Pearce, Bingaman Work Together

Steve Pearce

Washington, DC (March 1, 2012) Today, Congressman Steve Pearce expressed his support for the House Natural Resources Committee’s passage of S. 897, sponsored by Senator Jeff Bingaman, which allows states and tribes to use unspent coal mining royalties for the cleanup of abandoned non-coal mines. Pearce sponsored the legislation’s companion bill in the House, H.R. 785 in February 2011.

Jeff Bingaman

“Contrary to the hyper partisan climate in Washington, I’m proud to say that I worked with our state’s senior Democrat to solve a longstanding problem, and ensure that this bill gets signed by the President,” said Pearce. “In New Mexico, abandoned uranium mines need reclamation. The reclamation process returns land damaged by mining to useful purposes. Additionally, this legislation allows excess money that already exists within AML to be used for non-coal reclamation by states and tribes. This allows for opening the existing AML program to uranium mine cleanup. I look forward to working closely Senator Bingaman in the future on solutions that benefit New Mexico.”

Currently, the Department of the Interior (DOI) restricts the ability of states to use certain funds to reclaim non-coal mines. S. 897 passed in the Senate in November and has moved through the House Resources Committee.

Pearce, Bingaman Work Together