50 1 (b) The provisions of any State law (or standard or 2 regulation established or issued pursuant thereto) in effect 3 upon the effective date of this Act, or which may become 4 effective thereafter, which provides for more stringent con5 trol and regulation of surface coal mining than do the pro6 visions of this Act (including standards and regulations 7 established or issued pursuant thereto) shall not thereby 8 be construed to be inconsistent with this Act. The provisions 9 of any State law (including standards or regulations estab10 lished or issued pursuant thereto) in effect on the effective 11 date of this Act, or which may become effective thereafter, 12 which provide for the control and regulation of surface coal 13 mining for which no provision is contained in this Act shall 14 not be construed to be inconsistent with this Act. 15 16 ADVISORY COMMITTEE SEC. 36. (a) The Secretary shall appoint an advisory 17 committee on coal mining research composed of (1) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, or his appointee from his agency; (2) the Secretary of Agriculture, or his appointee from his department; (3) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology, or his appointee from his agency; (4) the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, or his appointee from his agency; 1 2 4 5 51 (5) the Director of the National Science Founda tion, or his appointee from his agency; (6) such other persons not exceeding nine in num ber as the Secretary may appoint who are knowledge able in the field of coal mining research. 6 The Secretary shall designate the chairman of the committee. 7 (b) The advisory committee shall consult with, and 8 make recommendations to, the Secretary on matters involv9 ing or relating to coal mining research. In addition the com10 mittee shall consult with and advise the Secretary with 11 respect to the establishment of standards and regulations 12 necessary to carry out the purpose of this Act. The Secre13 tary shall consult with, and consider the recommendations 14 of, the committee made with respect to the establishment of 15 such standards and regulations. 16 (c) (1) The chairman of the committee and a majority 17 of the persons appointed by the Secretary to the committee 18 under subsection (a) shall be individuals who have no eco19 nomic interest in the coal mining industry and who are not 20 operators, miners, or officers or employees of the Federal 21 Government or any State or local government. 22 (2) Advisory committee members, other than officers 23 or employees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall 24 be, for each day (including traveltime) during which they 25 are performing committee business, entitled to receive com 52 1 pensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary but not in excess 2 of the maximum rate of pay for grade GS-18 as provided 3 in the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5 of 4 the United States Code, and shall, notwithstanding the limi5 tations of sections 5703 and 5704 of title 5 of the United 6 States Code be fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and 7 related expenses. 8 STUDY OF MINING REGULATIONS OR CONTROLS 9 SEC. 37. The Secretary shall conduct a full and com10 plete study and investigation of regulations or controls that 11 are necessary and appropriate to assure that all mining ac12 tivities whether surface mining or below surface mining, of 13 all natural resources in the United States can be carried on 14 efficiently with the least possible damage to the environ15 ment in the area affected by such mining operations. The 16 Secretary shall report to the Congress the results of such 17 study and investigation, together with any recommenda18 tions of the appropriate administrative or legislative actions 19 that should be taken, based on his findings, as soon as pos20 sible after the date of the enactment of this Act, but in no 21 case later than the end of the eighteen-month period be22 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 22 23 24 OPEN PIT COAL MINING SEC. 38. Rules and regulations applicable to open pit 25 coal mining must take into consideration the unique nature 53 1 of the operations. The Secretary is hereby authorized to 2 issue separate regulations relative to the problems associated 3 with open pit coal mining, which is defined as a surface 4 mining operation which, because of the thickness of the de5 posit or the nature of the ore body and the overburden, pri6 marily follows the deposit vertically at an inclination of 35 7 degrees or steeper and where the average depth of the total 8 operation exceeds 100 feet (rather than laterally across the 9 surface as in area or contour mining) and therefore may be 10 carried out at the same location over a substantial period of 11 time: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall apply 12 only to operations that are active or temporarily suspended on the date of this Act and involve no additional surface 14 disturbance. 13 15 16 EFFECTIVE DATE SEC. 39. This Act shall take effect six months after its 19 20 SEC. 40. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the 21 provisions and purposes of this Act other than the appro22 priation authority provided in section 12 of this Act. 93D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5988 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 21, 1973 Mr. SAYLOR (for himself and Mr. DENT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs A BILL To provide for the regulation of surface mining operators in the United States, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to States to encourage State regulations of surface mining, 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 this Act may be cited as the "Surface Mining Reclama4 tion Act of 1973". TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE I-FINDINGS, PURPOSES, AND DEFINITIONS Sec. 101. Findings, Sec. 102. Purpose. Sec. 103. Definitions. TITLE II-EXISTING AND PROSPECTIVE SURFACE MINING Sec. 201. Grant of authority; promulgation of Federal regulations. |