Greens leader Richard Di Natale has proposed a direct levy on coal miners to fund "billions of dollars" in environmental rehabilitation work on former coal mine and storage sites as well as the retraining of coal industry workers for the clean energy jobs of the future.

In one of its most important policy markers leading into the pre-election period for a 2016 poll, Dr Di Natale will unveil the plan on Tuesday and will use an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday to flesh out the details.

Mine site rehabilitation is extremely expensive. Credit:Robert Rough

"As coal companies go bankrupt or leave Australia, it is coal workers who are hit the hardest, followed by state governments, who are regularly left to foot the bill for cleaning up the mine," Dr Di Natale said.

The compulsory payments, likely to be opposed by the industry and the federal government as a form of industry-specific carbon tax, would contribute to "a Federal Trust Fund for the companies to access at the conclusion of their operations".