By David Beard, The Dominion Post
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Reps. David McKinley, R-W.Va., and Matt Cartwright, R-Pa., joined to introduce a bill in the U.S. House to ensure that Abandoned Mine Lands funding included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill can be used for acid mine drainage cleanup projects.
The bill is called the STREAM Act: Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines.
It addresses an oversight in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which allots $11.3 billion in funding to reclaim abandoned mine lands for 15 years. About $700 million has been allotted for AML projects in West Virginia that will be dispersed over the next five years.
Friends of the Cheat told The Dominion Post about the oversight last week and McKinley’s office explained it. Traditional AML funding allows states to set aside up to 30% of their allotment for long-term operations and maintenance of AMD sites. But the infrastructure act failed to specify that…
