Those of us who call America’s coalfields home certainly have felt that coal is under siege from every angle of late.   Some interest groups, including coal’s competitor industries of oil and gas and renewable fuel, have been waging an aggressive, well-financed public relations war against coal for a long time. 

Then, in recent weeks, the Environmental Protection Agency, after years of turning a blind eye to the process, announced that it would, as mandated by the Clean Water Act, once again begin weighing in on certain mountaintop mining permits.  Nearly simultaneously, the Interior Department overturned a last minute Bush Administration rule change regarding stream buffer zones.

Given all the worry about the future of coal, it is time to mine the facts.

In response to this apparent double-whammy against coal, I have been actively and ardently engaged in talks with numerous high-level Administration officials. 

I have met with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, EPA Office of Water Chief of Staff Greg Peck, White House Council of Environmental Quality Chairperson Nancy Sutley, and officials of the Army Corps of Engineers.  As well, I have met with several officials of numerous coal companies and with the United Mine Workers of America.

In each of my talks with Administration officials, I expressed the need for all the entities to get on the same page, to provide clarity and certainty, so that the industry, our miners, and our mining communities know what is expected of them.  And in each of my talks, I was assured that the Obama Administration values the role of coal, both to the economy and to the energy needs of the Nation and the world.  The Administration recognizes that coal will and must continue to be part of America’s energy mix for a long time to come. 

EPA officials have explicitly committed to working with industry to ensure clarity and certainty as the agency continues to clear the long backlog of mountaintop mining permit applications – a backlog of about 200 permit applications that resulted from years of litigation and conflicting court decisions that made uncertainty one of the few certainties of mountaintop mining. 

And, in fact, in response to my request for information, the EPA wrote to me last week to note that of the 48 backlogged mining permits that the agency has received from the Corps and has reviewed, the EPA has expressed concerns about only six.  That bears repeating – just six out of 48 of these permits were flagged for further review.  And just three of those are in West Virginia, while two are in Ohio and one is in Kentucky.

As the Corps, the EPA, and other agencies continue their work to whittle down the backlog of mining permit applications, there are certain to be some delays resulting both from the need for additional detailed examination of some permits and from a sheer lack of sufficient manpower.  I know, for a fact, that the Corps of Engineers Huntington District is stretched thin.  However, I will continue to closely monitor the situation and to press for the agencies to act as expeditiously as possible, while doing the work they are required by law to do.

We are now just four months into a new Administration and a new Congress in Washington.  In those few short months, we have witnessed a lot of change, and that can be a scary thing.  But rumor and fear-mongering are counter-productive and possibly destructive when this Nation has so many needs that require attention. 

Having talked repeatedly with Administration officials, I have been assured that we share a mutual goal of ensuring that coal mining will continue to thrive, and that it will do so in accordance with the law – balancing the protection of our communities with the preservation of coal jobs. And in this regard, I will continue to fight for the interests of Southern West Virginia’s coalfields as I always have.   

U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) represents West Virginia’s 3rd District and serves as Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources

For more information contact: Allyson Groff (202) 226-9019