From Appalachian Voices (http://www.appvoices.org/):
The STREAM Act passed the U.S. House on July 29 with bipartisan support! This legislation will help states and tribes clean up acid mine drainage from abandoned mines by allowing agencies to use some of their money from the infrastructure bill for long-term treatment of the toxic pollution. Now we need to get the Senate ready to pass the STREAM Act.
Senator Casey is already the prime sponsor, so we need to encourage Senator Toomey to support it as well. Please send a message to him at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-to-clean-up-acid-mine-drainage.
Acid mine drainage is one of the most visible and costly impacts of coal mining, turning Appalachian waterways rust orange with dangerous pollution, and threatening the health of people and wildlife. Remediation of this pollution requires long-term treatment facilities, and in turn, long-term funding.
In 2021, Congress enacted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which included an unprecedented and transformative $11.3 billion for abandoned coal mine land reclamation. But unfortunately, the new law does not allow states to set money aside for long-term acid mine drainage treatment facilities.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding will allow states and tribes with abandoned mines to revitalize streams and rivers that have been devastated by coal pollution, but we need to make sure states have the freedom to spend this money on long-term treatment of acid mine drainage. Bipartisan leaders in Congress have introduced the STREAM Act (S.3957/H.R.7283) which will make this much-needed change, allowing communities to clean up these waterways and invest in the outdoor recreation economy. This will create new jobs in areas transitioning away from fossil-fuel-based economies.
Community leaders collaborated with Congress to create The STEAM Act – a bill that would solve this problem – and it just passed the House!
This bill passed the House thanks to the hard work of advocates like you. Can you join us in reaching out to Senator Toomey to help us get this bill over the finish line?
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