The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs recently completed an analysis of the effects of the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) reclamation program spending on Ohio’s economy.The Ohio Department of Natural Resources called upon the School to analyze the current AML data to help determine how the program helps Ohio’s economy through the support and creation of jobs and tax revenues.
The AML project is a joint Federal and State program administered by the ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management in an attempt to reclaim lands and waters that were adversely affected by abandoned coal mines that were in operation before a federal reclamation law was enacted in 1977.According to the ODNR, Ohio alone houses over 1300 miles of streams that were polluted by acid mine drainage, 119,000 acres of land in need for major reclamations efforts, and polluted domestic water supplies due to abandoned coal mines.
The Voinovich School analyzed the state’s spending on AML reclamation from 2001 to 2007 using a type ofeconomic impact assessment software that shows the multiplier effect of expenditures on the local economy. The Voinovich team analyzed spending in the program’s eight areas of reclamation, including reforestation activities, watershed coordinator programs, and industrial mineral reclamations. According to Voinovich School staff member Vlad Pascal, this type of analysis allows the state to understand how AML restoration investments flow through Ohio and measure the cumulative effects of spending on Ohio’s economy.
The analysis of the effect of spending in one industrial sector on other sectors of the local economy is important to the state, Pascal said.It allows the state to see the project’s cumulative impacts on the economy, not just on its purpose.For example, when $1 million is invested in a State AML project, those dollars support the jobs and wages of Ohioans completing the restoration work and those employed by businesses supplying the project with necessary goods and services, such as trucking services and piping manufacturers.
The final report produced by the Voinovich School provided annual estimates of the number of jobs, the amount of labor income and the amount of state and local taxes generated as a result of AML expenditures over seven years.Industry output included all goods and services produced in Ohio as a result of AML spending.Total employment represented the number of annual jobs created by the spending.Compensation included wages and benefits received as a result of AML spending.Tax revenue encompassed any state and local sales, income, property, or other taxes generated by AML spending.
Overall, the report showed that as result of seven years and $7,002,309 of direct AML spending, $11,366,865 worth of industry output, $4,099,554 worth of employee compensation, and $441,161 in taxes were produced.
The ODNR will be able to use the study to defend their spending on AML projects and to leverage additional dollars in the future.But more importantly, according the Ben McCament, Voinovich staff member and Raccoon Creek watershed coordinator, “this analysis shows area residents that watershed restoration has an environmental and economic impact, which are both needed in this region.”