# Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act

This bill is about making sure that when coal mining companies finish operating their mines, they actually pay to clean up the mess they leave behind—rather than leaving taxpayers stuck with the bill. Right now, coal companies are required to post bonds (basically financial guarantees) before they start mining, promising they'll restore the land afterward. The problem is that these bonds often aren't large enough to cover the actual cleanup costs, and some companies use questionable methods to guarantee the money, leaving the government and states holding the bag when reclamation falls short.

The bill tightens up these bonding requirements in several important ways. First, it eliminates "self-bonding," which is when a coal company essentially promises to pay for cleanup using its own word rather than getting an outside guarantee. This is risky because if the company goes bankrupt or disappears, there's nothing backing up that promise. Companies will now need to get bonds from actual surety companies or post real collateral like cash or securities. Second, the bill prevents companies from using coal mines, mining equipment, or coal-related property as collateral—basically saying you can't use the very thing you're supposed to clean up as proof you'll clean it up. Third, it requires the government to regularly check that collateral is still worth what was claimed, since property values can drop over time.

The bill also creates stricter rules for surety companies that issue these bonds. The government will set limits on how many bonds any single company can issue in a state, require them to have enough cash reserves, and make sure they're properly backed up by reinsurance. States that want to use alternative bonding systems will need to prove those systems work just as well as traditional bonds and won't leave the government exposed to financial risk. Essentially, this bill shifts the responsibility for cleanup costs firmly onto the coal industry rather than allowing risks to be passed to taxpayers when mines are abandoned.

Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act

Cartwright, Matt

Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act of 2021 This bill prohibits self-bonding practices for coal reclamation, establishes limits on bonding practices associated with surface coal mining operations, and establishes requirements for coal mining operations to provide sufficient financial resources to complete mine reclamation. Currently, self-bonding practices allow coal mining operations to demonstrate that they have sufficient corporate assets to complete reclamation, without requiring cash or collateral up-front as in the case of surety or collateral bonds. The bill prohibits the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement (OSMRE) and state regulatory authorities from accepting new self-bonds for coal reclamation. In addition, the bill requires any existing self-bonds or corporate bonds utilized for coal reclamation to be converted to surety or collateral bonds. The OSMRE must issue rules establishing limitations on surety bonds to minimize the financial liability to the federal or state government. The OSMRE may approve state or federal alternative coal mining bond programs that result in no greater risk of financial liability to the federal government than a surety or collateral bond program.