42 U.S.C. § 8401 — Assistance to areas impacted by increased coal or uranium production

(a) Designation of impacted areas. (1) A state's Governor can designate an area under this section if the Governor finds: (A) either (i) coal or uranium production jobs in the area grew at least 8% in the most recent year, or (ii) such jobs will grow at least 8% a year for each of the next 3 years; (B) that job growth has required, or will require, big increases in housing or public facilities and services (or both); and (C) the state and the local government or governments there lack the money and other resources to meet those increases within a reasonable time. Within 180 days after this chapter took effect, the Secretary of Agriculture, after talking with the Secretaries of Labor and Energy, had to issue a rule with the criteria and guidelines for making these designations. (2) When checking whether a state or local government lacks resources under (1)(C), extra revenue tied to the coal or uranium boom — like severance taxes, royalties, and similar fees — counts as available, unless a law in effect on November 9, 1978 bars using it. (3) The Secretary, after talking with the Secretary of Agriculture, can approve a designation only if (A) the Governor gives the Secretary, in writing, the data behind the designation plus any extra information the Secretary needs; and (B) the Secretary decides the requirements in (1)(A), (B), and (C) are actually met. (b) Planning grants. (1) The Secretary of Agriculture may give a state with an approved designated area a grant to develop a plan covering: (A) the expected level of coal or uranium production activity; (B) the social and economic effects that increase has caused, or is reasonably expected to cause; (C) what resources are available in the area — such as for housing or public facilities and services — to meet those effects; and (D) what steps are needed, and what they will cost, to meet those needs within a reasonable time, where no other resources are reasonably available. (2)(A) A planning grant covers 100% of the plan's cost, as the Secretary of Agriculture determines it. (B) All planning grants given in one fiscal year together cannot exceed 10% of the total money appropriated for this section that year. (3) The Governor of a state that gets a planning grant must send the finished plan to the Secretary of Agriculture as soon as practical. (c) Land acquisition and development grants. (1) The Secretary of Agriculture may acquire real property — by purchase, gift, lease, or exchange — if it (A) is within an area with an approved plan under (b)(1); (B) is needed for housing or public facilities the plan identifies as necessary because of increased coal or uranium jobs; (C) the state and local governments there cannot afford to buy and cannot legally condemn; and (D) the Governor has approved, in writing, the Secretary using this power. Property acquired this way transfers to the state on terms the Secretary sets, requiring the state to pay back the property's fair market value (not counting any improvements made after the purchase). Money the Secretary collects this way goes to the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts. (2) A Governor's written approval under (1)(D) is a binding promise that the state will accept the property and pay its fair market value. (3) The Secretary of Agriculture may use condemnation to acquire property under paragraph (1) only if (A) the property is not available another way at a price close to fair market value; (B) no other suitable property is similarly available in the same designated area; and (C) the state and local governments there lack the legal power to condemn it themselves. (4)(A) For property meeting the tests in (1)(A) through (C), the Secretary of Agriculture may grant the state money to buy it and to develop the site consistent with the plan. (B) For property the Secretary bought under paragraph (1) and transferred to the state, the Secretary may grant money for site development consistent with the plan. (C) Grants for buying property or developing a site — or both — cannot cover more than 75% of the cost. (5) When choosing property to acquire, the Secretary of Agriculture prefers property that is currently empty or was previously mined and abandoned. (6)(A) Property the United States holds in trust for Indians or a tribe cannot be condemned under this section. (B) No land within the National Forest System may be traded away by the Secretary as part of an acquisition under paragraph (1). (d) General requirements regarding assistance. (1) Assistance under this section requires an application containing whatever information the Secretary of Agriculture requires. (2) The Secretary of Agriculture may give a grant, in whole or in part, to the local government or governments serving a designated area — or to a council of those local governments — instead of only to the state, if the Secretary decides, after talking with the Governor, that doing so makes sense. (3) The Secretary of Agriculture must issue rules setting criteria for allocating assistance, giving real weight to how big the job increase is, how much money the designated area has, and how the financial burden on the area compares with its resources. (4) Assistance is given only if the Secretary of Agriculture is satisfied that (A) the state and local governments will not cut their own spending for the same purposes the assistance covers; and (B) the amount of assistance does not duplicate other federal financial assistance already provided, or likely to be provided on proper application. (e) "Coal or uranium development activities" and "site development" defined. (1) "Coal or uranium development activities" means producing, processing, or transporting coal or uranium. (2) "Site development" means necessary off-site improvements — like sewer and water connections, access roads, and appropriate site restoration — but does not include building the housing or public facilities themselves. (f) Reports. Anyone regularly engaged in coal or uranium development activity within a designated area must send a report to the Secretary of Energy within 90 days after the Governor makes a written request. The report must cover (1) projected employment for that activity during each of the next 3 calendar years; (2) the projected increase in employees hired for that activity each of those years; (3) the projected amount of coal or uranium to be produced, processed, or transported each of those years; and (4) what the company plans to do, or is doing, to provide needed housing and other facilities for its employees, directly or by giving funds to states or local communities for that purpose. The Secretary of Energy sends copies to the Secretary of Agriculture, the Governor, and appropriate local officials, and makes the report available for public review, subject to a related trade-secret protection law. (g) Administration. The Secretary of Agriculture carries out these responsibilities through the Farmers Home Administration and other Department of Agriculture agencies as the Secretary decides is appropriate. (h) Appropriations authorization. Congress authorized $60,000,000 for fiscal year 1979 and $120,000,000 for fiscal year 1980 to the Secretary of Energy for this section. The Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture must agree on how to split this money — including amounts for staff and administrative costs — and the Secretary of Energy then transfers the agreed amounts to the Secretary of Agriculture. (i) Protection from certain hazardous actions. Federal agencies responsible for health and safety at coal, uranium, metal, or nonmetallic mines must use their full authority — including making standards and regulations — fully and promptly, to protect nearby housing, property, people, and public facilities from hazards created by activity at active or abandoned mines. (j) Reorganization. The authority this section gives to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy cannot be transferred to any other Secretary or federal agency, except under a specific law passed after November 9, 1978. This does not stop either Secretary from delegating that authority to an officer, employee, or unit within their own department.