Mountain State Times

Washington, DC – On June 1, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced that West Virginia will receive $140,684,000 in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23) to reclaim abandoned mine lands (AML). This funding was part of the Energy Infrastructure Act that Chairman Manchin ushered through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and subsequently included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding will help to ensure the health and safety of West Virginia’s coal communities while promoting economic development and bringing new opportunities to impacted areas.

“For generations, West Virginians have made the sacrifices and done the heaving lifting to turn our country into a global energy leader and the greatest industrial power the world has ever seen. Communities across the state still bear the scars of those sacrifices, and this funding will help ensure that our hardworking coal communities and the families that call these cities and towns home receive the new economic and job opportunities they deserve while making their communities safer places to live. I cannot wait to see how this critical funding positively impacts the lives and futures of West Virginians while helping revive the land and nature we love in our beautiful state,” said Chairman Manchin.

The historic Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided nearly $11.3 billion in AML funding over 15 years in annual allotments to eligible States and Tribes. In West Virginia, these grants will help the State’s Department of Environmental Protection invest in projects that close dangerous mine shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, improve water quality by treating acid mine drainage, and restore water supplies damaged by mining, while providing local jobs including those for former coal workers. In addition to creating good-paying jobs, these investments create safer and more inhabitable communities and drive new economic opportunities.

Original source can be found here.