Rock the Earth Challenges Mountain Top Mining!

In 2004, the Bush administration introduced proposed changes to the long-standing Surface Mining & Reclamation Act that would have allowed mining to occur within 100 feet of a stream, in essence, overturning a ban that had been in place for over 30 years.

Mining companies claimed that this proposal was necessary to allow greater recovery of coal in regions where steep slopes prevented mining, due to the fact that the there was no place to put mine refuse and waste other than downhill in valleys where streams were located through Appalachia mining country. Recently, the administration has once again introduced a regulatory package that, despite another three years of evidence as to the incredibly destructive nature of this exemption, attempts to make permanent this practice.

The fact is that surface mining, particularly mountain top mining, has destroyed hundreds of miles of streams throughout Appalachia. The U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, rather than strictly enforcing the stream bed buffer zone rule which prohibits coal-mining activities from disrupting areas within 100 feet of streams, unless those activities in no way impact water quality or quantity, has permitted more than 1,200 miles of streams to be buried or degraded by Mountaintop removal mining waste between 1992 and 2002. OSMRE’s own environmental impact statement projects that the number of impacted streambed miles will roughly double between 2002 and 2013.

The proposed rule changes would weaken stream protections that have been in effect for over two decades. Most egregious of the proposed regulatory changes is the modification of the current standard for encroachment within the stream buffer zone (SBZ). Currently, in order for an operator to be able to encroach on the SBZ, there is a mandatory, objective requirement that there be no violation of water quality standards and no adverse impact on the stream. 30 CFR 816.57.

Under the proposed rule, encroachment on the SBZ would be permissible if an operator, "to the extent possible, using the best technology currently available: prevents additional contributions of suspended solids to the stream section within 100 feet downstream of the surface mining activities, and outside of the area affected by surface mining activities," and that the operator "minimizes disturbances and adverse impacts on fish, wildlife and other related environmental values of the stream."

The proposed rule contains subjective standards that will not result in greater protection of precious streams and the wild and aquatic life that depend on them for their survival, but rather will result in their destruction, as well as additional litigation over what will be subjective decisions by agency permit and enforcement officers.

On October 22nd, Rock the Earth once again opposed this attempt to weaken environmental protections for our streams and rivers. Not only are these proposed regulations contrary to the federal Clean Water Act, but they are a clear contradiction to the intent and legislative history of the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act.

Our website is in the process of being updated, but once completed next month, you’ll be able to read our full letter to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement opposing this proposed regulatory change.

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