Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act of 2026
HB9029, titled the Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act of 2026, would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to tighten financial assurance rules for surface coal mining reclamation. The bill focuses on ensuring that mine operators, rather than taxpayers, bear the cost of cleaning up abandoned or unreclaimed coal mines by revising the bonding framework used to secure reclamation obligations.
The bill would bar the federal government from accepting self-bonds for coal mining operations and would require existing self-bonds to be replaced at permit renewal or major permit modification. It would also direct the Secretary of the Interior to impose new limits on corporate surety bonds, including caps on how much any one surety can issue in a state, minimum reinsurance and collateralization standards, and minimum cash-asset requirements. In addition, the bill restricts what can be used as collateral, excluding coal-related property and low-value mining equipment, requires periodic revaluation of nonliquid collateral, and allows executive compensation to be counted as collateral in some cases.
The bill’s impact would be to strengthen federal and state reclamation bonding requirements under SMCRA and likely increase the financial security backing coal mine cleanup obligations. It would affect coal operators, surety companies, state regulatory authorities with approved coal programs, and the Department of the Interior, while limiting the use of self-bonding and certain forms of collateral that have been criticized as unreliable in covering reclamation costs.
Because there were no recorded committee transcripts or votes provided, the available context shows no formal debate or roll-call sentiment. Based on the bill text and title, the measure appears to be framed as a taxpayer-protection and mine-reclamation accountability bill, suggesting generally favorable intent toward stronger financial safeguards. The main points of contention are likely to involve the elimination of self-bonding, tighter surety-bond limits, and the compliance burden these changes could place on coal operators and state programs that currently rely on more flexible bonding arrangements.
HB9029 would amend Section 509 of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to impose stricter bonding and collateral requirements for coal mine reclamation. It would prohibit self-bonding in federal programs, require states to eliminate self-bonding from approved programs, and establish new federal standards for alternative bonding systems, surety concentration limits, collateral eligibility, and periodic collateral revaluation. These changes would directly affect coal mining permit holders, surety providers, state regulators, and the Department of the Interior, with the goal of reducing the risk that reclamation liabilities fall on federal or state taxpayers.
No committee discussion or votes were provided, so there is no recorded legislative sentiment in the supplied materials. The bill’s framing as the Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act suggests support for stronger reclamation financing protections and skepticism toward self-bonding and weak collateral. Any opposition would likely come from coal industry stakeholders, surety providers, or states concerned about implementation costs and reduced flexibility in bonding systems.
The likely areas of contention are the bill’s ban on self-bonding, the requirement that states amend their regulatory programs to remove self-bond authority, and the new federal limits on corporate surety bonds. Coal operators may object to higher bonding costs and reduced access to collateral options, while surety companies may resist caps, reinsurance requirements, and collateralization mandates. State regulators could also raise concerns about administrative burden and the feasibility of revising existing approved programs within the bill’s timelines.