Rahall attacks EPA’s new Appalachian coal mining rules

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) is not pleased with EPA’s decision Thursday to toughen water quality requirements for proposed mountaintop coal mining projects in West Virginia and other Appalachian states.

"While EPA's effort to more clearly articulate the criteria it wants to impose on proposed coal mining operations in Appalachia is appreciated, I continue to have a fundamental concern with the agency treating coal mining in this region differently than any other industrial activity in the United States," Rahall said in a prepared statement, according to the West Virginia State Journal.

"The Clean Water Act should be applied evenly and equally throughout the country, as has been done so in the past. EPA is departing from that practice and I strongly disagree with it creating a separate set of standards and criteria for Appalachian coal mining," he added.

But Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said he was hopeful that the new requirements would provide more clarity to EPA’s permitting policies.

"Today's announcement will hopefully now have everyone reading off the same page," Byrd said in a prepared statement Thursday.
 
"I, along with other elected officials, coal operators, the mining community, and environmentalists from West Virginia have been asking for a clearer, concise policy on moving forward with mountaintop mining permits and water quality issues," he added. "I am pleased that EPA Administrator Jackson took our concerns about the need to provide clarity very seriously and has responded with these guidelines."