Jurisdiction: Abandoned Mine Lands
The Public Service Commission administers the Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Program on behalf of the State of North Dakota. The State AML Program was approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1981 under authority of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (P.L. 95-87, Title IV). Program funding comes from a federal reclamation fee on coal that has been mined in the United States since the late 1970's. These fees are placed into the AML fund and the money that North Dakota receives from this fund is used to eliminate existing and potential public hazards resulting from abandoned surface and underground coal mines.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was enacted on November 15, 2021. The BIL amended the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to re-authorize the AML Program and extended the collection of the federal reclamation fee until September 30, 2034. North Dakota will be receiving approximately three million dollars per year from reclamation fee-based grants and approximately three million dollars in BIL grants until 2034. The reclamation fee on lignite mined in North Dakota is currently 6.4 cents per ton.
The mission of the Abandoned Mine Lands Division is to eliminate potential or existing hazards associated with abandoned coal mines in North Dakota for which there is no continuing liability under state or federal law. The nature of this mission is not regulatory but rather service-oriented.
Related goals are:
- Reclaim abandoned mine land sites found on the North Dakota AML Inventory.
- Reclaim hazardous abandoned mine land sites not on the AML Inventory but discovered through exploratory drilling or public information.
- Reclaim emergency sites as the highest work priority. Develop emergency reaction plans that will reduce the time taken to eliminate the imminent hazard.
Link to the website of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
AML Site Location Map
2018 Carrick Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation Project Video