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Miners Protection Act
The Miners Protection Act is a bill to establish pension and health care benefits to mine workers and has been introduced to Congress 4 times since 2015 but has still not been voted on by the full Senate. The Miners Protection Act would be an amendment to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. The act would redirect extraneous funds from the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to be funneled into miners pensions and health care. Background Miners are currently disbursing pension and health care capital at a rate exceeding its income. The issue stems from a massive decline in the coal industry, causing the number of retired coal miners to exceed the amount of active miners. The decline of the coal industry and miners that contribute to the UMWA Health and Retirement Funds, results in their inability to provide coverage for retired coal miners. The Miners Protection Act would provide an increase in funds to the organ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surface Mining Control And Reclamation Act Of 1977
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands. SMCRA also created the Office of Surface Mining, an agency within the Department of the Interior, to promulgate regulations, to fund state regulatory and reclamation efforts, and to ensure consistency among state regulatory programs. Passage SMCRA grew out of a concern about the environmental effects of strip mining. Coal had been mined in the United States since the 1740s, but surface mining did not become widespread until the 1930s. At the end of that decade, states began to enact the first laws regulating the coal mining industry: West Virginia in 1939, Indiana in 1941, Illinois in 1943, and Pennsylvania in 1945. Despite those laws, the great demand for coal during World War II led to coal bei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |