Coal mining associations throughout Appalachia are irate over EPA's release of a final list of pending surface coal-mining permits that must undergo additional review before the projects can commence.

The final list excludes not a single pending permit from the list of 79 that EPA opened to public comment on September 11, 2009. According to EPA, all 79 applications proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for approval raise "potentially significant water quality and environmental issues."

In its letter to the Corps, EPA says the majority of the permit applications do not adequately demonstrate that anticipated adverse environmental and water quality impacts have been fully avoided and minimized as required by the Clean Water Act. Other areas of concern cited by EPA include potential to cause or contribute to violations of applicable water quality standards; absence of information needed to consider cumulative environmental impacts; and the need for additional evaluation of existing mitigation plans to compensate for anticipated loss of functions associated with the proposed mining-related burial and mine-through of headwater streams.

Appalachian coal mining associations hammered home the impact of EPA's final list on the regional economy.

"EPA's hit list was compiled by people in Washington who are entirely insulated from the consequences of their actions and far removed from the families and communities affected by them," said Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association.

The National Mining Association (NMA) asserts that EPA is subjecting the pending permits to new but unspecified review criteria that have still not been made explicit, event to the Corps.

"Coal mining throughout Appalachia cannot reassure thousands of anxious workers and their families," said Hal Quinn, NMA's CEO, "and we cannot plan for the economic future of our operations absent a workable, transparent process that provides certainty."

EPA and the Corps will now review the 79 pending permits under the enhanced coordination procedures (ECP) contained in a June 11, 2009, memorandum of understanding developed by the two agencies. The ECP calls for a 60-day coordination period in which EPA and the Corps will work with all relevant parties, including project applicants, to resolve remaining environmental concerns.

Information is available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/guidance/mining-screening.html.

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