Press Releases

Today, Western Caucus Chairman Paul A. Gosar D.D.S. (AZ-04), Western Caucus member Congressman Mike Kelly (PA-03) and Congressman David McKinley (WV-01) released the following statements after President Donald Trump signed H.J. Res. 38 into law, legislation that nullifies the Department of Interior’s Stream Protection Rule:

Chairman Gosar said, “President Trump has prevented an unnecessary, political rule from wreaking further havoc on our economy, small businesses and job creators. By blocking this blatant attack on the coal industry, good-paying careers for hard-working Americans will be saved. States will no longer be undercut by the bureaucratic arrogance that sought to strip away their authority through a duplicative, ideological regulation.”

“This is spectacular news for so many families and workers in Western Pennsylvania and across America. With President Trump’s signature, the last Administration’s last minute attack on coal country is no more. For the first time in a quite a while, the American people have a unified federal government on the side of jobs, growth, and common sense. I look forward to the President signing many more of our bills to repeal the most reckless regulations hurting hardworking Americans and our economy,” remarked Congressman Kelly.

“Over the last eight years, few industries have been under attack from Washington the way the coal industry has. Fortunately, we finally have a partner in the White House who understands just how damaging these rules can be,” said Congressman McKinley. “Today’s signing is a major victory for West Virginia and coal miners all across the country. I look forward to continuing to work alongside President Trump and Vice President Pence to roll back abusive government regulations and create more opportunities for the American people.”

Background:

The text of the pre-published Stream Protection rule can be found HERE.

The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has a history of producing job-crushing regulations based on secret science.

This duplicative new rule conflicts with existing state regulations and will provide no discernable environmental benefit. This new regulation utilizes the fundamentally flawed and unlawful social cost of carbon model. This final rule puts President Obama’s climate change agenda ahead of the needs of the American people. The final Stream Protection rule seeks to implement parts of President Obama’s unlawful mitigation memo issued in November 2015. This new regulation will cause permitting delays for important projects and kill jobs.

Even the Department of Interior admits that this new rule will increase costs for small businesses, estimating their compliance costs will increase by at least $81 million.

A 2012 Economic Impact Study found that the Obama Administration’s announced Stream Protection Rule could potentially sterilize between 30% and 43% of recoverable reserves, which will have devastating effects for both surface and underground coalmines. The study also found that the associated decline in annual coal production as a result of the proposed rule could have a direct impact on our economy and employment, potentially killing between 133,441 and 273,227 mining-related jobs, and having an associated economic impact of $18 to $25 billion annually.

Information provided by the National Mining Association (NMA) confirms that approximately 40,000 coal jobs were lost in America during the Obama Administration. NMA also stated that up to 64 percent of total U.S. coal reserves nationwide could be off limits to mining as a result of this new regulation. Production of U.S. coal has fallen to the lowest levels in the last 30 years. Since 2009 alone, more than 200 different plants have been forced to close their doors.