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House committee passes bill to ban future federal coal lease moratoriums

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House committee passes bill to ban future federal coal lease moratoriums

A U.S. House committee has voted to pass a bill to ban future federal coal lease moratoriums without congressional approval.

On Nov. 30, the House Committee on Natural Resources voted 17-12 to pass H.R. 1778, introduced in March by Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., without amendments.

"[The moratorium] has a direct effect on the livelihoods of the people in my state," Cheney said at the beginning of the markup on Nov. 29.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the ranking member of the committee, proposed an amendment to the bill that would direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the health impacts of the national coal program.

"There's no question that by encouraging and subsidizing the mining of huge quantities of coal, the federal coal leasing program is making climate change worse," he said Nov. 30, adding that if the U.S. is going to lease coal, lawmakers should know the health impacts of a decision to halt future pauses on federal coal leasing.

Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, disallowed the amendment because he said it was unrelated to the bill.

"It deals with a different subject matter than the text and the fundamental purpose of the amendment is unrelated to that of the bill in which is offered," he said.

The bill will go next to a full vote by the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Coal is a national treasure and President Obama's war on coal did real damage to the livelihoods of the people and communities in our state," Cheney said in a news release announcing the vote. "This overdue legislation will protect jobs in my state, prevent future unnecessary drags on economic growth, and ensure continued access to affordable energy for homes and businesses across the United States."

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced March 29 that he was lifting the moratorium on new federal coal leases implemented during the Obama administration.

Environmentalists and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe sued to challenge the decision.