the 4 major types of surface deposit mining?

There are five recognized types of surface mining, each with specific variations depending on the minerals being extracted. These include strip mining, open-pit mining, mountaintop removal, dredging and highwall mining.

Which regulation requires miners to clean up after themselves?

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands.

How do you reclaim abandoned mines?

The Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program uses fees paid by present-day coal mining companies to reclaim coal mines abandoned before 1977. This makes these areas safer for people and the environment. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977, as amended, created this program.

How much does it cost to reclaim land after mining 2020?

According to OSMRE, the states and tribes have estimated total unfunded costs for the reclamation of eligible sites of approximately $10.7 billion to date.

What is the process of mine reclamation?

​Reclamation is the combined process by which adverse environmental effects of surface mining are minimized and mined lands are returned to a beneficial end use. A company reclaimed its mining pit to a strawberry field. A gravel extraction area at Mississippi Bar was returned to a riparian wildlife habitat.