The first Legislative Monthly Interim Meetings will be held in Charleston from May 20-22.  The following link will provide the schedule for this month’s meetings as well as the membership for the various Interim Committees.  Click here for the general schedule and committee makeup: http://www.legis.state.wv.us/committees/interims/intcomsched.cfm.

The June Interim Meetings will be held in Wheeling, the State’s first capitol, where West Virginia’s 150th Birthday will be commemorated.

In our continuing partnership with the WV Secondary Schools Activities Commission (SSAC) we have the opportunity to present the State Championship and Runners-up trophies to the final two teams and/or individuals in the championship events for each of the three classes (A, AA, AAA) in each sport.  The individuals on each team also receive a Friends of Coal plaque to commemorate their and their team's achievements.  We encourage our members to participate in these presentations and the remaining events include the following.  Several members have already indicated their interest in participating and are noted in parenthesis.  Please let Sandi know (304-342-4153) ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if you or any of your employees would have an interest in participating·

·         SOFTBALL (May 22-23) Vienna, Jackson Park

·         BASEBALL (May 30-June 1) Charleston, Appalachian Power Park

CONCORD, N.C. – Hillman Racing today announced that the West Virginia Coal Association and the Friends of Coal organization will be the primary marketing partners on the No. 27 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series entry driven by Team 7 Motorsports driver Jeff Agnew at Charlotte Motor Speedway for Friday night’s N.C. Education Lottery 200.

Located in Charleston, W.Va., the West Virginia Coal Association is a trade association representing more than 90 percent of the state's underground and surface coal mine production.  Its purpose is to have a unified voice representing the state's coal industry as well as increase emphasis on coal as a reliable energy source to help the nation achieve energy independence.

Congresswoman Shelley Capito has joined with co-sponsors Barr, Shimkus, Lummis, Stivers, Wagner, Johnson, Griffith, Whitfield, McKinley, and Latta to introduce the Coal Jobs Protection Act in the House.  The bill number is H.R. 1829.

The bill proposes controls on the EPA in order to prevent the withdrawal (veto) of permits after issuance, as occurred with the Spruce permit.  A companion bill in the U.S Senate is being sponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell.

The Association filed comments earlier this week regarding the proposal from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add streams to the 303(d) list of impaired waters for the State of West Virginia.

EPA published a notice in the Federal Register on Monday, April 8, 2013 in which it proposed adding 255 additional stream segments to the list of impaired waters for the State of West Virginia.  On March 25, 2013 EPA notified the state by letter that it was partially disapproving the state’s proposed 303(d) list of impaired waters.  EPA’s partial disapproval was based on the state’s decision not to place additional streams on the list of impaired waters for biological impairment using the West Virginia Stream Condition Index (WV SCI).