Take Action
URGENT ACTION NEEDED – We need your help to ensure a fair chance for Appalachia and are asking you to attend the Office of Surface Mining’s public “open house” meetings on the proposed changes and write an e-mail opposing the regulations – and prevent these new regulations from being approved.
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The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement is proposing sweeping changes to its mining rules that have the potential to destroy thousands of Appalachian mining jobs.
We need your help to ensure a fair chance for Appalachia and are asking you to attend the Office of Surface Mining’s public “open house” meetings on the proposed changes and write an e-mail opposing the regulations – and prevent these new regulations from being approved.
The OSM “open house” meetings are being held on these dates:
Monday, July 26th from 3:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Hazard Community College in Hazard, KY.
Tuesday, July 27th from 3:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Beckley-Raleigh Convention Center in Beckley, WV.
Wednesday, July 28th from 3:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Myland Park in Morgantown, WV.
We encourage you to attend the “open house” to show your support for our coal industry. To make sure your voice is heard loud and clear, we also suggest that you comment using email. To submit your comments electronically, click on the following email address:
When writing, introduce yourself and describe how coal is important to you and your family. Please use the following for the subject line: Kentucky Resident Opposed to OSM’s New “Stream Protection Rules” and feel free to copy and paste the text below into your message.
Note: All comments, both in e-mail form and at the hearings, should maintain decorum and respect.
The deadline to submit your comments is Friday, July 30th.
Thank you for your support and prompt action.
Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security
(FACES of Coal)
Suggested text:
Subject: Appalachian Resident Opposed to OSM’s New “Stream Protection Rules”
I am writing to oppose the actions of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement and the regulatory changes to the “stream buffer zone” rules. The proposed changes – the most sweeping since 1983 – have the potential to destroy thousands of jobs that depend on coal, cripple local communities and hamper the economic vitality of the entire Appalachian region.
In revising its rules, OSM is discounting 26 years of precedent:
The agency is seeking additional “baseline data” requirements on streams before making a permitting determination, which would further delay an already over-taxed permitting system. OSM is also trying to mandate one-size-fits-all nationwide terms and definitions based exclusively on the information gathered from the unique Appalachian terrain.
The agency’s proposal would require “sequencing” – breaking up the continuous nature of a mining site – which would wreck the overall integrity of any mining project and prevent access to billions of tons of coal, while mandating that all reclaimed land be reforested without considering if the reclaimed site is suited for schools, government building, community playing fields or wildlife habitat for which total reforestation may be inappropriate.
OSM should be focused first and foremost on the stability of mining fills, but is elevating the avoidance of streams above all other concerns. In addition, the agency is wading into regulatory areas beyond its authority. The changes to the SBZ rules would require states to set “corrective action thresholds” that would require action by mining companies– but such authority to set water quality standards is reserved for the States by the Clean Water Act.
OSM is seeking changes that will add untenable delays to the already nearly two-year-long hold on mining permits, failing to acknowledge existing state and local regulations, and overstepping its mandate by fusing the permitting approval process with the EPA – an agency that has an established anti-coal agenda.
At a time when one out of every 10 American workers is unemployed, what Appalachia really needs is not another set of new regulations – thousands of people that make their livelihoods off mining coal will be out of work if these anti-Appalachian regulations go forward.
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Send a letter to your elected representatives and newspaper editors letting them know we want our state and federal governments to protect our jobs and communities.
