Daily Mail: Capito Notes EPA Permit Delays In Daily Mail Op-Ed

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Capito Notes EPA Permit Delays In Daily Mail Op-Ed

WEST Virginians are fair-minded people. We follow the rules, take folks at their word, and expect to be treated fairly in return.

Whether it's the nature of our up-bringing or simply a set of values that we take to heart, it's simply the way we are.

So it's only natural that we get a bit frustrated when we get the feeling that others aren't quite living up to their end of the bargain.

For many across our state, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has become the focus of that frustration - a frustration that I share.

Put simply, the federal agency has become the poster-child for failing as an honest broker in the ongoing controversy surrounding the surface mine permitting process.

Since January, the EPA has taken aim at dozens of pending mining permits throughout the Appalachian region, culminating in a June announcement of a new "memorandum of understanding" surrounding the permit review process.

Essentially, the EPA said that more than 100 pending permits need to be looked at more closely to ensure that they comply with environmental regulations.

On the surface, this is an understandable move. Just as a football official might undertake an official review and take a second look at a play in the video booth, the EPA wanted a second look at these permits.

Unfortunately, that's where the comparison ends. Something that should be a swift, fair process has been anything but for miners and mining families across the Mountain State.

In practice, the EPA's June announcement from unelected bureaucrats in Washington amounted to a mid-game suspension of play that's upset the entire approval process for coal mines across Appalachia.

Four months later, what was billed as a temporary review has become a seemingly endless display of stonewalling and delay by an administration determined to win points with environmental special interests.

Just last month, the EPA made it official that at least 79 Appalachian permits will now require still further review. And not surprisingly, they've given themselves no deadline for completing their assessment.

While no reasonable West Virginian can object to efforts to preserve our state's beauty and protect our water, there is also no doubt that the EPA's delays will continue to directly impact jobs and employment throughout the state.

Sadly, these delays will only further contribute to the slow bleed of coal jobs that's been all too common across the state in recent months. Put plainly, the combined impact of a slow economy and government-created uncertainty has left an entire industry - and thousands of West Virginia families - in the lurch.

It doesn't have to be this way. Miners and the industry want to comply with the law, but they can't play a game the rules of which are unclear.

It's time for the EPA to finally come clean with its motives and give mining communities the certainty they need to protect jobs and preserve the local economy alongside the local environment.

Deny the permits, or accept the permits.

But whatever decision is made, give West Virginia miners the tools and guidance they need to revise their permits, move on and get back to work.

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