Today, December 3, Representative Sharice Davids announced a $4.9 million grant for Kansas to clean up polluted abandoned mine lands, addressing hazardous conditions caused by historic coal mining while creating good-paying jobs. This funding, part of the bipartisan infrastructure law supported by Davids, is administered by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Kansas also received nearly $300,000 to update its abandoned mine land inventory for future cleanup efforts.

Millions of Americans live near abandoned coal mines, and this project will invest in closing dangerous mine shafts, reclaiming unstable slopes, improving water quality, and restoring damaged water supplies. It will also promote economic revitalization by transforming hazardous land into areas for recreational facilities and redevelopment projects, such as advanced manufacturing and renewable energy.

Davids, the only Kansas member to vote for the infrastructure law, helped secure the largest investment in America’s infrastructure in generations, praised by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as the most fiscally responsible infrastructure bill in at least a decade.