In an effort to promote the reclamation of former coal mining sites across Pennsylvania, Reps. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, and Jaret Gibbons, D-Lawrence/Beaver/Butler, co-authored House Bill 1370, creating a Waste Coal Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit of $4 per ton of waste coal used by cogeneration plants.

"Carbon County owes so much of its history and heritage to coal mining," Heffley said when he first introduced the bill last year. "However, there is plenty of land across the county and commonwealth that still shows the impact of mining done before the 1970s. We need to do what we can to promote the revitalization of these sites.""Creating alternative energy from coal refuse is helping to address the environmental damage caused by bad coal management practices," Gibbons said at the time. "The process creates clean energy and thousands of jobs, while also contributing to the cleanup and reclamation of abandoned mine land and waterways. This bill would help those companies in the face of a volatile and depressed energy market."Under House Bill 1370, the tax credit would go toward companies involved in the conversion of waste coal.During this process, coal refuse stockpiles, also known as culm banks, are used to create energy. This process has created thousands of jobs at waste coal power plants across the state.House Bill 1370, which was reintroduced this year, has already received the bipartisan support of more than 20 co-sponsors, including Rep. Jerry Knowles."These cogeneration plants provide a vital service because they are the only facilities out there reclaiming culm banks," Heffley said Thursday. "They are reusing it to generate electricity and clean up a large hazard. If we can't get it cleaned up, it would cost the state an estimated $30 to $40 billion."He said there is no definitive timeline as to when the Legislature will act on the bill, but pointed out that many bills are backing up because of the state budget that has not yet been signed into law.There is identical legislation currently in the Senate.