30 U.S.C. § 572 : US Code - Section 572: United States contributions to Pennsylvania: authority, conditions, limitations

Search 30 U.S.C. § 572 : US Code - Section 572: United States contributions to Pennsylvania: authority, conditions, limitations

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in order to carry
out the purposes mentioned in section 571 of this title, to make
financial contributions on the basis of programs or projects
approved by the Secretary to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
(hereinafter designated as the "Commonwealth") to seal abandoned
coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines, in those
instances where such work is in the interest of the public health
or safety, and for control and drainage of water which, if not so
controlled or drained, will cause the flooding of anthracite coal
formations, said contributions to be applied to the cost of
drainage works, pumping plants, and related facilities but subject,
however, to the following conditions and limitations:
(a) Contributions to be matched by Commonwealth
The amounts authorized to be contributed by the Secretary of the
Interior to the Commonwealth shall be equally matched by the
Commonwealth;
(b) Amount of contributions authorized
The total amount of contributions by the Secretary of the
Interior under the authority of this chapter shall not exceed
$8,500,000, of which $1,500,000 of the unexpended balance remaining
as of July 31, 1962, shall be reserved for the control and drainage
of water;
(c) Limitation on use of contribution
The amounts contributed by the Secretary of the Interior under
the authority of this chapter and the equally matched amounts
contributed by the Commonwealth shall not be used for operating and
maintaining projects constructed pursuant to this chapter or for
the purchase of culm, rock, or spoil banks;
(d) Commonwealth responsible for installation and operation of
projects
The Commonwealth shall have full responsibility for installing,
operating, and maintaining projects constructed pursuant to this
chapter, and shall give evidence, satisfactory to the Secretary of
the Interior, that it will enforce effective installation,
operation, and maintenance safeguards;
(e) Location and operation of projects
Projects constructed pursuant to this chapter shall be so
located, operated, and maintained as to provide the maximum
conservation of anthracite coal resources or, in those instances
where such work would be in the interest of the public health or
safety, to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned
coal mines, and, where possible, to avoid creating inequities among
those mines which may be affected by the waters to be controlled
thereby; and
(f) Economic justification for abandoned coal mine projects
Projects for the sealing of abandoned coal mines or the filling
of voids in abandoned coal mines shall be determined by the
Secretary of the Interior to be economically justified. The
Secretary shall not find any project to be economically justified
unless the potential benefits are estimated by him to exceed the
estimated cost of the project.