Argall, Yudichak seek to extend Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit program
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL FILE PHOTO - The Schuylkill Energy Resources plant near Yatesville, seen here from Turkey Run in 2018, is a waste culm-burning facility.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
NESQUEHONING, Carbon County – A pair of state senators unveiled a bipartisan legislative proposal to “help aid the state’s threatened coal refuse industry” in a press conference held earlier today in Carbon County.
Gathered at the Panther Creek Energy facility near Nesquehoning, Senators David Argall (R-Schuylkill/Berks) and John Yudichak (D-Carbon/Luzerne) spoke of legislation to grant a 10-year extension of the Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit, from 2026 to 2036, and to increase the maximum amount of such tax credits to $45,000,000.
“I grew up on the other side of that mountain, a few hundred yards north of some very large abandoned mining operations,” Argall said. “Senator Yudichak and I have a simple goal here today, to protect local jobs and to continue the environmental progress which we have seen in the past few decades which is only possible through a public-private partnership. To continue this progress, businesses like this one need to survive.”
One provision of the bill would also suspend the tax credit if a federal tax credit program is adopted that either equals or exceeds it.
“Every day across northeastern Pennsylvania we see what a vital resource the PA Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit is for plants like Panther Creek that are helping us clean up coal refuse piles, and restoring the land for economic, recreational, and conservation opportunities. We need to enhance and extend the tax credit to ensure that these plants are able to operate to their fullest potential so that we can continue the economic revitalization that has been occurring as a result of their diligence in helping to restore these abandoned mine lands,” said Yudichak.
Northern Schuylkill County is home to three such facilities, two along Morea Road near Frackville — Wheelabrator and Gilberton Power’s John B. Rich Memorial Power Station — and Schuylkill Energy Resources outside of Shenandoah, near Yatesville. Schuylkill Energy Resources and Gilberton Power are both companies within the Rich Family of Companies, which also includes Jack Rich, Reading Anthracite, and Gilberton Coal. Wheelabrator is owned by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets
A co-sponsorship memo for the bill is being circulated in the Senate. A companion bill will also be introduced in the House of Representatives, Argall’s office said in a release.
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