Surface Mine Reclamation Act of 1973 (S. 425). The vote is on the Allen amendment to gut the requirement in the bill that all highwalls, spoil piles, and depressions be eliminated. Retention of highwalls isolates the land above the mine site, making it unstable and useless. The Council on Environmental Quality has strongly urged that they be eliminated and this has been required in the Pennsylvania law since 1964. If spoil piles are left after mining, they cause serious erosion. Senator Nelson said that "this is the very guts of the most important part of the bill." The President did not take a position on the amendment. October 9, 1973. Rejected 29-63. No is the correct vote.