National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Hal Quinn today released the following statement urging Congress to support The Stream Act (HR 1644) by Rep. Alex Mooney, a bill that would protect coal miners from the so-called Stream Protection Rule offered by the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement (OSM):
“Thousands of Americans in coal communities throughout the country will be grateful to Rep. Mooney and his colleagues for blocking the SPR, the latest Obama administration attempt to destroy their livelihoods. This massive rule will surely add to the 40,000 jobs already lost in the nation’s coal industry during this administration.
‘The SPR is a rule without a purpose, proposed by an agency with a declining mission and little credibility. OSM’s own data show more than 90 percent of mining operations carry no off-site impacts. State agencies affirm the rule isn’t needed, which suggests why OSM deliberately dodged its obligation to consult them in the rule’s development. OSM even invents legal authority it doesn’t have in order to duplicate environmental oversight already entrusted to other agencies.
“Press reports quote an OSM official as acknowledging ‘a lot of pressure to get this done’ in the administration’s last year, even though the rule entails changes to 475 regulations and the destruction of thousands of high wage jobs. If Congress is serious about eliminating foolish, duplicative and costly regulation, there is no better place to start than by supporting Rep. Mooney’s bill.”
- Date: Tuesday, 12 January 2016 21:13
- Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 January 2016 21:13