While Democrats at a recent subcommittee hearing trumpeted a bill seeking to halt mountaintop removal coal mining permits until the health impacts of the practice are studied, opponents countered that the legislation would effectively shut down the Appalachian coal industry.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., reintroduced the Appalachian Communities Health Emergency Act, or ACHE Act, on April 3. The bill would place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop coal mining until the federal government conducted studies on its health impacts, according to a version posted on Yarmuth's website. Blasting mountains in Appalachia has "raised concerns that pollution of the water, air, and soil that results from mountaintop removal coal mining may be causing health crises in their communities," according to the legislation.
Speaking before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on April 9, Yarmuth said there has never been a federal health study to examine the potential health impact that mountaintop removal has on neighboring communities. The legislation seeks to provide people in Appalachia with "the answers they are owed" regarding the safety of the air, land and water in the region.
The Obama administration ordered the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a health study in August 2016, but President Donald Trump's administration stopped that study a year later.
A question of scope
U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said mountaintop removal mining is a much less commonly used practice today and occurs only in Appalachia. The bill uses "a much broader definition" of mountaintop removal than the federal government, "which could potentially apply to all surface mining operations in Appalachia."
Since mining operators have to routinely update their permits, the legislation would halt mining operations, Gosar said.
"Because the legislation does not specify the number of studies or a date by which these studies should conclude, this bill will effectively place an indefinite moratorium on mining in the region of the country, putting people out of work and raising energy costs for countless communities," Gosar said.
The bill defines mountaintop removal coal mining as "surface coal mining that uses blasting with explosives" on any steep slope, meaning those greater than 20 degrees, in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia. Lesser slopes may also be regarded as steep slopes by a regulatory authority after considering soil, climate and other regional characteristics, according to U.S. code.
Mountaintop coal mining has been associated with increased levels of mortality, lung cancer, adult hospitalizations for chronic pulmonary disorders and hypertension as well as chronic heart, lung and kidney disease, which affect people in surrounding communities, according to the bill.
If passed, the legislation would direct the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal department heads to study the health effects of the mining style and report their findings to the health and human services secretary, who would then publish a determination on whether the mining technique poses a health threat to nearby communities. If that report concludes that mountaintop removal mining puts localities at risk, the government would not issue any permits or other authorizations for new projects or expansions to existing ones.
Coal mining companies conducting mountaintop removal projects would also have to continuously monitor for pollution, identify the exposure risk to communities and submit results on a monthly basis to the secretary, who would publish the findings within seven days of receipt, according to the bill. Those companies would also pay a one-time fee to cover the cost of the federal health agencies' study and to continuously monitor the impact on surrounding communities.
Subcommittee Chairman Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., said the bill would "let science find out the truth when it comes to the health impacts of mountaintop removal mining." He said the subcommittee invited Associate Deputy Secretary of the Interior James Cason to testify, but he refused, saying the issue had been covered.
"I only wish the Interior Department would show up sometime to explain why they're so opposed to science and the truth and so callous about the health of the people of Appalachia," Lowenthal said.