Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Abandoned Mine Land Program

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. No. 117-58), which was enacted on November 15, 2021, authorized and appropriated $11.293 billion for deposit into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund administered by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM). Of the $11.293 billion appropriated, OSM will distribute approximately $10.873 billion in IIJA Abandoned Mine Land (AML) grants to eligible States and Tribes on an equal annual basis—approximately $725 million a year—over a 15-year period. However, the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026 (P.L. 119-74) repurposed $500 million of IIJA funding. This reduction will be applied equally to the remaining 11 grant distribution years, at approximately $45.45M/ year. Hence, there will be approximately $680 million per year. IIJA funds expand the AML Reclamation Program to fund the activities described in the IIJA, in addition to those already funded under Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), as amended. The objective of the IIJA AML Program is to address coal AML related problems described in sections 403(a), 403(b), and 410 of SMCRA, which include: coal AML emergencies, physical hazards resulting from legacy coal mining that pose a threat to public health, safety, and the environment (including acid mine drainage), and water supplies that have been adversely affected by legacy coal mining. In addition, the IIJA encourages States and Tribes to prioritize projects that provide employment for current and former employees of the coal industry. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (commonly referred to as the STREAM Act), amended section 40701(c) of the IIJA to authorize eligible States and Tribes to retain up to 30 percent of the “total amount of a grant made annually” under section 40701(b)(1) of the IIJA in a “long-term abandoned mine land reclamation fund established under State law, from which amounts (together with all interest earned on the amounts) are expended by the State or Tribe” for (1) the abatement of the causes and the treatment of the effects of acid mine drainage resulting from coal mining practices, including costs associated with acid main drainage treatment systems; (2) the prevention, abatement, and control of subsidence; or (3) the prevention, abatement, and control of coal mine fires.