1 2 3 51 (4) the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, or his appointee from his agency; (5) the Director of the National Science Founda tion, or his appointee from his agency; (6) such other persons not exceeding nine in num 4 5 6 7 able in the field of coal mining research. ber as the Secretary may appoint who are knowledge 8 The Secretary shall designate the chairman of the 9 committee. 10 (b) The advisory committee shall consult with, and 11 make recommendations to, the Secretary on matters involv12 ing or relating to coal mining research. In addition the com13 mittee shall consult with and advise the Secretary with 14 respect to the establishment of standards and regulations 15 necessary to carry out the purpose of this Act. The Secretary 16 shall consult with, and consider the recommendations of, the 17 committee made with respect to the establishment of such 18 standards and regulations. 19 (c) (1) The chairman of the committee and a majority 20 of the persons appointed by the Secretary to the committee 21 under subsection (a) shall be individuals who have no eco22 nomic interest in the coal mining industry and who are not 23 operators, miners, or officers or employees of the Federal 24 Government or any State or local government. 52 1 (2) Advisory committee members, other than officers 2 or employees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall 3 be, for each day (including traveltime) during which they 4 are performing committee business, entitled to receive com5 pensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary but not in excess 6 of the maximum rate of pay for grade GS-18 as provided in 7 the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5 of the 8 United States Code, and shall, notwithstanding the limita9 tions of section 5703 and 5704 of title 5 of the United States 10 Code be fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and related 11 expenses. 12 STUDY OF MINING REGULATIONS OR CONTROLS 13 SEC. 37. The Secretary shall conduct a full and com 14 15 16 plete study and investigation of regulations or controls that are necessary and appropriate to assure that all mining ac tivities whether surface mining or below surface mining, of 17 all natural resources in the United States can be carried on 18 19 20 efficiently with the least possible damage to the environ ment in the area affected by such mining operations. The Secretary shall report to the Congress the results of such 21 study and investigation, together with any recommenda 223 23 tions of the appropriate administrative or legislative actions that should be taken based on his findings, as soon as pos 24 sible after the date of the enactment of this Act, but in no 25 case later than the end of the eighteen-month period be 26 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 53 OPEN PIT COAL MINING 1 2 SEC. 38 Rules and regulations applicable to open pit 3 coal mining must take into consideration the unique nature 4 of the operations The Secretary is hereby authorized to 5 issue separate regulations relative to the problems associated 6 with open pit coal mining, which is defined as a surface 7 mining operation which, because of the thickness of the de8 posit or the nature of the ore body and the overburden, pri9 marily follows the deposit vertically at an inclination of 35 10 degrees or steeper and where the average depth of the total 11 operation exceeds 100 feet (rather than laterally across the 12 surface as in area or contour mining) and therefore may be 13 carried out at the same location over a substantial period of 14 time: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall apply only to operations that are active or temporarily suspended 16 on the date of this Act and involve no additional surface 15 17 disturbance. 18 19 EFFECTIVE DATE SEC. 39. This Act shall take effect six months after its 20 date of enactment. 21 222 AUTHORIZATION SEC. 40. There are authorized to be appropriated such 23 sums as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the 24 25 provisions and purposes of this Act other than the appro priation authority provided in section 12 of ths Act. 93D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1603 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 1973 Mr. PERKINS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs A BILL To provide for the cooperation between the Federal Government and the States with respect to environmental regulations for mining operations, for the prevention, control, and abatement of water pollution, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That titles I, II, and III of this Act may be cited as the 4 "Mined Area Protection Act of 1973". 5 SEC. 2. For the purpose of this Act, the term "Secre6 tary" means the Secretary of the Interior. 8 SEC. 101. For the purpose of titles I, II, and III, the 9 terms 2 (a) "mining operations" means (1) activities conducted on the surface or underground for the exploration for or extraction of minerals from their natural occurrences, including strip or auger mining, dredging, quarrying, in situ distillation, or retorting and leaching; and (2) the cleaning, concentrating, refining, or other processing or preparation (excluding smeltering) and loading for interstate commerce of crude minerals at or near the mine site. It does not include the extraction of minerals in a liquid or gaseous state by means of wells or pipes unless the process includes in situ distillation or retorting; (b) "underground mining operations" means those mining operations carried out beneath the surface by means of shafts, tunnels, or other underground mine openings and such use of the adjacent surface as is incidental thereto; (e) "surface mining operations" means those mining operations carried out on the surface, including strip or auger mining, dredging, quarrying, and leaching, and activities related thereto; (d) "mined area" means the surface and subsurface of an area in which mining operations are being or have been conducted including private ways and roads ap |