ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090097
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS
State and federal officials and representatives of environmental groups and the coal industry agreed in Wise County on Wednesday to work together to develop incentives for companies to remine previously strip-mined land.
Remining, which has not been common in the past because of cumbersome regulations, would provide for the environmental reclamation of thousands of acres that were mined and abandoned before stringent federal reclamation laws were enacted in 1977.
It also could lead to the creation of badly needed mining jobs in Virginia's coalfields. Gov. George Allen made a remining initiative part of his Opportunity Virginia economic development program.
"We hope this agreement quickly leads to employment opportunities and the reclamation of lands that would otherwise never be reclaimed," said Benny Wampler, deputy director of the state Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy. The agreement was signed at a Virginia Tech research site near Norton.
Proposed incentives for remining include: a program that would give credit toward mining bonds to operators that reclaim abandoned lands; the streamlining of permit applications for remining; and state-of-the-art mapping and surveying support from the state for companies interested in remining.
LENGTH: Short : 32 linesby CNB