Trump signs resolution to permit dumping mining waste into waterways

Strict compliance of this regulation will make any mining activity practically impossible to begin within one life span.
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AGENCY:
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION:
Final rule.
SUMMARY:
We, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE or OSM), are revising our regulations, based on, among other things, advances in science, to improve the balance between environmental protection and the Nation's need for coal as a source of energy. This final rule will better protect water supplies, surface water and groundwater quality, streams, fish, wildlife, and related environmental values from the adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and provide mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment. We have revised our regulations to define “material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area” and require that each permit specify the point at which adverse mining-related impacts on groundwater and surface water would reach that level of damage; collect adequate premining data about the site of the proposed mining operation and adjacent areas to establish an adequate baseline for evaluation of the impacts of mining and the effectiveness of reclamation; adjust monitoring requirements to enable timely detection and correction of any adverse trends in the quality or quantity of surface water and groundwater or the biological condition of streams; ensure protection or restoration of perennial and intermittent streams and related resources; ensure that permittees and regulatory authorities make use of advances in science and technology; ensure that land disturbed by mining operations is restored to a condition capable of supporting the uses that it was capable of supporting before mining; and update and codify the requirements and procedures for protection of threatened or endangered species and designated critical habitat. Approximately thirty percent of the final rule consists of editorial revisions and organizational changes intended to improve consistency, clarity, accuracy, and ease of use.

This, of course, is yet another item of fake news, in that it is one-sided and presents only the opposing viewpoint of the Washington Post and environmentalists who traditionally put such as the one-eyed lizard'a well-being above that of thousands of people, who, in this case, were pretty certain to lose their jobs, in states like West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and places which depend on coal mining for their livelihood. The Congress acted within their purview to abolish such regulations, which they have done. POTUS promised to address this issue during his campaign and was in part elected because of such promises - which he is acting upon. GMAB

Making America Great Again, on the backs of the poor