Abandoned Mine Lands

Missouri's first reclamation project was completed in November 1982. Most projects have been located on private land. Every two years, department staff produce an annual report. This biennial report provides information and statistical summaries concerning the activities and business accomplishments of the Land Reclamation Program and its efforts to reclaim mined land. Listed below are the two most recent reports. For copies of older reports, please submit an Open Records/ Sunshine Law Request.

• Land Reclamation Program Biennial Report 2020-2021 - PUB3014
• Land Reclamation Program Biennial Report 2018-2019 - PUB2827

Featured Projects:

• Bee Hollow Conservation Area Abandoned Mine Land Project - Video
• Coal Miner's Water – Missouri Resources Summer 2014 Article

Future Projects:

• Snapshot of Missouri's Potential Future Reclamation Work

Public Law 95-87 requires that the department reclaim the highest priority abandoned coal mine sites before addressing problems created by mining other commodities. The department's Land Reclamation Program, Abandoned Mine Land Section has made significant progress in eliminating public health, safety and environmental problems from past mining areas. The order in which most abandoned mine land is reclaimed is determined by classifying the land into one of three categories: 

• Priority I: Protecting public health, safety and general welfare from extreme danger resulting from the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. 
• Priority II: Protecting public health, safety and general welfare from the adverse effects of past coal mining practices that do not constitute extreme danger. 
• Priority III: Restoring land and water resources and the environment previously degraded by the adverse effects of past coal mining practices. 

Health and safety problems (Priority I and II) include dangerous mine refuse piles and embankments, burning coal refuse, highwalls, subsidence, open shafts, hazardous mining facilities and polluted water used for agricultural and human consumption. Environmental problems (Priority III) include bare acidic spoils and coal refuse that pollute water through soil erosion, sedimentation and acid mine drainage. 

Reclamation costs are solely the responsibility of the Land Reclamation Program's Abandoned Mine Land section, which is funded by a federal tax on coal since 1978. Since Oct. 1, 2021, the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Enforcement and Reclamation has collected the tax from producing coal companies: 22.4 cents per ton of surface mined coal, 9.6 cents per ton of coal mined underground and 6.4 cents per ton for Lignite. Money collected from coal mining is deposited into the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund. The Office of Surface Mining disperses these funds through grants to the states as directed by the U.S. Congress. 

Missouri and other midwestern states have received decreasing amounts of abandoned mine land funds due to declining coal production since 1994. Congress included a minimum base funding amount in the abandoned mine land appropriation to allow states with significant coal mine problems, but limited coal production, to continue their programs. Missouri now receives the minimum program funding amount for abandoned mine land reclamation, approximately $3 million per year. 

When the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), was enacted in November 2021, over $11 billion in new funding was authorized to be appropriated for deposit into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. Additionally, the law extended the abandoned mine land fee collections and mandatory grant distributions. The authority to collect the Title IV abandoned mine land reclamation fee now expires Sept. 30, 2034. The distribution amounts are now based on the number of tons of coal historically produced in each state or from the applicable Indian lands before Aug. 3, 1977. Using the new formula, Missouri’s anticipated annual grant amount is approximately $5.8 million, subject to any required adjustments, for 15 years following the enactment of the law.

• Snapshot of Missouri's Potential Future Reclamation Work