The Army Corps of Engineers, as expected, announced today that it is suspending the streamlined permit process for surface coal mines in Appalachia. The move is part of the Obama administration's stricter regulation of mountaintop-removal mines and others that fill the headwaters of streams with material blasted from above and between coal seams. Until now, such mines had been authorized through the corps' Nationwide Permit 21.
The corps said in its press release that it "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." Thus did the corps adopt, under pressure from the administration, the arguments of strip-mining foes who have been fighting NWP 21 in court for years.
"U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin had already nullified the use of NWP 21 in the southern district of West Virginia prior to the Obama administration’s announced plans, and oddly enough, the administration also filed a notice that it planned to appeal Judge Goodwin’s decision," Ken Ward Jr. writes on his Coal Tatoo blog for The Charleston Gazette. His blog item has several links to previous items and stories that provide useful background on the subject.
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