This week marks the end of the federal comment period for a big issue facing many Americans -- will hardworking families be left to foot the bill for the clean-up responsibilities of bankrupt coal companies?

In the wake of a wave of bankruptcies that has claimed many of coal’s biggest players, including mining giants Peabody Energy and Arch Coal, and with no revival in sight for the industry, federal action is essential to safeguard coal communities and taxpayers. The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSMRE) must protect working families and honest taxpayers from reckless coal companies by closing the self-bonding loophole -- a practice that lets coal companies use unenforceable promises, instead of strong third-party surety bonds, to secure funding for cleaning up mining sites.

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It’s irresponsible to let multi-billion dollar corporations avoid providing real financial assurances that would guarantee their mines are cleaned up if they go out of business. As it stands, believe it or not, we are currently just accepting their non-binding “self-bonds” -- read IOUs -- that are based on impermanent and declining balance sheets.

The risk posed by this corporate subsidy has been made abundantly clear with the recent string of major coal company bankruptcies over the past year and the $2.4 billion in outstanding self-bonded reclamation liabilities they’ve left in their wake. Without the safety net of strong financial instruments like independent third-party surety bonds, coal companies that go out of business can leave the surrounding communities and state governments holding the bag for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of clean up costs. The lands that are left devastated and polluted by mining will pose serious health risks to nearby populations for as long as they are left bare, potentially for generations, especially in cash-strapped states without the funds to cover the cleanup.

It’s a matter of basic fairness that a company that made massive profits by destroying the land and polluting communities must not then be allowed to shrug, go out of business, and leave local taxpayers to pay the bill for cleaning it up. As massive coal companies like Arch Coal, Alpha Natural Resources, and Peabody Energy make their way through bankruptcy court, it’s vital that the federal government stop allowing companies to self-bond in the first place.

OSMRE seemed to be moving in that direction in early May when it issued a notice in the Federal Register asking for public comments on the practice of self-bonding. As the comment period ends July 20, it’s essential that OSMRE provide a fix that addresses the real costs of this outdated, broken practice. Today, the United States faces $3.86 billion in self-bond reclamation liabilities for coal companies, at a time when the coal industry is in permanent decline. With no new coal plants on the drawing board and the one-third of existing coal plants announced to retire, the prevailing, long-term trend is that the coal industry is being phased out and increasingly replaced with clean energy resources like solar and wind. This is in no small part thanks to grassroots advocacy by community leaders affected by coal pollution, stronger public health safeguards, and international momentum to tackle the climate crisis.

Allowing an industry that runs against this trend to continue to use a credit card that relies on taxpayers as a financial backstop is a recipe for disaster. We need DOI and OSMRE to take immediate action to protect taxpayers and coal communities from the wave of coal bankruptcies happening across the country. One of the first things OSMRE can do, for example, is to quickly issue guidance under its existing authority spelling out that no mining operator in the country is currently financially sound enough to qualify for self-bonding. This is common sense, and it’s urgent -- given the current significantly depressed global coal market, the entire coal mining industry is effectively insolvent.

With America’s rapid transition to a clean energy economy, protecting taxpayers from self-bonded coal companies that gambled and lost in our energy markets is one of the most important issues facing DOI and OSMRE. Working families and honest taxpayers are counting on their government to hold coal companies accountable for the messes they’ve made and make sure they never leave our communities on the hook if they go bankrupt.

Mary Anne Hitt is director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.