The Interior Department is writing new regulations for mountaintop-removal coal mining that would expand protection for waterways and require the restoration of dynamited areas.
Christopher Holmes, spokesman for Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, said the agency is rewriting its "stream protection rule" to boost environmental safeguards.
The proposal being drafted, Holmes said, would:
* Establish a clear standard for restoring dynamited mountaintops. The 1977 Surface Mining Reclamation and Control Act requires that mountaintops be restored to their "approximate original contour," but defining the term has been left to individual states.
* Yank the right of state regulators to grant exceptions to the contour-restoration requirement. Federal authorities currently allow states to set their own standards for granting exemptions, and state standards vary widely.
* Set a federal definition for "material damage" to watersheds beyond permitting areas. The surface-mining law prohibits mountaintop-removal mines and other above-ground coal operations from damaging watersheds outside areas covered by mining permits, but the requirement has been difficult to enforce because "material damage" has never been defined.
* Require companies applying for mining permits to collect more information on the environmental health of watersheds where they intend to work and to monitor conditions during and after mining. Mines that inflict environmental damages beyond what is permitted would be required to change their operations or close.
* Clarify that seasonal streams and temporary streams are covered by the regulations, even when the streambed is dry.
The changes under consideration would apply to new applications for surface coal mining permits and would not apply to existing coal mines, Holmes said.
This is just one step in a long process as the new stream protection rule writing is on-going and far from final. The Office of Surface Mining is still working on the assessment of the proposal's environmental impact. OSM officials will be meeting with folks in impacted states over the next month for a round of feedback on the proposed rule changes.
The proposed rule is due for publication in February, 2011. Then a lengthy public review process occurs with a final rule update not due to go into effect until 2012.
