CHARLESTON, W.Va. (May 20, 2019) – The West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) Office of Abandoned Mine Lands
and Reclamation (AML) is taking applications for a portion of $25 million in
grant funding available for economic development projects.
The economic development projects must be located on or adjacent to mine sites
that ceased operations prior to the signing of the Surface Mine Control and
Reclamation Act (SMCRA) on August 3, 1977. A map of known AML sites in West Virginia can be found here.
The grant application and additional information on the grant funding is
available on the WVDEP website.
Completed applications are due July 1, 2019. The WVDEP is ultimately
responsible for determining which projects get funded, working with an advisory
committee made up of representatives from the West Virginia Department of
Commerce, WV Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Office. Recipients
of grant funding could be announced as early as September.
Since 2016, 28 projects have received a total of $80 million dollars in grant
funding through this program. Those projects are located in Boone, Clay,
Kanawha, Fayette, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Preston,
Raleigh, and Tucker counties.
The grant funding, provided by the federal government, is being administered by
AML and all funding must be approved by the US Department of the Interior’s
Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSMRE).
For more WVDEP news and
information, go to www.dep.wv.gov. Also, connect with the agency on
all social media platforms. Follow @DEPWV on Twitter, Like us on Facebook
at https://www.facebook.com/depwv/, and find us on YouTube by
searching “Environment
Matters.”
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