02/01/10

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama wants to save $115
million this year _ and $1.2 billion over 10 years _ by eliminating
payments to states and Indian tribes that have completed cleanup of
abandoned coal mines.

Obama calls the proposal common sense: Why pay states to clean
up mines that have already been cleaned up?

But eliminating the program may not be so easy. Obama tried the
same thing last year and was rebuffed.

Lawmakers from mining states say the money is needed to create
jobs and to clean up other mines, including hard rock mines, that
continue to pose a danger.

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana says the proposal is a bad
idea in the midst of a recession. He and five other lawmakers from
both parties vow to keep the program.


(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
APNP-02-01-10 1434MST<