Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has approved a proposal U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman introduced to allow New Mexico to spend federal funds to cleanup abandoned uranium mines.  U.S. Senator Tom Udall is a cosponsor on the legislation.

Under the Abandoned Mine Land program, the U.S. Department of the Interior is authorized to collect revenue from coal companies for a fund that cleans up abandoned mines.  Each state receives a share of the AML fund, but the Interior Department currently restricts the ability of states to use some of that funding to clean up non-coal mines.  As a result, New Mexico has not been able to focus the funding on one of its priorities – to clean up uranium mines.

Bingaman's legislation makes clear that those funds can be used for non-coal cleanup, paving the way for New Mexico to tap into its $21 million over the next few years to clean up abandoned uranium mines.

"New Mexico has more than 15,000 remaining mine openings with a vast majority of these being non-coal.  Uranium mine reclamation is a particular priority in our state, but right now the state cannot tap into all of these federal funds to clean up abandoned uranium mines," said Bingaman, who chairs the Senate Energy Natural Resources Committee.  "That doesn't make sense.  This legislation would make it possible for New Mexico to use its share to clean up uranium mines and other non-coal mine sites."

"New Mexico has a long and often times tragic history with uranium mining and the health consequences associated with it," Udall said. "I am pleased this bill, which provides the state with new resources to clean up abandoned uranium mines across New Mexico and mitigate the potential public health hazards, is progressing through the Senate."

The bill is now ready to be considered by the full Senate.