Land reclamation requirements and their estimated effects on the coal industry

This paper develops a model of the bituminous coal industry that is then used to simulate the price, output, and employment effects of land reclamation requirements in strip mining (other things equal). Our main conclusion is that a requirement to return strip-mined land to its approximate original contour and vegetative cover would have only slight effects on either sector of the industry. We estimate that such a requirement, had it been imposed in 1971, would have decreased strip-mining employment and output by 2.370, while inducing an increase in underground employment more than sufficient to offset these job losses.