Today the Department of the Interior (Department), announced that it has finalized regulations that it has been working on since 2009,[1] which aim to “protect streams, fish, wildlife, and related environmental values from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and provide mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment”[2] by overhauling 30-year-old regulations. Highlights include:
- requiring companies that have completed mining in an area to restore the area to uses it was capable of supporting prior to mining;
- requiring companies to test and monitor the ongoing condition of potentially affected streams;
- requiring companies to avoid practices that permanently pollute streams or destroy drinking water sources.
U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, stated that “[t]he responsible rule released today represents a modern and balanced approach to meeting the nation’s energy needs” and that “[r]egulations need to keep pace with modern mining practices, so we 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 for a diversified economic future.”[3]
The National Mining Association opposes the rule, describing it as disregarding states’ authority, creating confusion around already established regulations, harming U.S. jobs, and blocking access to coal.[4]
The regulations will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, with a likely effective date of January 19, 2017, only one day before the new administration takes office. The National Mining Association has requested that Congress disapprove the regulation via a Congressional Review Act resolution.[5] Various sources report that Congress could overturn the regulations, president-elect Trump opposes the regulations, and the future Interior Department could undo them.[6]
The regulations are available here.
[1] U.S. Department of the Interior, Interior Department Finalizes Stream Protection Rule to Safeguard Communities from Coal Mining Impacts, available at https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-finalizes-stream-protection-rule-safeguard-communities-coal-mining (Dec. 19, 2016).
[2] Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Building a Stream Protection Rule, available at https://www.osmre.gov/programs/rcm/StreamProtectionRule.shtm (Dec. 19, 2016).
[3] Supra note 1.
[4] National Mining Association, NMA Strongly Opposes Interior Department’s Duplicative Stream Rule, available at http://nma.org/2016/12/19/nma-strongly-opposes-interior-departments-duplicative-stream-rule/ (Dec. 19, 2016).
[5] Id.
[6] See, e.g., Amy Harder, Rule Tightens Restrictions on Coal Mining Near Streams, The Wall Street Journal, available at http://www.wsj.com/articles/rule-tightens-restrictions-on-coal-mining-near-streams-1482157341 (Dec. 19, 2016); Ari Natter, Obama Sets Up Water Clash With Mining Rule Trump Opposes, Bloomberg, available at https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-19/obama-issues-mine-rule-to-protect-water-that-trump-vowed-to-kill (Dec. 19, 2016). 