Leaders from coal-impacted communities are strongly backing the call from members of Congress for a federal investigation into the full extent of the damage caused by the coal industry’s failure to adequately clean up its mines.
Blog Archives
Advocates support calls for full investigation of modern mine reclamation crisis
TAGS: Appalachian Citizens Law Center Congress Government Accountability Office mine reclamation modern mines Reclaiming Appalachia Coalition
Mine Cleanup Concerns Grow As Industry Declines
The decline of the coal industry is exacerbating failures of the current federal system to ensure that mines are cleaned up.
TAGS: coal bankruptcy coal decline coal slurry impoundment mine cleanup mine reclamation Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
Statement by Appalachian Voices on House Appropriations Committee proposed cuts to interior and environment agency budgets
Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee released its proposed FY 2024 budget for the Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency. The proposal includes a 10% budget cut to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s operational budget, while also providing a $1 million increase to the budget for the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program.
How a proposed rule can help communities hold coal companies accountable
The federal surface mining agency has proposed a new rule that, if finalized, will restore community members’ ability to ensure coal companies follow the law.
TAGS: 10-day notice inspection Citizen's Coal Council Hobet Mine Complex mine reclamation Red River Coal Company Sierra Club Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Tennessee enacts law halting efforts to take over surface mine regulation from federal government
On May 11, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee enacted a significant law that temporarily halts the state’s pursuit of primacy. Primacy refers to a state’s right to petition the federal government to become the primary authority in issuing surface mine permits and implementing associated regulations.
Appalachian Voices urges Congress to pass Biden’s proposed investments in Appalachian coalfields
Today, President Joe Biden released his Fiscal Year 2024 budget to fund government programs through September 2024. The budget proposal includes crucial investments in programs to boost economic growth in the coalfields, ensure coal mine reclamation and protect miners from black lung disease.
TAGS: 118th Congress abandoned mine lands economic revitalization program coalfields mine reclamation Mine Safety and Health Administration President Joe Biden RECOMPETE program U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Guest post: New SkyTruth research reveals legacy of mountaintop mining — and the policy implications
Explosives and heavy equipment: the perfect combination for mine owners to extract coal from a pristine Appalachian landscape. Too bad this process, known as mountaintop removal mining, is terrible if you live near the mined mountain, or in a watershed downstream, or on a planet faced with the imminent threat of ever-increasing temperatures brought about by greenhouse-gas emissions.
Carbon removal on reforested mine lands: One nature-based solution for two deep challenges
Imagine a landscape that, 10 years ago, was a moonscape mountaintop removal coal mine and is now carefully managed as a large-scale working forest growing trees to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combat climate change. Appalachian Voices is exploring making this vision a reality in the years to come through a reforestation project that engages with the emerging carbon offset market.
TAGS: carbon offset market carbon sequestration Climate change mine reclamation mountaintop removal coal mining reforestation
Community groups and A&G Coal Corporation reach settlement on coal mine reclamation
Today, Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club announced a settlement with A&G Coal Corporation, owned by the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, to help ensure the reclamation of three large surface coal mines in Wise County, Virginia.
TAGS: a&g coal mine reclamation Sierra Club Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards Virginia Energy West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice
Backed by bipartisan momentum, STREAM Act advocates urge leadership to advance legislation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 16, 2022 Contact: Trey Pollard, trey@pollardcommunications.com, 202-904-9187 READ THE LETTER APPALACHIA — With the clock ticking down on the current session of Congress, 87 organizations are urging leadership of both parties to not miss an opportunity…
