“The decision to suspend Nationwide Permit 21 for coal mining in Appalachia despite the public outcry is another attack on rural America. Once again, I am baffled that this Administration would threaten jobs in our Kentucky coal communities, especially at a time of double digit unemployment. The suspension will jeopardize the livelihoods of Kentucky coal miners, their families, and those whose jobs depend on coal production, and hamper job growth in the region.”
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Rogers’ Statement on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Indefinite Suspension of NWP-21
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers (KY-05) released the following statement today in reaction to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to indefinitely suspend Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP-21) in Appalachia:
“For years, Nationwide Permit-21 (NWP-21) has served as a valuable tool for the Corps and coal operators to expedite non-controversial mining permits. In recent years, NWP-21 guidelines have changed and participation diminished, but by outright cancelling this program in Appalachia, the Corps will force operators into further regulatory limbo where nearly 200 mining permits are already gathering dust. I have no faith that this Administration has the ability or desire to process and approve coal permitting applications. This latest action will result in further uncertainty for our people, and could lead some mines to shut down completely, or prohibit future mines from ever getting off the ground. Perhaps most egregious and unjustifiable, this ban only applies to Appalachian coal, granting other states the ability to legally proceed with their operations.
“Eastern Kentucky and Appalachia are national leaders in coal production, by far our most valuable and abundant energy resource. Throughout Appalachia, 1 in 4 mining jobs is threatened by these politically-motivated delays in the permitting process, and 81 small businesses in the region stand to close their doors because of these delays. Today’s announcement, in conjunction with the permit-processing backlog, the President’s misguided “Cap and Trade” bill, and EPA’s bizarre carbon dioxide endangerment policy, amounts to another nail in the coffin for Appalachian mining. With unemployment hovering at 10% and 20,000 hard-working Kentuckians relying on this industry for their livelihoods, this White House is doing nothing short of waging war on coal, putting our nation’s economic and energy security at risk.”
For Immediate Release
June 17, 2010
Army Corps of Engineers announces decision to suspend
Nationwide Permit 21 in the Appalachian Region
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today it has suspended the use of Nationwide Permit 21 (NWP 21) in the Appalachian region of six states. NWP 21 is used to authorize discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States for surface coal mining activities.
The suspension is effective immediately and applies to the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
NWP 21 continues to be available in other regions of the country.
The suspension in Appalachia will remain in effect until the Corps takes further action on NWP 21 or until NWP 21 expires on March 18, 2012.
While the suspension is in effect, individuals who propose surface coal mining projects that involve discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States will have to obtain Department of the Army authorization under the
Clean Water Act, through the Individual Permit process. The individual permit evaluation procedure provides increased public involvement in the permit evaluation process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects.
On June 11, 2009, the U.S. Department of the Army, U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with each agency agreeing to work together to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of surface coal mining activities in the Appalachian region. As a part of the MOU, the Corps agreed to issue a public notice to seek comment on the proposed action to modify NWP 21 to
preclude its use in the Appalachian region.
On July 15, 2009, a Federal Register notice was published soliciting public comment on the Corps’ proposal to modify NWP 21. The notice also proposed to suspend NWP 21 in order to provide more immediate environmental protection while the longer-term process of modification is fully evaluated. The
comment period was extended in response to many requests, and public hearings were conducted in October 2009 in each of the six affected states.
Approximately6,000 individuals attended the public hearings and about 400 individuals provided oral testimony. The Corps received approximately 23,000 comments during the comment period that concluded on October 26, 2009, of which 1,750
were substantive comments that were nearly evenly divided for and against the proposed modification and suspension actions.
The Corps determined after a thorough review and consideration of comments that continuing use of NWP 21 in this region may result in more than minimal impacts to aquatic resources. Activities that result in more than minimal
impacts to the aquatic environment must be evaluated in accordance with individual permit procedures. Therefore, NWP 21 has been suspended inthis region and coal mining activities impacting waters of the U.S. in this region will be evaluated in accordance with individual permit procedures.
NWP 21 verifications provided in writing by the Corps to mining
companies before today’s suspension will continue to be valid until the NWPexpires on March 18, 2012. Modification of NWP 21 will continue to be evaluated and a decision on this proposal will be made before NWP 21 expires.
Five pending NWP 21 requests are currently being processed in the Appalachian region affected by suspension of NWP 21. Corps districts will contact these applicants to discuss the process to submit individual permit applications for these activities. If applicants submit individual permit requests
for these activities, the Corps districts will prioritize the evaluation of these applications. The Corps will work with the applicants and other interested parties to address and resolve substantive concerns and make final permit decisions as expeditiously as possible.
The Corps’ decision will be published in the June 18, 2010, edition of the Federal Register. A copy of the notice, FAQs and the decision document will be posted on the Corps’ Web site at
http://www.usace.army.mil/CECW/Pages/nnpi.aspx
‘Coal is a great resource’ Association head warns of cap-and-trade costs-
Courier Press – June 10, 2010 Having competitively priced electricity helps Kentucky attract companies and jobs, and that could be threatened by legislation to address climate change, the president of the Kentucky Coal Association said here Thursday.
Bill Bissett also challenged “the debatable science” of global warming, and said the proposal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plant through a method called cap-and-trade would be “completely overreacting.”
“When someone talks about wind power or cap-and-trade (to reduce carbon emissions when burning coal), ask who’s going to pay for it,” Bissett told a Henderson Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting audience.
“Where’s the money going to come from?” he asked.
“Will it be your tax money or your electric bill?” Bissett continued.
“If it’s not answered,” he said, “it’s coming from you.”
As of February, Kentucky enjoyed the sixth-lowest residential electric rates in the country (averaging 7.96 cents per kilowatt-hour) and the seventh-lowest industrial rate (averaging 4.75 cents per Kwh), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“We’ve got inexpensive electricity because of coal,” which Bissett said generates 92 percent of power in Kentucky.
“That’s what brings jobs here,” he said.
Last year, coal accounted for 45 percent of power generation, followed by natural gas (23 percent), nuclear (20 percent), hydroelectricity (7 percent) and renewables such as wind and solar power (3.6 percent), according to the EIA.
“Coal is a great resource, not only for Kentucky but the nation,” Bissett said. “We need to go in every direction” for finding new sources of generation, “but coal provides that baseline when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine.”
Coal also is an economic engine, providing jobs for 17,000 Kentucky miners and 68,000 people overall, including those in coal service industries ranging from trucking and railroads to concrete companies and engineering firms.
Meanwhile, Bissett noted that while the eastern Kentucky coal field is better known and accounts for 75 percent of the state’s coal production, the western Kentucky coal field “is very important and in many ways our growth area. There seems to be a bit of decline in eastern Kentucky and an uptick in western Kentucky.”
Kentucky mines produced 115 million tons of coal in 2009, down from the peak of 179 million tons in 1990. But the state still ranks third in the country in production, behind Wyoming and West Virginia.
Across Kentucky there are 279 underground mines, 273 surface mines and 14 active mountaintop removal operations, according to Bissett. Only one of those mines — Patriot Coal’s Highland Mine near the Henderson-Union county line — has workers represented by the United Mine Workers of America, he said.
Meanwhile, Bissett said the Friends of Coal license plate campaign has resulted in 24,000 plates being sold so far.
“I love driving around Lexington and seeing cars with those plates,” he said. “It gives people (who oppose coal) ulcers.”
“We do have our opposition,” ranging from environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club to President Obama “that I think is often well-intentioned but misinformed.”
“Our chamber is an ally for all of you coal businesses,” chamber President Brad Schneider told the several coal company representatives and those from companies that service the coal industry who attended the chamber breakfast.
“We are a friend to you,” Schneider said. “We know you are important to this community. You provide millions (of dollars) in salaries, and thousands of jobs are dependent on the coal industry.”
WVU faculty member has disclosed his position on coal.
By Bill Bissett
West Virginia University psychologist Michael Hendryx is a busy person. He conducted research that attempts to connect the mining of coal in Appalachia to health risks facing the people who live in these areas. His final report can be found here.
Thus far, his research has received a great deal of media coverage, and Hendryx seems to be touted as an expert wherever he goes. While we have never actually met, I learned of Hendryx and his research when he testified before the Kentucky House Health & Welfare Committee during our recent legislative session in Frankfort. Bolstered by representatives of the attendance of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, an environmental activist group, Hendryx talked with great certainty about the harmful effects of coal mining on Appalachia. As the president of the Kentucky Coal Association, I was asked to respond to Hendryx’s claims and defend coal.
According to his biography, Hendryx is the director of the West Virginia Rural Health Research Center in the Institute of Health Policy Research in the Department of Community Medicine at WVU. Having a background in higher education myself, I want to mention that “institutes” in academia sprout like weeds in colleges and universities, so always be cautious of wordy titles of groups on campus.
To read the entire article, click here:
http://www.statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=80868&catid=159
