Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, praised the Department of the Interior’s announcement that the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) will be extending the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund program through 2034. This critical extension will help reinvigorate coal communities and was made possible by Chairman Manchin’s recently enacted, bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“For generations, West Virginia coal miners have made tremendous sacrifices and done the heavy lifting that powered our nation to greatness. And now, the investments from my bipartisan infrastructure deal will allow us to continue to recognize their enormous contributions and reinvest in their communities by restoring abandoned mine lands, making them safer and more inhabitable. Today’s announcement is truly welcome news, not only for West Virginia but for coal communities across the country. I thank Secretary Haaland for her commitment to implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and I look forward to continuing to work closely together to ensure West Virginians are given new economic opportunities and our hardworking coal communities are able to rebuild and thrive once again.”

Chairman Manchin has championed efforts to extend the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fee to ensure the health and safety of West Virginia’s coal workers, their families, and their communities. This fee, which is levied on coal companies, provides funding for the Abandoned Mine Land Fund. In 2019 and 2021, Chairman Manchin was the lead sponsor of the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fee Extension Act and last year, the Chairman led the Energy Infrastructure Act in Committee and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act through the Senate, which extended the collection of the fee for an additional 13 years and appropriated an additional $11.3 billion for the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund.

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