WASHINGTON (AP)
All six members of Congress from Wyoming and Montana introduced legislation on Tuesday that would allow states to collect abandoned mine land money with no strings attached. Under a bill approved by Congress and signed by the president last year, Wyoming should receive an initial $580 million over seven years and Montana should receive $58 million. Payments would come from the abandoned mine lands program, which uses taxes on coal production to clean up abandoned mine sites and related pollution. Lawmakers from the two states are frustrated that the federal government has decided that states must apply for the dollars, which will be distributed through a line of credit. That means the states won't earn interest off the money, and the application process could further delay the payments. The bill, introduced in the Senate Tuesday by Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and in the House by Republican Reps. Barbara Cubin of Wyoming and Denny Rehberg of Montana, would ensure that the money is distributed through direct transfers instead of grants that require applications. The two states' four senators say that was the intent of Congress when they passed the law. "When this bill passes, the confusion should be over and Wyoming will once and for all wash its hands of the bureaucratic shenanigans that have surrounded these funds," Enzi said. The mining law passed last year was a carefully crafted compromise that followed a protracted fight that pitted coal-producing states against each other. As the nation's top coal producer, Wyoming is the biggest contributor to the federal cleanup fund and gets the most money from it. But Eastern states had a greater need, with declining coal production and the most abandoned mine land.
