Abstract

Surface minable lignite occurs in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. This energy resource is becoming economically more attractive as energy costs continue to rise, but to be competitive with other fuels it is likely that production will be limited to large surface mines. Because surface mines commonly discharge water to nearby streams, they are subject to provisions of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act so that NPDES permits will be required. Regulations on new source standards for coal surface mines are imminent. These regulations will bring, for the first time, a full NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review to surface coal mining on private land, which includes most of the lignite deposits of the South-Central United States. State regulations will also have to be met and currently they are most comprehensive in Texas.

Unresolved environmental problems due to inadequate pre-mine inventories, analyses, or planning can contribute to unnecessary delays of one to several years, if US-EPA requires an environmental impact statement. If applicants prepare comprehensive pre-mine plans, which include analyses of potential environmental problems and measures to mitigate them, then US-EPA may use these data to issue a negative declaration and thereby speed up the process of NPDES permits. The environmental analyses should include environmental inventories, reclamation plans, post-mine land-use plans, and strategies to maintain water quality.