National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs
Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) established the national Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program under the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), U.S. Department of the Interior. The program was developed to reclaim land and water resources adversely affected by past coal mining and left abandoned or inadequately restored. SMCRA levied fees on active coal mining to pay the reclamation costs. Collected fees are deposited in the AML Fund. Once the national program had been established, Congress authorized states and tribes to implement their own programs. The programs are funded through grants from OSMRE, which receives funding from the AML Fund through the regular congressional budget and appropriations process.