Environment

Bush administration still trying to ease mining regulations

by Adam Purple | December 3, 2008 at 03:43 pm

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In the waning days of Bush's presidency, the administration continues to push through government regulations meant to advance its political agenda. Most recently, the administration took action to make mountaintop removal mining and waste disposal easier for mining companies.

Mountaintop removal, a common practice in Appalachia, is just as the name implies: a mountaintop is removed by blasting and heavy equipment to expose the underlying coal seam, with the resulting rubble and wastes typically being dumped in valleys immediately adjacent to the mountain. The new regulations being pushed by the Bush administration allow mining companies to routinely dump wastes in streams, a practice that currently requires that special permission be obtained from the government.

Long a controversial practice, mountaintop removal mining has, according to Big Coal author Jeff Goodell, resulted in some of the worst environmental disasters ever to occur in the southeastern US.

WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday approved a final rule that will make it easier for coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys.

The rule is one of the most contentious of all the regulations emerging from the White House in President Bush’s last weeks in office.

James L. Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, confirmed in an interview that the rule had been approved by the White House Office of Management and Budget. That clears the way for publication in the Federal Register, the last stage in the rule-making process.

Stephen L. Johnson, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, concurred in the rule, first proposed nearly five years ago by the Interior Department, which regulates coal mining.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, dated Tuesday, Mr. Johnson said the rule had been revised to protect fish, wildlife and streams.

Mining activities must comply with water quality standards established by the federal government and the states, Mr. Johnson said.

But a coalition of environmental groups said the rule would accelerate “the destruction of mountains, forests and streams throughout Appalachia.”