3956                                                      VETOES

Steep slope mining presents serious environmental risks. It
combines the forces of gravity with the factors of water and
weathering to produce rapid soil runoff. Consequently, steep
slope mining can potentially lead to such environmental hazards as
sediment loading in the streams, soil erosion, acid mine
drainage, and stormwater flooding. These environmental hazards
present substantial risk in Western Maryland because large
residential communities exist downslope from the potential mining
sites. Because the affected land has steep contours,
environmental damage resulting from sedimentation and stormwater
runoff is often difficult, if not impossible, to correct. I have
also been advised that due to the characteristics in Maryland
topography and geology, these risks may be further magnified.
This impact may adversely affect the water supply of these
communities and impair, as well, the water resources of our
State.

House Bill 466 and Senate Bill 230, as amended, would
authorize the Department of Natural Resources to consider several
factors, including the control of slope stability, soil erosion,
and stormwater runoff, as the basis for denying a permit for
steep slope mining. While the criteria in the bill for permit
issuance or denial appear to be adequate, proper regulation does
not end at the permit issuance stage. Once a permit is issued,
its terms and conditions must be continuously and strictly
observed by the operator. Although the Department of Natural
Resources currently has the authority to inspect the mine site
and order the operation to be closed for persistent and repeated
violations of the permit requirements, it does not have either
the authority or the financial ability to enter a steep slope
mining site after a single violation and implement measures to
prevent further and more serious damage from occurring. A
proposed, but not adopted, House amendment offered by the
Department would have required an operator to obtain a separate
and additional bond for steep slope mining and to allow the
Department upon forfeiture to use the proceeds of the bond to
install environmental controls. The need for quick and effective
enforcement capability is essential given the environmental risks
involved.

Assuming the long term viability of the surface mining
industry will be enhanced by the repeal of the steep slope
prohibition, the immediate employment gains are marginal at best.
Surface mining is a machine intensive industry and steep slope
mining would, at the outset, most likely be conducted at existing
sites where operators have been forced to mine around steep
contours. I note that while Allegany and Garrett counties
experience a high unemployment rate, surface mining represents
only 1 percent of total employment in these two counties (1983
Department of Economic and Community Development data).

The Department of Economic and Community Development
estimates that there are 38 million tons of coal held in reserve