A recent report through the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raised significant considerations about the Department of the Interior’s control of the Abandoned Mining Lands Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program. Despite an allocation of $1 billion over 8 years, about 30% of the designated budget has been used, leading to a bottleneck in the reclamation of deserted mining lands, with Pennsylvania being one of the main beneficiaries affected.
The GAO was aware of control issues within the Office of Surface Mining Recovery and Compliance (OSMRE), noting a lack of systematic follow-up of appropriation reviews and approvals. This inconsistency resulted in unreliable data, leading to redundancy and wasted time and effort. In addition, OSMRE failed to identify transparent internal policies and procedures, leading to duplication of efforts between headquarters and regional offices.
The report also highlights the slowness with which budgets are produced for states, resulting in delays that increase over several months in each fiscal year. Such delays have particularly hampered the application and implementation processes, with many states pushing back the timeline by more than a year. For example, an allocation in Virginia stalled after a lengthy review that lasted more than 1,100 days, ultimately leading the applicant to withdraw, thereby blocking $1. 6 million that could have been allocated elsewhere.
Despite those challenges, some allocations quickly made it through the approval procedure, such as a recreational allocation in Ohio that was approved in less than 30 days. However, those are exceptions to the norm.
In Pennsylvania, the technique for allocating the budget differs because it is based on an internal list and not on external requests. However, Pennsylvania has funded only 78 projects out of many potential projects, illustrating the general administrative and bureaucratic delays affecting the AMLER program.
The effect of these administrative disorders extends beyond monetary inefficiencies; It also hampers the economic prospects of those lands. While the purpose of the program is to encourage economic expansion through the rehabilitation of mine sites, GAO has struggled to determine the direct economic results, such as task creation, of AMLER funding.
To address those inefficiencies, the GAO advised that OSMRE document unspent funding allocations, provide clearer guidance, and put in place a more formulated and consistent tracking formula for appropriation approvals. These steps are aimed at improving the effectiveness of the AMLER program and ensuring that deserted mining lands can be reclaimed and redeveloped into economically productive sites, especially in states like Pennsylvania where the need and prospects for revitalization are great.
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