§ 572. — United States contributions to Pennsylvania: authority, conditions, limitations.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC572]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 14--ANTHRACITE MINE DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL
Sec. 572. United States contributions to Pennsylvania:
authority, conditions, limitations
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in order to carry out
the purposes mentioned in section 571 of this title, to make financial
contributions on the basis of programs or projects approved by the
Secretary to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (hereinafter designated as
the ``Commonwealth'') to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in
abandoned coal mines, in those instances where such work is in the
interest of the public health or safety, and for control and drainage of
water which, if not so controlled or drained, will cause the flooding of
anthracite coal formations, said contributions to be applied to the cost
of drainage works, pumping plants, and related facilities but subject,
however, to the following conditions and limitations:
(a) Contributions to be matched by Commonwealth
The amounts authorized to be contributed by the Secretary of the
Interior to the Commonwealth shall be equally matched by the
Commonwealth;
(b) Amount of contributions authorized
The total amount of contributions by the Secretary of the Interior
under the authority of this chapter shall not exceed $8,500,000, of
which $1,500,000 of the unexpended balance remaining as of July 31,
1962, shall be reserved for the control and drainage of water;
(c) Limitation on use of contribution
The amounts contributed by the Secretary of the Interior under the
authority of this chapter and the equally matched amounts contributed by
the Commonwealth shall not be used for operating and maintaining
projects constructed pursuant to this chapter or for the purchase of
culm, rock, or spoil banks;
(d) Commonwealth responsible for installation and operation of projects
The Commonwealth shall have full responsibility for installing,
operating, and maintaining projects constructed pursuant to this
chapter, and shall give evidence, satisfactory to the Secretary of the
Interior, that it will enforce effective installation, operation, and
maintenance safeguards;
(e) Location and operation of projects
Projects constructed pursuant to this chapter shall be so located,
operated, and maintained as to provide the maximum conservation of
anthracite coal resources or, in those instances where such work would
be in the interest of the public health or safety, to seal abandoned
coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines, and, where
possible, to avoid creating inequities among those mines which may be
affected by the waters to be controlled thereby; and
(f) Economic justification for abandoned coal mine projects
Projects for the sealing of abandoned coal mines or the filling of
voids in abandoned coal mines shall be determined by the Secretary of
the Interior to be economically justified. The Secretary shall not find
any project to be economically justified unless the potential benefits
are estimated by him to exceed the estimated cost of the project.
(July 15, 1955, ch. 369, Sec. 2, 69 Stat. 353; Pub. L. 87-818,
Sec. 1(2)-(7), Oct. 15, 1962, 76 Stat. 934.)
Amendments
1962--Pub. L. 87-818, Sec. 1(2), authorized the Secretary of the
Interior, in the preamble clause, to seal abandoned coal mines and to
fill voids in abandoned coal mines, in those instances where such work
is in the interest of the public health or safety.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 87-818, Sec. 1(3), reserved $1,500,000 of the
unexpended balance remaining as of July 31, 1962, for the control and
drainage of water.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 87-818, Sec. 1(4), prohibited the use of
contributions for the purchase of culm, rock, or spoil banks.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 87-818, Sec. 1(5), struck out ``and'' after the
semicolon.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 87-818, Sec. 1(6), prescribed that projects be
so located, operated, and maintained as to seal abandoned coal mines and
to fill voids in abandoned coal mines in those instances where such work
would be in the interest of the public health or safety.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 87-818, Sec. 1(7), added subsec. (f).
