Bill Text: MS HB1195 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Lignite; name Choctaw-Kemper Strip Mining Desert where strip mining of is occurring.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2014-02-04 - Died In Committee [HB1195 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-HB1195-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Forestry; Energy
By: Representative Evans (91st)
House Bill 1195
AN ACT TO NAME THE CHOCTAW-KEMPER STRIP MINING DESERT; TO DESCRIBE THOSE LANDS THAT CONSTITUTE THE DESERT AS CERTAIN LANDS WITHIN CHOCTAW AND KEMPER COUNTIES IN MISSISSIPPI THAT ARE BEING, HAVE BEEN, OR WILL BE, MINED FOR LIGNITE THROUGH THE USE OF STRIP MINING TECHNIQUES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) Certain lands within Choctaw and Kemper Counties in the State of Mississippi are being mined, have been mined, and will be mined, for lignite through the use of strip mining techniques. Such techniques penetrate multiple structural components within the Wilcox Formation, constitute the proximate cause of the destruction of the lands' capacity to grow plants and trees thereon and do not support conservative reclamation efforts. The strip mining of such lands causes them to exhibit geological and environmental qualities and features that closely resemble a desert.
(2) Those lands within Choctaw and Kemper Counties as described in subsection (1) of this section, and any lands within those counties that adjoin or are adjacent to areas where strip mining has occurred or is permitted, shall be named the Choctaw-Kemper Strip Mining Desert.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
