I oppose HB 4120 because it continues a long pattern of prioritizing corporate relief for the coal and energy industries while failing to protect workers, communities, and people struggling to meet basic needs in West Virginia. This bill allows mining companies to receive regulatory waivers and bond releases for reclaimed mine sites when those lands are transferred for new energy projects. In practice, this functions as another form of industry buyout—reducing corporate financial responsibility—at a time when many West Virginians cannot afford housing, land, or basic necessities. This concern is especially troubling given recent history. Federal policies under the Trump administration provided significant bailouts and regulatory rollbacks for the coal industry while mine inspection offices and safety enforcement capacity were reduced. During that same period, injuries, deaths, and serious occupational diseases such as black lung continued to rise in mining regions. Weakening oversight while expanding industry relief places workers at risk and shifts long-term costs onto the public. HB 4120 offers no guarantees for: • Worker safety or strengthened inspections • Community reinvestment or housing stability • Environmental health protections beyond minimum compliance • Accountability for past harm or future risk Instead, it accelerates the release of corporate obligations while West Virginia residents face homelessness, unsafe working conditions, contaminated land, and underfunded public services. If reclaimed mine land is to be repurposed, it should be done with enforceable safeguards, transparent oversight, and direct public benefit—not through blanket waivers that reward the same industries already subsidized at the expense of workers and taxpayers. Economic transition should not mean deregulation without responsibility. West Virginians deserve policies that protect people first—not ones that continue to socialize risk while privatizing profit. For these reasons, I urge lawmakers to reject HB 4120 or substantially amend it to prioritize worker safety, public health, and community benefit over corporate relief.

I'm down for this, but my concern would be what about some of the pollutants the mines left behind? I'm going to use Hobet-21 as an example, yes its very flat but theres still sludge ponds and the creek is now a very thick smelly grey sludge of used oil and decay (mostly from fauna getting stuck and dieing in it). How would that look to potential folks looking to reclaim it via productive energy? Would the sludge creek become their problem? (for reference the sludge creek is about 4ft deep, gray, about the texture of a mud face mask, rainbow sheen on top of it, smells like death, and its hard to move in if you mistake it for solid ground like I did once lol. it flows into a pond that is of unknown depth)