Press Releases
Rogers Condemns the EPA's Attack on Coal
May 11 2010
Today, U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05) and 22 of his colleagues encouraged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw recently-implemented rules regarding Appalachian surface mining that have caused significant barriers and delays in issuing job-creating coal mining permits throughout the region. In a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Rogers and his colleagues requested that the EPA instead process pending applications under existing rules while seeking comment from the public on the proposed changes.
“With the EPA’s new rules on surface mining, the Obama Administration has unveiled the latest tactic in its war against Appalachian coal. Over the past eighteen months, the EPA has demonstrated that politics are more important than following well-established, congressionally-approved procedures, and this time the EPA has crossed the line,” stated Rogers. “In these challenging economic times, we cannot afford to put 80,000 jobs on the line because the EPA is undertaking a one-sided power-grab, overriding the states, and changing the rules with no warning and with no good reason. Both Republicans and Democrats have joined me in sending a letter to the EPA that condemns its practice of arbitrarily making new rules that fit its anti-jobs, anti-coal agenda. This bipartisan letter asks the EPA to immediately withdraw the policies that jeopardize mining and mining families throughout Appalachia.”
On April 1, 2010, the EPA implemented new standards for mountaintop mining in six Appalachian states. While Rogers continues to support responsible mining operations that evenly weigh interests of environmental protection, economic development and domestic energy supply, significant concerns have arisen about the EPA’s pre-emption of federally-approved state water quality programs. The letter was signed by 23 Members of Congress, representing 14 states and both political parties, and requests that EPA continue to process permits until implementing a formal rule-making process. Further, the letter requests EPA properly respect the role of states in handling water quality permits.
The full text of the letter follows below (click here for a PDF version of the letter):
May 11, 2010
Ms. Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
USEPA Headquarters
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Mail Code: 1101A
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Jackson:
We write to express our concerns over guidance recently issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will impose additional regulatory barriers to the issuance of coal mining permits in Central Appalachia. Given the far-reaching regulatory impact of this guidance, EPA ought to undertake a more prudent and transparent course of action through the formal rulemaking process. We believe these proposals should be subject to public comment, as well as outside peer review for any draft scientific data, prior to their implementation, so as to strike a better balance between environmental protections and responsible governance.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, guidance is traditionally issued to clarify or further explain an agency’s interpretation of a statute or regulation. The detailed guidance issued on April 1, 2010 on Improving EPA Review of Appalachian Surface Coal Mining Operations under the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the Environmental Justice Executive Order makes substantive changes to three sections of the Clean Water Act, along with various provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Such sweeping regulatory action far exceeds the intent of Congress under these Acts, and it is procedurally inappropriate for policies of this magnitude to circumvent the normal rulemaking process. We contend that such substantive changes should not be implemented absent extensive public participation and outside peer review.
In issuance of this guidance, which is effective immediately, EPA has jeopardized the future of mining operations, the sustenance of local communities, and ultimately, access to a reliable domestic source of energy within Central Appalachia and the entire country. Permits issued under the Clean Water Act affect nearly 80,000 direct coal mining jobs in Appalachia, as well as the coal to supply affordable electricity to nearly 80 million homes and over 95% of our domestic manufacturers. With the country’s economy still floundering and unemployment hovering near 10%, the potential economic impact of these policies validate our request that affected communities be given the opportunity to voice their concerns in the decision-making process.
Also of concern is EPA’s decision to begin reviewing state-issued mining permits. Such a determination threatens the cooperative federalism system Congress created in both SMCRA and the Clean Water Act. Under that scheme, states with approved federal programs are given primary authority to interpret and implement environmental requirements at the local level, taking into account local conditions. The Clean Water Act also gives states the power to design state-specific conditions to federal permits under the Act. This approach recognizes that state regulators at the local level are better equipped to interpret water quality standards and apply them to site-specific permits because they have an in-depth knowledge of local watersheds, their conditions and their long-term plans for improvement.
States have demonstrated capable stewardship of their respective water quality programs, and we are troubled by federal efforts to undermine Congressional intent on primary state regulatory authority under SMCRA and the Clean Water Act. By creating a duplicative federal regulatory framework, state authority will be undercut and the value of creating state tailored programs will be lost. We encourage EPA to respect this authority and continue its statutory oversight role, so that ecological considerations are taken seriously at the same time as law-abiding and environmentally-sound permits may be issued in a timely manner to create jobs and promote affordable energy.
We have always believed that mining operations in Appalachia should evenly weigh the interests of environmental protection, economic development and energy supply, and we are therefore troubled that the EPA’s unsolicited policy changes to the Clean Water Act are aimed only at the coal industry and more specifically, only the Appalachian coal industry. In noting the far-reaching effects of this guidance on the people who live and work in Central Appalachia, we ask that you withdraw the April 1, 2010, Guidance and process pending applications under existing rules and regulations while seeking comment from the public on the proposed changes through the formal rulemaking process. We appreciate your consideration of this request and look forward to hearing from you in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Harold Rogers
Shelley Moore Capito
Rick Boucher
Rob Bishop
Bill Shuster
Zack Space
Glenn Thompson
Ed Whitfield
Marsha Blackburn
Geoff Davis
Charlie Wilson
Tim Murphy
Aaron Schock
Parker Griffith
Brett Guthrie
Doug Lamborn
Cynthia Lummis
Fred Upton
John J. Duncan
Denny Rehberg
John Shimkus
Phil Roe
Don Young
“With the EPA’s new rules on surface mining, the Obama Administration has unveiled the latest tactic in its war against Appalachian coal. Over the past eighteen months, the EPA has demonstrated that politics are more important than following well-established, congressionally-approved procedures, and this time the EPA has crossed the line,” stated Rogers. “In these challenging economic times, we cannot afford to put 80,000 jobs on the line because the EPA is undertaking a one-sided power-grab, overriding the states, and changing the rules with no warning and with no good reason. Both Republicans and Democrats have joined me in sending a letter to the EPA that condemns its practice of arbitrarily making new rules that fit its anti-jobs, anti-coal agenda. This bipartisan letter asks the EPA to immediately withdraw the policies that jeopardize mining and mining families throughout Appalachia.”
On April 1, 2010, the EPA implemented new standards for mountaintop mining in six Appalachian states. While Rogers continues to support responsible mining operations that evenly weigh interests of environmental protection, economic development and domestic energy supply, significant concerns have arisen about the EPA’s pre-emption of federally-approved state water quality programs. The letter was signed by 23 Members of Congress, representing 14 states and both political parties, and requests that EPA continue to process permits until implementing a formal rule-making process. Further, the letter requests EPA properly respect the role of states in handling water quality permits.
The full text of the letter follows below (click here for a PDF version of the letter):
May 11, 2010
Ms. Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
USEPA Headquarters
Ariel Rios Building
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Mail Code: 1101A
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Jackson:
We write to express our concerns over guidance recently issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will impose additional regulatory barriers to the issuance of coal mining permits in Central Appalachia. Given the far-reaching regulatory impact of this guidance, EPA ought to undertake a more prudent and transparent course of action through the formal rulemaking process. We believe these proposals should be subject to public comment, as well as outside peer review for any draft scientific data, prior to their implementation, so as to strike a better balance between environmental protections and responsible governance.
Under the Administrative Procedure Act, guidance is traditionally issued to clarify or further explain an agency’s interpretation of a statute or regulation. The detailed guidance issued on April 1, 2010 on Improving EPA Review of Appalachian Surface Coal Mining Operations under the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the Environmental Justice Executive Order makes substantive changes to three sections of the Clean Water Act, along with various provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Such sweeping regulatory action far exceeds the intent of Congress under these Acts, and it is procedurally inappropriate for policies of this magnitude to circumvent the normal rulemaking process. We contend that such substantive changes should not be implemented absent extensive public participation and outside peer review.
In issuance of this guidance, which is effective immediately, EPA has jeopardized the future of mining operations, the sustenance of local communities, and ultimately, access to a reliable domestic source of energy within Central Appalachia and the entire country. Permits issued under the Clean Water Act affect nearly 80,000 direct coal mining jobs in Appalachia, as well as the coal to supply affordable electricity to nearly 80 million homes and over 95% of our domestic manufacturers. With the country’s economy still floundering and unemployment hovering near 10%, the potential economic impact of these policies validate our request that affected communities be given the opportunity to voice their concerns in the decision-making process.
Also of concern is EPA’s decision to begin reviewing state-issued mining permits. Such a determination threatens the cooperative federalism system Congress created in both SMCRA and the Clean Water Act. Under that scheme, states with approved federal programs are given primary authority to interpret and implement environmental requirements at the local level, taking into account local conditions. The Clean Water Act also gives states the power to design state-specific conditions to federal permits under the Act. This approach recognizes that state regulators at the local level are better equipped to interpret water quality standards and apply them to site-specific permits because they have an in-depth knowledge of local watersheds, their conditions and their long-term plans for improvement.
States have demonstrated capable stewardship of their respective water quality programs, and we are troubled by federal efforts to undermine Congressional intent on primary state regulatory authority under SMCRA and the Clean Water Act. By creating a duplicative federal regulatory framework, state authority will be undercut and the value of creating state tailored programs will be lost. We encourage EPA to respect this authority and continue its statutory oversight role, so that ecological considerations are taken seriously at the same time as law-abiding and environmentally-sound permits may be issued in a timely manner to create jobs and promote affordable energy.
We have always believed that mining operations in Appalachia should evenly weigh the interests of environmental protection, economic development and energy supply, and we are therefore troubled that the EPA’s unsolicited policy changes to the Clean Water Act are aimed only at the coal industry and more specifically, only the Appalachian coal industry. In noting the far-reaching effects of this guidance on the people who live and work in Central Appalachia, we ask that you withdraw the April 1, 2010, Guidance and process pending applications under existing rules and regulations while seeking comment from the public on the proposed changes through the formal rulemaking process. We appreciate your consideration of this request and look forward to hearing from you in a timely manner.
Sincerely,
Harold Rogers
Shelley Moore Capito
Rick Boucher
Rob Bishop
Bill Shuster
Zack Space
Glenn Thompson
Ed Whitfield
Marsha Blackburn
Geoff Davis
Charlie Wilson
Tim Murphy
Aaron Schock
Parker Griffith
Brett Guthrie
Doug Lamborn
Cynthia Lummis
Fred Upton
John J. Duncan
Denny Rehberg
John Shimkus
Phil Roe
Don Young