House Bill 925

AN ACT TO CODIFY NEW SECTIONS 53-10-1, 53-10-2, 53-10-3, 53-10-4 AND 53-10-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ADOPT THE INTERSTATE MINING COMPACT AND AUTHORIZE THE GOVERNOR TO JOIN AND PARTICIPATE IN THE INTERSTATE MINING COMPACT COMMISSION ON BEHALF OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The following shall be codified as Section 53-10-1, Mississippi Code of 1972:

53-10-1. Interstate Mining Compact – Findings and Purposes.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that:

(i) Within the state, mining constitutes a significant aspect of the state's economy.

(ii) The Interstate Mining Compact was established in 1966 to provide a forum for states having significant mining to exchange ideas on mining technology, conservation, and reclamation practices and to generate consensus policies for use as desired by member states and for input at the congressional and federal regulatory level of government.

(iii) Membership in the Compact by the state will provide the Governor, as the representative of the state on the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, direct input on significant mining issues and policies and access to ideas and sources of information, not otherwise available, which may enable the state to initiate progressive or desired policies and mining control techniques that will be to the benefit of the citizens of Mississippi and the mining industry in the state.

(b) The purposes of the Interstate Mining Compact are recognized to be to:

(i) Advance the protection and restoration of land, water, and other resources affected by mining.

(ii) Assist in the reduction, elimination, or counteracting of pollution or deterioration of land, water, and air attributable to mining.

(iii) Encourage, with due recognition of relevant regional, physical, and other differences, programs in each of the party states which will achieve comparable results in protecting, conserving, and improving the usefulness of natural resources, to the end that the most desirable conduct of mining and related operations may be universally facilitated.

(iv) Assist the party states in their efforts to facilitate the use of land and other resources affected by mining, so that such use may be consistent with sound land use, public health, and public safety, and to this end to study and recommend, wherever desirable, techniques for the improvement, restoration, or protection of such land and other resources.

(v) Assist in achieving and maintaining an efficient and productive mining industry and in increasing economic and other benefits attributable to mining.

SECTION 2. The following shall be codified as Section 53-10-2, Mississippi Code of 1972:

53-10-2. Membership. (a) Pursuant to the findings of the Legislature and subject to the limitations hereinafter set forth, the State of Mississippi hereby adopts the Interstate Mining Compact as embodied in the findings and purposes set forth above, and the state through the Office of the Governor is authorized to join and participate in the Interstate Mining Compact through membership on the Interstate Mining Compact Commission.

(b) The Governor may appoint a designee to serve as the Governor's official representative to the compact and to perform any functions in connection with the business of the compact.

SECTION 3. The following shall be codified as Section 53-10-3, Mississippi Code of 1972:

53-10-3. Limitations. (a) No provisions of the Interstate Mining Compact, nor any policies of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, shall be construed to limit, repeal, or supersede any law of the State of Mississippi.

(b) The Governor and the Legislature, or agents of either, shall have the right to inspect the books and accounts of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission at any reasonable time while the state is a member.

(c) A copy of the bylaws of the Interstate Mining Compact Commission shall be placed on file with the Director of the Office of Geology, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, and be available for inspection at any reasonable time by the Legislature or any interested citizen.

SECTION 4. The following shall be codified as Section 53-10-4, Mississippi Code of 1972:

53-10-4. Expenses. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality may pay annually out of funds collected from Surface Coal Mining Permit Fees, or from funds granted to the state by the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the annual membership dues payable to the Interstate Mining Compact Commission for the membership of the State of Mississippi in that organization.

SECTION 5. The following shall be codified as Section 53-10-5, Mississippi Code of 1972:

53-10-5. General Power of Governor and Withdrawal. (a) Within the limitations of this section, the Governor shall be entitled to exercise all the power of his office necessary in his judgment to maintain the state in good standing as a member and to participate therein.

(b) After the Governor has provided one (1) year's notice in writing to the governors of all other member states, the Legislature, by appropriate repealing legislation, may withdraw the state from the Interstate Mining Compact.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.