Biden announces $23 million investment in Virginia union jobs, economic development

The Biden-Harris Administration announced Wednesday a $22.79 million investment to create good-paying union jobs and create economic opportunity by reclaiming abandoned land mines in Virginia.

Part of $725 million in Fiscal Year 2022 funding that the U.S. Department of Interior made available to 22 states and the Navajo Nation, according to a press release, the investment comes from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Biden’s law will clean up hazardous sites and address environmental injustices, including $11.3 billion in abandoned land mine funding in the next 15 years, which will be facilitated through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE).

“Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we have a once-in-a-generation investment to address legacy pollution. The reclamation landscape of tomorrow presents endless opportunities for innovation, efficiency and partnership,” said U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the press release. “These funds will support vitally needed jobs, creating opportunity for local workers in their own communities. And once these sites are cleaned up, they become part of the foundation for new economic development.”

The press release stated that millions of Americans live within one mile of an abandoned coal mine or orphaned oil and gas well. With $16 billion of historic investment in legacy pollution from the law, new opportunities to revitalize abandoned land mine areas will be created.

Jobs will be created by investing in projects to close dangerous mine shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, improve water quality by treating acid mine drainage and restore water supplies damaged by mining. The law requires that dislocated coal industry workers be employed in the prioritization of projects.

Funding will enable states to remediate leaking methane, a key contributor of climate change. Investments from Biden’s law will supplement annual grants which fund coal operators and ensure funding through 2034. More than $8 billion has been provided by OSMRE to reclaim lands and waters that were mined and affected by mining before 1977 when the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was approved by Congress.