Reinterpreting Smcra: "Permitting" Phased Postmining Land Use

Abstract

The coal producing area of Appalachian Kentucky has a protect the public and allow bond release, maintains the potential for later development.Land later can be made available in response to development demands, contributing to a more diversified economy.

Long Term Land Use Planning for Drastically Disturbed Land

“…However, there was clearly failure to complete the documentation required by federal and state levels both in law and regulations. This is consistent with findings of a less comprehensive review of surface mining permits in Kentucky which were proposing postmining land uses different than premining land uses (Merkin and Nieman 1996).…”

“…In some cases these lands are better than they were before mining. " Many have argued that the technique of surface mining known as mountaintop removal, becoming widely used in mountainous Appalachia, provides communities with a valuable scarce resource --flat land for development (Merkin and Nieman 1996). Others complain that current mountaintop removal operations constitute a blatant circumvention of the surface mining law, with serious environmental consequences (Mueller, 2001;Galuszka, 1997).…”