WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee Peter DeFazio (D-OR) assailed Republicans for passage of H.R. 2824, legislation that would undermine states’ efforts to protect drinking water, the environment, and local communities from destructive mountaintop removal coal mining. Mountaintop removal mining destroys wildlife habitat, contaminates surface and drinking water, leads to flooding, and as a number of new studies show, causes an increased incidence of cancer, birth defects, lung disease, and heart disease for those living and working near the mines.
“The Republicans are all for states’ rights unless it threatens industry profits. The party that professes its commitment to ‘states’ rights’ passed a bill today that will violate a state’s right to adequately protect drinking water and local communities when companies blow the top off a mountain. This bill is a disaster for water quality, the local environment, and the people who live in affected communities. Just like nearly every bill that passes the House, it is so extreme it will never be considered in the Senate," said DeFazio.
Waste from mountaintop removal coal mining has buried over 2,000 miles of streams throughout Appalachia. H.R. 2824 would overturn Reagan-era protections for streams and communities in Appalachia, and resurrect a badly flawed 2008 Bush rule that has been rejected by a federal court, most states, and the Administration.
The Republican legislation would waste time and taxpayer money, while delaying development of a responsible stream protection rule for years. It would also allow big coal companies - many of whom export their coal - to reap larger profits, while families in Appalachia pay the price.
To see DeFazio’s floor statement on the legislation, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf_QPvCPD8k&feature=youtu.be
BACKGROUND
In December 2008, the Bush Administration finalized a last-minute rule that weakened Reagan-era protections for streams from the impacts of mountaintop removal mining. The Bush rule was challenged in court and the Obama Administration began drafting a new Stream Protection Rule upon taking office. As a result, no states incorporated the 2008 rule into their state mining regulations.
Problems with a contractor hired to help develop an Environmental Impact Statement, and a multi-year investigation by Natural Resources Committee Republicans, have delayed the publication of a new draft rule. In January 2014, the Department of the Interior Inspector General published a report that put to rest Republican accusations of improper political influence in the development of the new rule. In February 2014, the D.C. Circuit Court vacated the 2008 rule, finding that the Bush Administration’s refusal to consider the impacts of stream fills on threatened or endangered species while drafting the rule had been illegal.
H.R. 2824 (Johnson, R-OH) would write the now-vacated Bush rule into federal statute, overturning the court’s ruling, and force all states to incorporate the rule into their state mining regulations. The bill mandates a 5-year implementation period to “assess" the impact of that regulation, during which time the Department of the Interior would be forbidden from developing any new regulations to protect streams and communities from the impacts of coal mining waste.
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