The General Assembly approved SB 624, a bill that would prohibit “planned subsidence” in bituminous coal mining from being considered presumptive evidence that the mining has the potential to cause pollution as defined by the state's Clean Streams Law.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, subsidence is “the gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface owing to subsurface movement of Earth materials.”

Black coal miners would be allowed to conduct planned subsidence after they've submitted an application to conduct bituminous mining to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. They would have to show that their planned subsidence, in a “predictable and controlled manner,” isn't expected to result in “permanent disruption” of the premining existing or designated uses of surface waters in the state.