Kentucky Coal Blog

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

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will unveil their long-awaited climate and energy bill on Wednesday, May 12.

The duo, in a joint statement Friday, stressed that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill underscores the need for the bill.

To read more click here:  http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/96679-kerry-lieberman-to-roll-out-climate-bill-may-12

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 1, 2010

EPA Issues Comprehensive Guidance to Protect Appalachian Communities From Harmful Environmental Impacts of Mountain Top Mining

Guidance provides additional clarity and ensures stronger protection at projects in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a set of actions to further clarify and strengthen environmental permitting requirements for Appalachian mountaintop removal and other surface coal mining projects, in coordination with federal and state regulatory agencies.  Using the best available science and following the law, the comprehensive guidance sets clear benchmarks for preventing significant and irreversible damage to Appalachian watersheds at risk from mining activity.

Mountaintop removal is a form of surface coal mining in which explosives are used to access coal seams, generating large volumes of waste that bury adjacent streams. The resulting waste that then fills valleys and streams can significantly compromise water quality, often causing permanent damage to ecosystems and rendering streams unfit for swimming, fishing and drinking. It is estimated that almost 2,000 miles of Appalachian headwater streams have been buried by mountaintop coal mining.

“The people of Appalachia shouldn’t have to choose between a clean, healthy environment in which to raise their families and the jobs they need to support them. That’s why EPA is providing even greater clarity on the direction the agency is taking to confront pollution from mountain top removal,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “We will continue to work with all stakeholders to find a way forward that follows the science and the law. Getting this right is important to Americans who rely on affordable coal to power homes and businesses, as well as coal communities that count on jobs and a livable environment, both during mining and after coal companies move to other sites.”

EPA’s Actions:

• Improved Guidance and Clarity: EPA is communicating comprehensive guidance to its regional offices with permitting responsibility in Appalachian states. The guidance clarifies existing requirements of the Section 402 and 404 Clean Water Act permitting programs that apply to pollution from surface coal mining operations in streams and wetlands. The guidance details EPA’s responsibilities and how the agency uses its Clean Water Act (CWA) authorities to ensure that future mining will not cause significant environmental, water quality and human health impacts. EPA also expects this information will provide improved consistency and predictability in the CWA permitting process and help to strengthen coordination with other federal and state regulatory agencies and mining companies.
• Strong Science: EPA is making publicly available two scientific reports prepared by its Office of Research and Development (ORD). One summarizes the aquatic impacts of mountaintop mining and valley fills. The second report establishes a scientific benchmark for unacceptable levels of conductivity (a measure of water pollution from mining practices) that threaten stream life in surface waters.  These reports are being published for public comment and submitted for peer review to the EPA Science Advisory Board.
• Increased transparency: EPA is creating a permit tracking Web site so that the public can determine the status of mining permits subject to the EPA-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Enhanced Coordination Procedure (ECP).

A growing body of scientific literature, including previous and new studies performed by EPA, show significant damage to local streams that are polluted with the mining runoff from mountaintop removal. To protect water quality, EPA has identified a range of conductivity (a measure of the level of salt in the water) of 300 to 500 microSiemens per centimeter. The maximum benchmark conductivity of 500 microSiemens per centimeter is a measure of salinity that is roughly five times above normal levels.  The conductivity levels identified in the clarifying guidance are intended to protect 95 percent of aquatic life and fresh water streams in central Appalachia.

EPA will solicit public comments on the new guidance. The guidance will be effective immediately on an interim basis. EPA will decide whether to modify the guidance after consideration of public comments and the results of the SAB technical review of the EPA scientific reports.

The EPA guidance identifies improvements in mining practices and operations that will reduce adverse impacts on water quality. EPA will continue to work with coal companies that are interested in modifying their projects to reduce their environmental footprint and prevent harm to water quality and human health. Earlier this year, EPA approved the Hobet 45 permit in West Virginia.  Working with the mining company, EPA was able to reduce stream impacts by almost 50 percent and minimize mine runoff into surface waters.  Those changes helped permanently protect local waters, maximize coal recovery and reduce costs for the operators.     

In contrast, EPA recently proposed to significantly restrict or prohibit mountaintop mining at the Spruce No. 1 surface mine in Logan County, W. Va. Attempts at dialogue with the company failed to ensure a significant decrease of environmental and water quality impacts from the project.  The Spruce No. 1 mine, as proposed, would bury more than seven miles of headwater streams, directly impact 2,278 acres of forestland, and degrade water quality in streams adjacent to the mine.  The project was permitted in 2007 and subsequently delayed by litigation. 

EPA’s guidance offers recommendations to its regions on the application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to surface coal mining projects permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps is separately announcing plans for rulemaking to expand the scope of NEPA review. EPA is supportive of this effort and will work closely with the Corps.

All the documents: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/guidance/mining.html

Fact Sheet on EPA Guidance and Scientific Reports

Additional Comprehensive Guidance

EPA is issuing comprehensive guidance clarifying the standards that its regional offices should apply in permitting reviews of Appalachian surface coal mining projects under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This guidance directs EPA field staff to coordinate with their federal and state regulatory partners to strengthen the environmental review of new Appalachian surface coal mining projects and to improve protection of the communities’ local water and environment.  More specifically, the guidance:

• Incorporates the latest scientific information in clarifying how CWA permits should assure compliance with existing water quality standards to protect the use of streams by communities and to ensure healthy aquatic life.
• Clarifies how CWA requirements apply to the disposal of mining overburden in streams to reduce the size and number of valley fills, to limit water quality contamination of streams near mining operations, and to prevent significant environmental degradation of streams and wetlands.
• Improves opportunities for the voices of adversely affected Appalachian communities to be heard in the process of reviewing proposed new mining operations.

EPA Releases Two Draft Scientific Reports for Public Comment 

• Field-Based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity

This draft report adapts EPA’s traditional approach for developing water quality criteria to field data in central Appalachia in order to develop a conductivity benchmark protective of stream life in Appalachian surface waters.  Conductivity is a measure of the level of salinity (salt) in the water. There are mining materials that are dumped or runoff into water that can raise the salinity level that turns fresh water into salty water. When this happens, living organisms have difficulty surviving because they cannot tolerate the high salinity level.

The draft report makes the following conclusions:

• The salinity of water has been shown to negatively affect aquatic organisms (stream life).
• By plotting the conductivity levels at which organisms are no longer observed in streams, we can determine a level of conductivity that results in their loss. EPA identified a benchmark of 300 microSiemens per cm (units of conductivity) that protects 95 percent of aquatic organisms living in streams in central Appalachia.
• EPA derived this benchmark using more than 2,000 field samples collected in West Virginia. These results were validated using data from Kentucky. 
• Although the method is applicable to any region, the value 300 is only applicable to Central Appalachian streams containing the types of salts found in those streams.
• Additional analyses demonstrate that the observed effects on the aquatic community are due types of salts that are consistent with minerals leached from mountaintop mining operations and not to other variables that were evaluated.  

• Mountaintop Mining / Valley Fill Impacts Report

EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) conducted a literature review of peer-reviewed studies focusing on aquatic environmental and water quality impacts of mountaintop mining and valley fills.  The draft report among other conclusions, found:

• Burial of headwater streams by valley fills causes permanent loss of ecosystems.   
• Concentrations of salts as measured by conductivity are, on average, 10 times higher downstream of mountaintop mines and valley fills than in un-mined watersheds.
• The increased levels of salts disrupt the life cycle of freshwater aquatic organisms and some cannot live in these waters. 
• Water with high salt concentrations downstream of mountaintop mines and valley fills is toxic to stream organisms. To date, there is no evidence that streams that undergo a restoration process have returned to their normal ecological functions after the mining is completed.  

Sammy Fretwell
The State

Climate change has received similar death notices, particularly since many think Democrats will be reluctant to move controversial legislation after the difficult healthcare battle.

But Brune said his organization still believes legislation is possible, and sees inspiration from this week’s dramatic passage and signing into law of healthcare legislation.

 “We are optimistic about the bill’s chances for passing, not because we are naïve,” Brune said in an interview with The Hill Thursday.

 “Just look at the healthcare legislation. Looking at the progress that has been made in spite of multiple death pronouncements. The fact that a bill was signed gives us reason to hope that somehow, some way, reason can prevail,” he said.

 Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are working on energy and climate change legislation they hope to unveil next month.

 Graham this week said he believed the healthcare fight would make red-state Democrats like Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) less likely to support climate change legislation. Lincoln faces a tough reelection fight this year.

From Politico-

The Chamber of Commerce is targeting a provision in the Senate health care bill it says is a special legislative deal inserted by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) that threatens the solvency of a trust fund created to help mine workers suffering from black lung disease.

“This had to be another one of those backrooms deals that was put into the larger bill to cobble votes together,” said Bruce Josten, the Chamber’s top lobbyist.

To read more click here:

http://www.politico.com/livepulse/0310/The_Black_Lung_Buy_Off.html

March 4, 2010

By John McArdle, Roll Call Staff

Six weeks after the Supreme Court sent shock waves through the political world by lifting long-held bans on corporate and union involvement in federal elections, one district is looking ripe for the new rules to be put into play.

The entire article may be viewed at http://www.rollcall.com/issues/55_98/politics/43818-1.html

 (c) Copyright 2008 Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved.

By Jim Snyder

Natural gas lobbyists, who felt their industry got the short shrift in climate legislation, are pushing new incentives to encourage utilities to switch from coal to natural gas.
 
In doing so, the sector is starting a lobbying fight with the coal industry, which has long and deep ties on Capitol Hill and is determined to hold onto its role as the dominant source of electricity in the United States.

Lobbyists for natural gas companies were heartened by reports that President Barack Obama would announce during a speech on the economy last Wednesday a program to encourage utilities to displace coal with natural gas.

The president’s speech was to validate a lobbying campaign to promote the industry’s profile in Washington that has built on new discoveries of huge natural gas reserves in shale rock formations in Texas and the Northeast. But the president ended up only reiterating his support for comprehensive energy and climate legislation in his speech before the Business Roundtable on Wednesday, without mentioning natural gas specifically.
 
Natural gas releases about half of the carbon emissions as coal when burned. According to the Congressional Research Service, displacing older coal plants with nearby natural gas facilities could cut greenhouse gas emissions from the utility sector by 20 percent. The report, however, also raised unanswered questions about the feasibility of such a switch.
 
Coal now accounts for around 50 percent of the electricity produced in the United States; natural gas, around 20 percent.
 
But the fight is just getting started, after years in which energy sectors co-existed peacefully by not challenging one another directly. Climate legislation has strained relations.
 
America’s Natural Gas Alliance, a trade group formed to bring cohesion to the industry’s lobbying efforts split among producers, pipelines and distribution companies, has spent $1.6 million on lobbying since starting in 2009. Its founders say the annual budget could reach $80 million.
 
The alliance has spent some of its money promoting a reversal of the coal-natural gas ratio of electricity production.
 
Industry lobbyists say the need for the revived campaign was underscored by the House climate bill.
 
The measure included enough incentives for “clean” coal and renewable energy that natural gas use would actually decline in upcoming years, according to the Energy Information Administration, even though natural gas is cleaner than coal and more dependable than the wind or the sun.
 
The climate bill and the fact that Obama failed to mention natural gas among his energy priorities in his first major address to Congress after his Inauguration has left the natural gas industry with middle-child-like insecurities that it is trying hard to put behind it.
 
Three gas groups — the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, and the Natural Gas Supply Association — called for natural gas to be included in a “clean energy standard” that would mandate use of lower carbon fuels and renewable energy sources.
 
A clean energy standard could force some utilities to replace coal with natural gas.
 
“It’s time for policymakers to recognize the new domestic supply reality for natural gas,” said Donald Santa, president of INGAA, said in a release.
 
Other proposals floated include loan guarantees to help utilities finance natural gas plants, or tax incentives to encourage power companies to shut down their dirtiest coal facilities.
 
“ANGA members want to see proposals that recognize that an increased use of natural gas gives this country an extraordinary opportunity, right now, to both accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reductions and advance our clean-energy economy,” said ANGA President and CEO Regina Hopper in an email response to questions.
 
The coal industry rests its carbon-constrained future on “clean” coal technologies that would sequester and store CO2. Coal-powered utilities are responsible for around 33 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from human activity in the United States.
 
In the near-term, though, coal lobbyists continue to stress the economic advantages of the fossil fuel.
 
The National Mining Association, the coal industry’s main trade group, put out a preemptive press release prior to the president’s speech that said displacing coal with natural gas would hurt the economy.
 
“Creation of an artificial electricity generation market for natural gas in place of affordable, abundant and reliable coal is bad public policy and undermines the administration’s economic and energy objectives,” said Hal Quinn, president and CEO of the mining group.
 
One coal lobbyist was putting together a fact sheet challenging the natural gas industry’s 100-year supply claim and noting historic and projected cost differences between coal and natural gas.
 
Climate legislation would likely reduce coal use, but the industry has proved remarkably adept at surviving in a difficult political climate.
 
A coal caucus formed in January by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) has grown to 68 members, including 28 Democrats.
 
The House-passed bill included tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to help the industry develop carbon-capturing technologies thanks in large measure to a Democrat: Rep. Rick Boucher, who comes from a coal-producing district in Virginia.
 
Besides the National Mining Association, the industry is promoted by the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which has worked to build a grassroots network for coal over the past several years.
 
Because everyone uses electricity, the fight between coal and natural gas will draw in other groups as well.
 
Coal counts the support of railroads — another venerable Washington power — that get a large portion of revenues from transporting coal.
 
Chemical and fertilizer industries use natural gas as a feedstock. Those and other groups that use it as a raw material are worried that if utilities use more of it, the cost — and thus the cost of their products — could increase as well.
 
“We’re concerned if there is a fuel switch that it’s going to affect the price and availability of fertilizer that our folks need,” said Rick Krause, a lobbyist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
 
Natural gas lobbyists, however, insist that times have changed and that new discoveries and greater use of drilling techniques, like hydraulic fracturing that allow access to gas in shale rock formations, change the debate in their industry’s favor.