The Department of the Interior announced on Monday that nearly $725 million in federal funding is available to 22 states and the Navajo Nation to create jobs that will clean up abandoned coal mines.
The reclamation of abandoned mine lands will serve as part of President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will allocate a total of $11.3 billion in the funding over 15 years. The department said in a press release the funding allocation is expected to address most of the mine lands in the United States. Additionally, it will prioritize projects that employ dislocated coal industry workers, which is required under the act.
“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to helping working families, often in rural and Tribal communities, who face hazardous pollution, toxic water levels, and land subsidence both during mining and long after coal companies have moved on,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
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Over the next 15 years, the Interior will distribute roughly $725 million every year based on states’ and tribes’ need for the funding. If a state’s inventory of the sites costs more than $20 million to address, the department said it is guaranteed to receive at least $20 million over the 15-year life of the program.
Pennsylvania is the state eligible for the most funding at $245 million, with West Virginia following with about $141 million. Illinois is expected to receive $75 million, Kentucky will get $74 million, and Ohio will get $46 million. Interior said future distributions will change “as state AML inventories are updated.”
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Interior said it will release detailed guidance for states and tribes to apply for the funding “in the coming weeks.”
