Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Business Journal and Other Publications Q1 2016 Business Journal | Page 19

Wyoming. This provision is the culmination of three years of work
by this delegation to properly restore AML funds to Wyoming, and I
sincerely thank John and Cynthia for their efforts.”
Barrasso, who served on the House-Senate Conference Committee
that helped negotiate final details of the highway measure said, “It
came down to a matter of fairness to return what was wrongfully
taken from Wyoming years ago. The delegation was relentless and
after a long stubborn fight, the federal government will be forced to
stand by their commitments to the people of Wyoming. With energy
revenues on the decline, it’s even more important now that Wyoming receives the money Washington owes us,” Barrasso said.
“This Abandoned Mine Land money has always rightfully belonged
to Wyoming, despite Senate Democrats’ middle-of-the-night provision in the last multi-year highway bill that stripped this money from
Wyoming,” said Rep. Lummis. “I am very proud and very pleased
that our hard fought battle has won this victory for Wyoming. Righting this wrong could not have come at a better time, especially with
the drop in revenues from coal, oil, and gas. I thank and congratulate Senator Enzi and Senator Barrasso. This was a team effort and
I couldn’t be happier: a full restoration of the AML monies legally
owed to Wyoming.”
Since 1977, federal law requires coal operators to pay a fee on each
ton of coal into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. Annually,

ABANDONED
MINE LANDS

half of the funds were to be returned to the state from which they
were collected to be used for such purposes as mine reclamation
and restoration of land and water resources affected by coal mining.
In 2012, a provision was added to a transportation bill to limit funds
paid to each state to $15 million annually, shorting states like Wyo-

The Bureau of Land
Management’s
Abandoned Mine Lands

ming by hundreds of millions of dollars.

(AML) program enhances

The House of Representatives voted 359 to 65 and the Senate vot-

improves water quality by

ed 83 to 16 to approve the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation
(FAST) Act, the bill that includes the AML provision. M

public safety and
reducing or eliminating
the effects of past
hardrock mining in the
western United States.

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