House Agriculture Committee
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Bills discussed (2)
| Bill | Title | Sponsor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
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HB1280
· 3 mentions in chapter, transcript
Matched: “HB1280”
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Pre-2017 bill | ||
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HB1306
· 1 mention in transcript
Matched: “…ent your bill this morning? Very good. Representative Webb, House Bill 1306. Anybody see Representative Webb? We'll pass on that. Repre…”
|
Pre-2017 bill |
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- October 4, 2026
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
0:00
I want to welcome everybody on this beautiful sunny day, middle of the morning. But I thought that since our committee seems to be on again, off again at all times, that we should have a meeting and try to recognize who the committee members are. Sometimes it's difficult to do that. I understand that we do have one bill that may be presented this morning, which is absolutely wonderful. But let me just go down the list just to make sure we'll take them in the order that they're presented here on the agenda.
Representative Patterson, do you want to present your bill this morning? Very good. Representative Webb, House Bill 1306. Anybody see Representative Webb? We'll pass on that. Representative Letting, House Bill 1280. Would you like to present your bill? You're
Speaker 5
1:09
Mr. Vice Chairman, gentlemen on the committee.
Representative Greg Leding
Unverified
1:12
With me this morning is Teresa Marks, Director of Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, to handle any questions that I might not be able to answer. In front of you, you've got a copy of House Bill 1280. This bill makes a few changes to a 1979 Arkansas Surface Coal Mining and Reclamation Act. This act regulates how we go about reclaiming abandoned coal mines. And basically, this act ensures that Arkansas is going to remain eligible for federal grants that we receive to go out and reclaim abandoned landmines that could pose a threat to public safety.
Regulation of coal mining operations requires that the state to fund 50% of the costs, but abandoned mine land reclamation program is 100% federal funds. These come through grants that ADEQ applies for each year. They apply for two grants on an annual basis. One of them is the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Grant. In fiscal year 2011, they applied for $2.3 million. By the time it was all said and done, we actually received a little more than $2.3 million.
Because these are grants, this is not money that we have to pay back to the federal government. There are about $1.5 million a year in projects related to abandoned mine lands. There have been 132 acres currently in reclamation at a cost of about $1.3 million. Since 1980, we have had 138 projects that have reclaimed more than 3,700 acres of land across Arkansas at a total cost of about $27.5 million, and there's still about 6,200 acres that need to be reclaimed.
I want to say that this bill has absolutely nothing to do with Lignite. I had people at the Sierra Club come to me concerned that I had hopped aboard the Lignite bandwagon. I had lignite supporters come to me expressing concern that I was trying to throw up roadblocks. This bill has nothing to do with lignite mining. Just to make that clear, I know that's a hot topic right now. Failure to adopt these updates to the bill could result in the federal government withdrawing support and taking over control of the issuing of permits for mining in Arkansas, so that's something to consider.
Basically, we're just trying to catch up to some federal 2006 changes to the Surface Co-Mining and Reclamation Act. So this is a proactive move to keep us up to date with the federal government. And as I said, failure to adopt these changes could result in action from the federal government. And with that, I'll take questions. MR. Let me ask the first
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
3:47
question, and I may be still asleep, but Representative, did Did you say that you were going to save the state $27 million?
Representative Greg Leding
Unverified
3:55
Did I hear that correctly? Since 1980, the state has – there has been $27.5 million spent on reclaiming abandoned landmines, but because these are 100 percent federal funds, it's not money that Arkansas has spent. MR. Okay. Okay. Any questions? Representative
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
4:16
Meeks. REP. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A question that I have is concerning these abandoned mines. What position is the state taking against the holders of those mines to have them pay
for these situations instead of having the taxpayers pay for them? Do we know that? I'll let Ms.
Speaker 5
4:30
Marks address that question. The abandoned mine lands
Theresa Marks
Unverified
4:34
that we are recovering under this program are those that there's really – there's not a responsible party left. These are companies that have gone bankrupt. Now under the law, the new federal law that was adopted – and I say new, it's been adopted for several years. But mining operations are required to put up a bond to recover those lands. So if, indeed, somebody does walk away from them, we can cash in on their bond and go
Representative Garry L. Smith
Unverified
4:57
ahead and use that money to recover those lands now. CHAIRMAN BRYANT. Reverend Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Representative, for bringing this bill today, and I have a
Representative Charlie Collins
Unverified
5:15
motion at the proper time. Thank you. CHAIRMAN BRYANT. Reverend Collins, you have a question? Yes, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. I think I understand that we're no longer going to spend Arkansas money or we're going to clarify that we're not going to spend Arkansas money to reclaim the lands and that we need to make changes to do that. So I think I'm tracking with that. But when
I go to Section 6, it says expenditure of monies from the fund on lands and water for the purposes of the chapter shall reflect the following priorities. And there were six priorities listed, and then it looks like that entire priority list has been reworked pretty substantially. So I don't understand, A, why we're doing that, and then, B, what the gist is of the priority change. Thank you. MR.
Representative Greg Leding
Unverified
5:58
language that was struck appears again in some changes immediately following.
It's basically just giving additional structure and some clearer structure to those priorities. Does that And
Speaker 5
6:13
that tracks federal law It sort of mirrors their efforts Are
Speaker 15
6:23
you finished, Representative Collin? Representative Jean Representative Letting This
Speaker 29
6:26
looks like a good bill But you did mention something I won't Try to get you on the record for
When the Sierra Club asked you Were you on the late night bandwagon are you no comment at
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
6:41
this time thank you mr chairman do i see further questions is anybody here to speak for the bill or against the bill if not what's the pleasure of the committee or representative smith thank you mr chairman
I have a motion due pass. We have a motion due pass. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed like sign? Representative Letting, you passed your bill. Congratulations. Going on down our list on the agenda, Reverend Smith. Mr. Chairman, I'm not ready to run that bill. All right, sir. We'll pass over that. Representative Patterson. No, sir. You're not ready to run that one. And Representative Smith, you have a second bill. Yes, sir, but I'm not
Representative Garry L. Smith
Unverified
7:33
ready to run that bill at this time either.
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
7:36
Thank you. You're scared of us. I don't blame you at all. I'm working on it. All right. I again want to thank everyone for attending our meeting this morning. See you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and we'll see you in general session at 9 o'clock. Thank you for attending. Meeting adjourned.
Agenda
Call to Order
HB1280
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Representative Jerry R. Brown
Unverified
Speaker 3
Speaker 5
Representative Greg Leding
Unverified
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Theresa Marks
Unverified
Representative Garry L. Smith
Unverified
Representative Charlie Collins
Unverified
Speaker 12
Speaker 15
Speaker 29