those fortunate instances in which the other body demonstrated great good judgment and in which it would be in the interest of the House to follow the judgment of the other body and to extend their thinking to the other regions as well as to Appalachia insofar as the appropriations process is concerned.

Now, I share the feeling of the gentleman that we should not in any way legislate here to diminish the power and authority of the Congress in this field. I do think that the bill enlarges somewhat the power and authority of the Appalachian Commission with reference to control of its own administrative money. And I think that is probably a desirable thing. I think it probably would work well with the actual administrative money of the other regions.

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I am not going to get wires crossed with my colleague about this, but I just wanted the record to reflect a little more of the background

of this situation.

Mr. DENNEY. I agree with the gentleman, this is a matter that should be taken up in executive committee.

Mr. WALDIE. Are there any other questions?

Hearing none, then, the committee will be in adjournment until the hour of 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.

(Whereupon, at 4 p.m., the subcommittee was recessed, to reconvene at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 11, 1967.)

APPALACHIAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACT-1967

THURSDAY MAY 11, 1967

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE ON APPALACHIA OF THE

COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10 a.m., in room 2167, Rayburn Building, Hon. Robert E. Jones, chairman, presiding.

Mr. JONES. The Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Appalachia will continue its hearings on the proposed amendments to the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965.

Our first witness this morning will be the Honorable Charles F. Luce, Under Secretary of the Interior. He is accompanied by a former colleague, James Quigley, Commissioner, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration; Mr. Truman Price, program support staff; Mr. James McBroom, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife; William C. Dent, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation; Mr. Boyd Finch, staff assistant, Assistant Secretary for Mineral Resources; and Mr. Joseph Corgan, Chief, Division of Anthracite, Bureau of Mines.

With that, gentlemen, I am sure that the Department of the Interior has declared a holiday for the rest of the employees of the office.

STATEMENT OF CHARLES F. LUCE, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, ACCOMPANIED BY JAMES QUIGLEY, COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ADMINISTRATION; TRUMAN PRICE, PROGRAM SUPPORT STAFF; JAMES MCBROOM, BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE; WILLIAM C. DENT, BUREAU OF OUTDOOR RECREATION; BOYD FINCH, STAFF ASSISTANT, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR MINERAL RESOURCES; JOSEPH CORGAN, CHIEF, DIVISION OF ANTHRACITE, BUREAU OF MINES; DAVID FINNEGAN, OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL; AND WILLIAM BARBER

Mr. LUCE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Also with us today is Mr. David Finnegan, our Office of Legislative Counsel.

I appreciate the invitation, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, to appear before you for a report on what the Interior Department has done under the Appalachian Regional Development Act.

I would like to ask permission, if I may, to offer for the record our full statement, which has a number of attachments.

247

Mr. JONES. Without objection, it will be received and printed in the record at this point.

(The prepared statement of Charles L. Luce and attachments follow:)

STATEMENT BY CHARLES F. LUCE, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I appreciate your invitation to appear before you for a report on accomplishments of the Department of the Interior under the Appalachian Regional Development Act.

Interior is involved primarily in five programs: 1) mined areas rehabilitation; 2) comprehensive study of water resources; 3) pollution control; 4) outdoorrecreation study; and 3) mineral resources mapping and appraisal.

MINED AREAS REHABILITATION

Section 205 of the Appalachian Regional Development Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to assist the States in controlling surface subsidence, in reclamation of existing strip and surface mined areas, and in planning and execution of projects to control underground mine fires. He was also directed to make a comprehensive study of strip and surface mining in Appalachia and in the United States as a whole.

Mined areas rehabilitation projects are initiated by the States and submitted to the_Appalachian Regional Commission for evaluation and authorization. Authorized projects are then sent to my Department for final review and approval. Projects are conducted on a cooperative Federal-State basis. The Federal Government meets 75 percent of the cost and the remainder is contributed by the State and or local sponsoring agency.

Project work is heavy-construction in nature and is generally performed by small contractors utilizing local labor. Bids are let on a competitive basis.

Congress has authorized $36 million for mined-areas rehabilitation purposes of which $24.85 million has been appropriated. Details on number and type of projects, funds committed, and status of appropriations are contained in Tables 1-3 attached to this statement.

Subsidence Control

Surface subsidence project are administered by the Bureau of Mines. These are undertaken primarily to prevent damage to structures and utilities in urbanized areas. Secondary benefits include the reduction of acid mine drainage and the removal of unsightly refuse dumps. Subsidence is arrested by filling the underground mine voids with crushed and sired mine refuse. The fill material is flushed into the voids through holes drilled from the surface. The Commission has authorized seven projects of which six are under the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, Pennsylvania. Two projects, now underway in Scranton, will remove the threat of heavy subsidence to extensive areas-providing protection to 1 factory, 2 hospitals. 5 schools. 934 detached dwellings. 23 commercial buildings. 39 apartment buildings, 12 churches, 8 public buildings: as well as an ex-pressway, a railroad, utility facilities and roads Another project located at Coaldale, Pennsylvania, has just been approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Strip Mine Reclamation

Strip mine reclamation projects are administered by the Bureau of Mines and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife. Both agencies have worked energetically to interest States in the reclamation program, but response, so far, has not met expectations.

The States, which must hitiate the projects have not been able to respond for a number of reasons. The primary impediment has probably been that language af the Appalachian Regionai Development Act prohibits such reclamation work on privately owned lands. Added to that restriction was language in the appropriation acts prohibiting expenditures of Appalachian funds for land acquisition and disallowing the use of state funds used for land acquisition as part of the required non-Federal contribution to prožet ousts. With such restrictions, land available for reclamation is extremely limited. Although abou: 800,000 geres of and have been disturbed by surface mining in Appalachia, not more than 4 percent is in pablle ownership and of that, three quarters is execumbered by private mineral richs

Another hindrance has been reluctance of State agencies to divert funds from their normal programs to strip-mine reclamation. In the case of State fish and game agencies, most of their revenues come from sale of fishing and hunting licenses. Such revenues are generally not adequate to finance the agency's going programs-consequently, projects regarded as marginal get little consideration. These State agencies generally can acquire and develop undisturbed lands at costs lower than they can acquire and reclaim surface mined areas; therefore, they find it difficult to justify participation in the strip-miner land reclamation program.

But despite these handicaps, a modest measure of success has been attained.. Seven projects have been authorized by the Commission-three in Ohio, three in Pennsylvania, and one in Tennessee. Four will be administered by the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife and three by the Bureau of Mines. Two additional projects, one in Kentucky and one in Virginia, have been submitted to the Commission for authorization. With the exception of one project adjacent to the Pittsburg Airport, all are related to recreational development.

Mine Fire Control

Coal mine fires start in a number of ways, including spontaneous combustion,. mine explosions, and burning of refuse over coal outcrops. They burn at highly variable rates, often smoldering for years before flaring up. Such fires can be a serious threat to the health and safety of people. In Scranton, Pennsylvania, authorities recently had to evacuate residents of more than fifty homes due to lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide which had accumulated within the houses; the gas had seeped to the surface after travelling about half a mile through underground mine voids.

The control method being used in this case is to excavate a trench about 135 feet deep around the fire and backfill with non-combustible materials. The Bureau of Mines has awarded two contracts for the first stages of the project.

Another major fire-control project, located at Laurel Run near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is also under contract. This fire is interesting in that it was started by a miner's lamp deep within a mine and has been burning for 52 years.

The Urban Renewal Administration has cooperated by acquiring properties that must be removed because of their proximity to the Scranton and Laurel Run fires. The estimated Federal cost of controlling these two fires is $6,375,000. Of the 22 additional mine fires approved by the Appalachian Commission, 11 are under contract by the Bureau of Mines.

Surface Mine Study

The Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with Federal and State agencies, was directed under Section 205 to make a comprehensive study of surface mining in the United States. The Bureau of Mines has been given the responsibility to coordinate the study and draft a report. The report, which will contain recommendations for a long-range program, is in final stages of preparation and will be submitted to the President very soon. The President will submit the report, together with his recommendations, to the Congress not later than July 1, 1967. Section 205 also directed the Secretary to make an interim report to the Appalachian Regional Commission, by July 1, 1966, summarizing his findings, as of that date, on aspects of strip and surface mining in the Appalachian region that, in his judgment were most urgently in need of attention. That report was submitted to the Commission on June 30. Based on the information developed at the time of the interim report, achievement of two goals appeared necessary:

prevention of future devastation of the environment, without imposing undue handicap to continued growth of the mineral industries;

and, alleviation of unrepaired damage caused by past strip and surface mining activities.

With respect to the prevention of future devastation, the report recommends that the Appalachian States establish laws and regulations to control strip and surface mining, to insure reclamation of disturbed lands, and to prohibit mining in areas where reclamation is not feasible. To assist the States in the formulation of adequate mining laws, the report suggests criteria that should be incorporated. The report also suggests that the following objectives be considered in promulgating State strip and surface mining regulations:

control, or elimination, of acid drainage;

soil stabilization;

elimination of safety hazards;

conservation and preservation of natural resources;

return of land to a productive use;

and, the restoration of natural beauty.

With regard to the alleviation of damage caused by past surface mining activities, the report to the Commission recommended Federal participation with States, municipalities, industry, and private owners in effective long-range programs. Two types of projects were envisaged:

"basic reclamation", which would consist of treating abandoned stripmined lands and haul roads to alleviate sediment and acid pollution of streams, provide vegetative cover for denuded lands and control erosion; and, "special land-use projects", i.e., the creation of recreational areas, lakes, industrial, commercial and residential sites, and others that might contribute to the economic growth of the region.

It was regarded as essential that the Federal Government designate a "lead agency" to oversee all Federal activities related to strip and surface mining under a common set of objectives and procedures correlated with the total Appalachian effort.

WATER RESOURCES STUDY

The Department of the Interior has been working with the Corps of Engineers and other agencies in the development of a comprehensive water plan for the Appalachian region. Interior agencies participating in that study include: Geological Survey, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Bureau of Mines, Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, National Park Service, Southeastern Power Administration, and Federal Water Pollution Control Administration. Each bureau effort is coordinated through our Regional Coordinator in Cincinnati, who provides liaison between our bureaus and other Federal and State agencies.

Funds to conduct these studies are transferred from the Corps of Engineers directly to the participating agencies. Of the $5 million authorized under Section 206, for the study, $889.000 will be used by Interior bureaus. Funds required for the three-year undertaking are listed in Table 4 attached to this statement.

Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife

The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife has completed an inventory of the fish and wildlife resources of the region. A report summarizing the information developed is in preparation.

Studies to determine current hunting and fishing demands have been completed. Studies of projected needs are about 50 percent complete. Population and landuse information to be provided by the Office of Business Economics, Department of Commerce, and the Economic Research Service, Department of Agriculture, is expected in the near future for completion of these studies.

Proposed projects are evaluated to determine which can contribute to fish and wildlife enhancement and which should be questioned because of adverse effects. A number of Corps of Engineers' projects have been appraised and preliminary reports submitted. Fourteen Soil Conservation Service small watershed projects have been evaluated and three are being studied.

Two projects (Tug Fork and Salyersville-Royalton) which did not qualify from the standpoint of economic feasibility under earlier study by the Corps of Engineers were selected for additional investigation. Reappraisal of fish and wildlife benefits for these projects has been completed and submitted to the Corps of Engineers.

During this fiscal year, the major effort will be to develop a fish and wildlife plan, evaluate additional sites and prepare detailed site reports. In Fiscal Year 1968, evaluations of the more promising sites will be completed and the fish and wildlife appendix will be prepared.

Bureau of Mines

The Bureau of Mines is conducting preliminary field and literature surveys of reservoir sites selected by the Corps of Engineers. Five examinations have been completed and reports are being prepared that will identify the site, describe generally the topography, note the existence of mineral or fuel deposits and provide a preliminary appraisal of the effect of the proposed project on the minerals of the area. The reports will cover the effects of water development