On February 16th, 2017, President Donald trump signed the repeal of a mining industry regulation known as the Stream Protection Rule. Finalized by The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (an arm of the Department of the Interior) on December 19th, 2016, the rule acted to clarify a wide variety of department mandates and protocols. Generally speaking, it is a rather difficult and lengthy process to repeal rules or legislation within the federal government. President Trump was able to strike down this regulation with relative ease, however, through use of a unique piece of legislation known as the Congressional Review Act, or CRA. The act provides that the House and Senate may vote, through simple majority, to repeal any federal agency rule within 60 “session”, or “legislative” days of its introduction.
Now, not just any day qualifies as a session/legislative day, and as a result, regulations passed as long ago as June 2016 could possibly be in danger. In effect, the particularly late adoption of the Stream Protection Rule under former President Obama’s administration made it one of what will probably be only a handful of regulations signed away by the current President through the CRA.
So out of deference to what has already been lost, here is a quick runthrough of what used to be the law of the land: While it clarified an almost comical number of internal definitions and methods to be used for other regulations, the rule’s centerpiece was its defining of “material damage to the hydrologic balance” around surface and subsurface mining sites. In particular it focused on the damage incurred by the surrounding areas not actually being exploited, but that are often contaminated or sterilized by high concentrations of heavy metals, acidic runoff, and other toxic slag from mining. Among a myriad of updated standards regarding the permitting and oversight structure for mining companies, the rule called for mandatory ecological reclamation efforts on damaged land. Provided for the reformation of perennial streams should they be totally filled in by mining byproduct (this largely targeted mountaintop removal), and established that there be 100ft buffers of native riparian vegetation on either sides of these restored waterways.
The DOI projected the increased cost of the Stream Protection Rule on companies could remove 124 jobs annually until 2040. Energy companies seized on this information to proclaim the regulation as devastating to their bottom line while consumer groups pressed that the rule didn’t do enough to mitigate mining pollution to local communities.
As domestic coal production continues to decline, at the hands of natural gas and alternative energies, President Trump may only have prolonged the inevitable.
Original DOI Press Release:
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-finalizes-stream-protection-rule-safeguard-communities-coal-mining
Now, not just any day qualifies as a session/legislative day, and as a result, regulations passed as long ago as June 2016 could possibly be in danger. In effect, the particularly late adoption of the Stream Protection Rule under former President Obama’s administration made it one of what will probably be only a handful of regulations signed away by the current President through the CRA.
So out of deference to what has already been lost, here is a quick runthrough of what used to be the law of the land: While it clarified an almost comical number of internal definitions and methods to be used for other regulations, the rule’s centerpiece was its defining of “material damage to the hydrologic balance” around surface and subsurface mining sites. In particular it focused on the damage incurred by the surrounding areas not actually being exploited, but that are often contaminated or sterilized by high concentrations of heavy metals, acidic runoff, and other toxic slag from mining. Among a myriad of updated standards regarding the permitting and oversight structure for mining companies, the rule called for mandatory ecological reclamation efforts on damaged land. Provided for the reformation of perennial streams should they be totally filled in by mining byproduct (this largely targeted mountaintop removal), and established that there be 100ft buffers of native riparian vegetation on either sides of these restored waterways.
The DOI projected the increased cost of the Stream Protection Rule on companies could remove 124 jobs annually until 2040. Energy companies seized on this information to proclaim the regulation as devastating to their bottom line while consumer groups pressed that the rule didn’t do enough to mitigate mining pollution to local communities.
As domestic coal production continues to decline, at the hands of natural gas and alternative energies, President Trump may only have prolonged the inevitable.
Original DOI Press Release:
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-finalizes-stream-protection-rule-safeguard-communities-coal-mining
