Courier Express - Thompson Drills Down on Coal Regulation Overhaul

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The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee held an oversight hearing Tuesday on the status of the Obama Administration's rewrite of a sweeping coal regulation known as the Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson, R-Howard, questioned Joseph Pizarchik, director, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, U.S. Department of the Interior, on the lack of transparency governing of the rulemaking process and the potential for huge economic losses under the new regulation.

"This entire process has lacked transparency and failed to even consider the full impact that this regulation will have upon local economies in Pennsylvania and across the country," Thompson said.

For more than two years, the committee has conducted an investigation into the Obama Administration's rewrite of the Rule. The OSM is the chief federal office in charge of the rule's rewrite.

The committee released a report on the issue last year that found that between 133,441 and 273,227 jobs are at risk as a result of the proposed rule; with between 55,120 and 79,870 losses in direct mining jobs. The report also found that as many as 220,000 jobs are at risk in the Appalachia region alone.

"The conduct of OSM is emblematic of the Obama Administration's complete disregard for the health of our economy," Thompson said. "This White House will stop at no end to bend the rules and assault the coal industry along with the millions of jobs it supports."

Thompson pressed Pizarchik on the OSM's "plan for seeking input from State cooperating agencies between now and the time the stream protection rule's Environmental Impact Statement is published for public comment in 2014."

Pizarchik, the chief officer in charge of the rewrite, said he does not believe there have been any contacts during the last year with states or other cooperating agencies.

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