Following a vote of 32-17 in the Senate earlier this month, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Committee on Environmental Resources & Energy is considering an amendment to the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act of April 27, 1966, P.L. 31, as amended, 52 P.S. Sections 1406.1-1406.21 (BMSLCA or Mine Subsidence Act). The bill, SB 624 sponsored by Sens. Joseph B. Scarnati III and Gene Yaw, was introduced to clarify the interplay between the Mine Subsidence Act and The Clean Streams Law of June 22, 1937, P.L 1987, as amended, 35 P.S. Sections 691.1-691.1001 (Clean Streams Law).
If enacted as currently drafted, under SB 624, “planned subsidence in a predictable and controlled manner, which is not predicted to result in the permanent disruption of existing or designated uses of water of the commonwealth” is not to be considered presumptive evidence that a bituminous coal mine has the potential to cause pollution. Subsidence, or the sinking of land, has the potential to affect stream flow and other hydrological properties.
