Senate panel approves nomination of Pa. official to head Office of Surface Mining

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmed Joseph Pizarchik as the director of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement by a unanimous vote of the 12 present members Thursday. Pizarchik's nomination had come under fire from environmental groups for his record as director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, Daniel Malloy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Sens. Robert Menedez, D-N.J., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both opposed the nomination and were not present for the vote. Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he had received hundreds of letters and e-mails, mostly against the nominee. "I'm prepared to give Mr. Pizarchik the benefit of the doubt," Bingaman told Malloy, saying most of the concerns had been addressed at Pizarchik's confirmation hearing in August. (Read more)

The vote came hours after the Citizens Coal Council filed another formal notice thatg it would sue over allegations of serious deficiencies in the Pennsylvania strip-mine regulatory program that Pizarchik runs, Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports. This petition alleges chronic violations of federal historic-preservation laws, and it follows a previous notice filed by the group against Pizarchik's policy of allowing coal ash to be dumped in underground mines. (Read more)