XPost: sci.engr.mining, alt.global-warming, alt.politics.obama
XPost: sac.politics

The Obama administration finalized a rule Monday morning that
aims to protect thousands of miles of streams by forcing coal
mining companies “to avoid mining practices that permanently
pollute streams, destroy drinking water sources … and threaten
forests,” officials said in a statement.

Under the rule, which overhauls regulations in place for more
than three decades, coal companies that have finished mining in
an area will be required to restore the land to the same
condition that existed before digging began. Interior Secretary
Sally Jewell called the new regulations “a balanced approach to
meeting the nation’s energy needs.”

In the statement, released before the rule was published in the
Federal Register, she noted that the administration “worked
closely with many stakeholders to craft a plan that protects
water quality, supports economic opportunities, safeguards our
environment and makes coalfield communities more resilient.”

But the announcement, coming a month before power is handed over
to a new presidential administration, is almost certain to anger
coal companies and conservative Republicans. The rule likely
will be an early target of President-elect Donald Trump, who
pledged during his campaign to help turn around an industry
beset by debt, job losses and declining profits — all of which
make the cleanup requirements of a 1977 federal law more
difficult.

[In West Virginia coal country, voters are ‘thrilled’ about
Donald Trump]

The industry’s financial crisis has led to fears that the
nation’s largest coal companies might leave taxpayers with
hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs for closed
mines. Companies are currently obligated to rehabilitate
hundreds of huge strip mines in the West and mountaintop-removal
sites in the East.

Those worries spiked this year when Peabody Energy, the world’s
largest publicly traded coal company, appealed to creditors for
an extra month to pay its debts. Over six months ending in
March, two more of the nation’s four biggest coal companies have
declared bankruptcy.

The National Mining Association quickly slammed the new rule,
calling it a duplication of regulations that already exist under
the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. “This
is after the agency failed in its obligation to engage mining
states in the rule’s development and ended up with a massive
rule making that is a win for bureaucracy and extreme
environmental groups and a loss for everyday Americans,” said
Hal Quinn, the group’s president and chief executive.

He said the rule reflects “the environmental lobby’s keep it in
the ground platform, locking away important U.S. domestic coal
reserves, while putting tens of thousands of Americans out of
work, raising energy costs for millions of Americans and
preserving the agency’s regulatory mission that is diminished
with the declining number of coal mines.” Quinn did not mention
the sharp drop in the price and use of coal as power plants
switch to natural gas —a major reason why coal workers are being
released and mines are being shut.

The new rule is the sort of regulation that Trump has vowed to
undo. In this case, he could issue a stop-work order to
temporarily delay the process it takes to implement it, and the Republican-controlled Congress could assist him by issuing a
review order and overturning any rule adopted after midyear.

[Trump wants to lift restrictions on ‘clean coal.’ Whatever that
is.]

Some lawmakers are already complaining. “I continue to have real
concerns about this administration’s one-size-fits-all approach
to the regulation of energy development and production, which
doesn’t work for our state,” said Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).

Heitkamp said she had toured with a top Interior official who
visited North Dakota to show her how the rule would hurt the
industry and workers, but to no avail. “Going forward, I’ll work
with my colleagues in the [Senate] and the incoming
administration to see if this rule is workable,” she said.

The leader of the National Wildlife Federation, Collin O’Mara,
called the stream protection rule “an important step forward for
wildlife protection.” It’s important to public health and for
ecosystems that support fish and wildlife. “This rule will
ensure the protection and restoration of streams and update the
requirements needed to protect threatened or endangered species
and critical wildlife and wild places,” he said.

Interior officials first announced their intent to draft new
regulations in 2009. Officials said Monday that the result is
guided by the best science and an understanding of improved
technology used by coal companies. In the seven years it took to
draft and finalize the rule, the department received more than
150,000 comments and recorded statements from 15 public meetings
and other gatherings.

“This updated … rule will make life better for a countless
number of Americans who live near places where coal is being
mined,” said Joseph Pizarchik, director of the Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Coal is mined throughout the
United States, but the top producing states are Wyoming, West
Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Illinois, according to the
U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“We are closing loopholes and improving our rules to more
completely implement the law passed by Congress,” Pizarchik said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy- environment/wp/2016/12/19/interior-adopts-controversial-last- minute-rule-to-make-the-coal-industry- cleaner/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.d543a8c86d86

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