The state Department of Environmental Protection has committed to spend almost a third of the $1.4 billion in federal mine funding it expects to receive in the next 15 years on abandoned mine drainage treatment projects.

The Friday announcement and accompanying 28-page position statement mark a policy change by the DEP, which had previously said the money from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund, collected from coal sale royalties, would first be used to fix 5,100 of the most dangerous abandoned mine lands.

It means that more than $400 million will likely be available for cleanup of mine drainage that has polluted more than 4,600 miles of the state's streams and rivers.

"The front page of the DEP position paper is a commitment to fund mine drainage treatment projects at the full 30 percent at the earliest possible time," said R. John Dawes, executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, which represents about 150 watershed organizations. "It reflects a coming together of the DEP and the watershed community in a remarkable partnership."

The Abandoned Mine Lands Fund was established in 1977 to fix the scars on the land left by unregulated mining. The fund was reauthorized in December 2006, due in part to the lobbying of watershed groups, and the maximum allocation for mine drainage treatment was increased from 10 percent to 30 percent.

Pennsylvania received $28 million from the federal fund this year, and expects that annual allocation to quickly increase to around $35 million in 2009, $60 million in 2010 and $90 million by 2018.

DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty said the state recently used $2 million of its federal funding to establish a new account for the long-term maintenance of more than 250 mine drainage treatment facilities already built in the state.

"The reauthorization of the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund will allow us to support the outstanding efforts of local watershed groups to build new treatment facilities that will bring dead streams back to life, and it will also ensure that we have sufficient resources to fund the long-term operation, maintenance and replacement of new and existing treatment facilities," said Ms. McGinty.

According to the DEP, the systems built by the volunteer watershed groups using a mixture of federal, state and private funding treat an estimated 36 billion gallons of acid mine drainage each year. Operation, maintenance and replacement costs vary depending on the size of the system and the severity of the pollution discharges.

During the last five years, the state has also spent more than $145 million on 242 abandoned mine land reclamation projects covering 5,900 acres. But there remain approximately 180,000 acres of abandoned mines, many with dangerous unmarked mine openings, unstable "highwall" cliffs, water-filled pits, and abandoned equipment and buildings.

Together, the mine-wasted land and water affect 44 of the state's 67 counties.

Neil Weaver, a DEP spokesman, said the state remains committed to fixing the most dangerous of those abandoned mine sites, and some of the abandoned mine drainage project money could be used in tandem with those land projects.

"The 30 percent commitment is new but it's a balancing act," Mr. Weaver said. "It doesn't mean all that money will go to the watershed groups. We will make those decisions as the funding becomes available."

The DEP policy paper said the current set-aside account for watershed projects contains $18 million, but the department has already committed to construction of four treatment facility projects that will restore many miles of rivers and streams.

The first will treat discharges from the Lancashire No. 15 Mine near the headwaters of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River in Clearfield County that total more than 10 million gallons a day and affect up to 63 stream miles. A second plant, to be built near the headwaters of Clearfield Creek in Cresson, Clearfield County, will treat 5.7 million gallons a day and improve water quality through 10 miles of the creek. Those two facilities will cost in excess of $20 million.

The DEP has also made a commitment to the Blacklick Creek Watershed Association to treat the Vinton No. 6 Mine and Wehrum Mine discharges downstream from Vintondale on the main stem of Blacklick Creek in Indiana County. The DEP will also treat mine discharges into the upper portion of the Bennett Branch of Sinemahoning Creek in Clearfield County by building a plant near the village of Hollywood.

The Wehrum plant is expected to restore approximately 22 miles of Blacklick Creek. The Hollywood treatment facility will clean up about 32 miles of the Bennett Branch.

The state's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation also has another 20 mine drainage abatement projects in design or development with construction costs estimated at more than $410 million.