House environmental committee hears competing cases over subsidies for waste-coal cleanup

At a public hearing of the Pennsylvania House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, lawmakers heard competing testimony on how the Commonwealth should subsidize remediation of waste‑coal (coal refuse) piles and on how House Bill 501 (the "PRESS" bill) would change those subsidies.

The hearing centered on whether state supports that compensate facilities that burn coal refuse for power — through the Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) program, a per‑ton coal‑refuse tax credit and other mechanisms — remain the most cost‑effective and environmentally appropriate way to reclaim thousands of legacy piles across Pennsylvania. Nathan Houts, Deputy Secretary for Active and Abandoned Mine Operations at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), told the committee that reclamation is complex and that multiple options exist, including removal and combustion at fluidized bed combustion (FBC) plants, blending and using material for mine backfill, transporting to permitted disposal facilities, or capping and revegetating on site.

"There are approximately 1,036 pre‑act unreclaimed refuse piles in Pennsylvania, covering approximately 9,400 acres," Houts said, describing the Bureau of…