Heavy equipment and trucks move coal in the Sun Coal Co. coal yard along the Kanawha river in Dickenson, W.Va. A number of states have legislation affecting coal in the works or planned for 2018. Source: Associated Press |
Extending tax credits, easing regulations on bonding and mine safety, and erasing utility requirements for renewable energy usage are among the coal industry's state legislative priorities this year.
Some state mining associations are working to build on the Trump administration's moves to bolster the industry, such as lifting the moratorium on new federal coal leases and planning to roll back and replace the previous administration's Clean Power Plan, while others find themselves in defensive mode against legislation perceived as harmful to the industry.
In West Virginia, Republican Sen. Mark Maynard introduced a bill that would return bonding money to coal producers before waterway restoration is complete, if the producer provides financial assurances that it can complete any necessary water treatments.
Justin Raines, the chair of Sierra Club's West Virginia chapter, said nearly every water group in the state is fighting the bill.
"Basically, if you let a coal company get its bond money back before it's completed stream restoration, then it really has no incentive to complete that stream restoration other than its pinky swear that it's going to. We've seen how that turns out in West Virginia," he said. The bill passed the Senate on Jan. 30 and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, and Raines said it stands a good chance of becoming law because it has support from the state environmental watchdog and the majority Republican Party.
Another bill, referred to West Virginia's House Energy Committee on Jan. 19, seeks to reduce the coal severance tax from 5% to 2%, while legislation that shifts the role of state mining officials from enforcement to compliance partners could return in 2018.
Phil Smith, spokesperson for the United Mine Workers of America, said the change would be a "tremendous step back" in a state that consistently leads the country in coal miner fatalities.
Illinois is also considering a safety-related bill that would align state rules on the number of safety caches with breathing devices required for underground mines with the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's, or MSHA's, less-stringent standards.
"The emergency response plan, which is approved by MSHA, that's the Bible that you have to operate a mine under," said Phil Gonet, president of the Illinois Coal Association.
Smith disagreed, even though the union does not have a presence in Illinois. "We're never in favor of states cutting back their own safety programs just because MSHA might have a lower standard," he said.
That bill, along with a measure that would provide a sales tax exemption for certain mining equipment including roof bolts and some reclamation equipment, has been assigned to a House committee.
In Virginia, coal advocates are pushing lawmakers to extend a tax credit designed to help producers mining the state's thin metallurgical coal seams that expired in 2017.
Past iterations of the credit applied to both thermal and metallurgical coal. Harry Childress, president of the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance, said Virginia's coal production is about 60% metallurgical.
Meanwhile, Democrat Joe Lindsey and Republican Lee Ware introduced a House resolution asking Norfolk Southern Corp. to analyze covering rail cars to limit coal dust, which Childress said his organization is monitoring.
Mike Cope, president of the Ohio Coal Association, said the organization is backing a House bill that would eliminate a requirement for utilities to buy a certain amount of electricity from renewable energy sources, making renewable purchases voluntary instead. The bill is now being heard in the Senate, Cope said, and he expects a vote sometime this month.
Wyoming, Colorado on the defensive
In other states, industry representatives are focused on warding off potential problems.
"I don't see anything proactive going forward that's going to benefit coal," said Stan Dempsey, president of the Colorado Mining Association. "It's a situation where we're playing defense in Colorado."
The biggest threat, a bill that would have required electric utilities to derive 100% of their energy from renewable sources by 2035, was postponed indefinitely by a Senate committee.
Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, said the state is in a budget session this year, and his group's major focus is stopping state lawmakers who are looking for ways to raise the state revenue through higher taxes.
"I don't think there's an appetite to raise taxes in Wyoming right now," he said.
Shannon Anderson, an organizer with the Powder River Basin Resource Council, said she did not believe Wyoming would raise taxes on coal.
One House bill would replace the federal Abandoned Mine Land tax, if it is allowed to expire in 2021, with state taxes on surface and underground coal. Instead of going into a federal AML fund, the money would all be distributed by a state fund.
Anderson called the bill "premature."
Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Utah have little in the way of coal-specific bills this session, though tax legislation in Utah may benefit the mining sector. Montana's Legislature does not meet in even-numbered years.

