Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) Program

Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation

The Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) Program enhances public safety and improves water, soil, and air quality by reducing or eliminating the physical safety and environmental effects of past hardrock mining on Federal, Tribal, State, and private lands. Hardrock mining includes mining for gold, silver, lead, uranium, and other non-coal minerals that often resulted in abandoned mine lands (AMLs) in need of reclamation or remediation. The Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division (ECCD) is responsible for managing the AHMR Program. 

Section 40704 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, Public Law No: 117-58), aka Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), established the AHMR Program within Interior “to inventory, assess, decommission, reclaim, respond to hazardous substance release on, and remediate hardrock abandoned mine lands.” The AHMR Program consists of a Federal program for hardrock AMLs on lands managed by the Department of the Interior and the US Department of Agriculture/Forest Service, as well as grant programs for States and Tribes.  

While the AHMR Program was authorized up to $3 billion, those funds were not appropriated through the IIJA. Instead, since fiscal year 2022 the AHMR Program has received Interior appropriations of approximately $5 million per year.   

Sections 40701 through 40703 of the BIL address abandoned mine land reclamation related to coal mining, which is managed by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. 
 

  • AHMR Federal Program

    AHMR Federal Program

    The Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division (ECCD) manages the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) Federal Program in consultation with federal committee members.
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  • ahrm state pic

    AHMR State Grants Program

    Funding for Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) on state and private lands will be distributed through a grant program.
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    AHMR Tribal Grants Program

    Funding for Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) on Tribal lands will be distributed through a grant program managed by the Environmental Compliance and Cleanup Division (ECCD).
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