House Republicans are following through on their pledge to try and bring an end to the EPA’s assault on the American business community.

Three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- Marsha Blackburn (TN), Shelley Moore Capito (WV) and Ted Poe (TX) each introduced separate bills aimed at blunting the EPA’s authority.

The three measures hamstring the agency's authority in different ways: Blackburn's would "amend the Clean Air Act to provide that greenhouse gases are not subject to the Act," even though the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that they are.  Capito's bill would delay EPA from regulating carbon dioxide and methane for two years; and Poe's would prohibit any agency funding "to be used to implement or enforce a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases."

"Time is of the essence," Capito said. "The Democrats failed to act in any way to stop the EPA from implementing new rules pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions on January 2, 2011.Without congressional action to say otherwise, the EPA will continue to dismantle energy and manufacturing industries through regulation."

Republicans aren't the only ones working to limit the agency's climate authority: Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has announced that he plans to reintroduce his bill that would impose a two-year delay on EPA's ability to limit greenhouse gases.  The Association supports a permanent moratorium on EPA’s authority.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin promised to “aggressively pursue” the state’s lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s efforts to regulate the state’s mining industry out of business.

In his State of the State Address last week, Tomblin said he wants to nearly double the state Division of Energy's budget. He proposes increasing the agency’s budget by $200,000 from its current total operating budget of just $300,000.

The 2010 legislation aims to "make West Virginia a player in the national energy discussion" by raising the division's profile and expanding its range, said Sen. Brooks McCabe. The Kanawha County Democrat was the measure's lead sponsor.

Coal has a "short-term as well as an intermediate if not long-term role in the nation's energy policy," McCabe said. Besides reinforcing the importance of coal and natural gas, the measure encourages the division to promote the development of renewable energy sources from a rural state's perspective.

The eight-person Division of Energy receives federal funding to push renewable energy, but nothing for coal, gas and other fossil fuels, director Jeff Herholdt said. "There seems to be a different focus out of D.C."

Registration for the 38^th Annual WV Mining Symposium has been e-mailed to all Coal Bits recipients and is also included in this Coal Bits at bottom.  If you have not registered please complete the form and return to our offices, you will be invoiced for your participation in the Symposium.  A great program is being planned and an agenda will be sent by e-mail upon its completion.

An equipment failure of a WV approved emergency shelter was investigated by the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training.  The initial findings are being communicated to manufacturers and copied to the industry.

At this time no immediate danger is posed by the identified issue and no actions by operators is required.  Operators should continue their routine examinations and report any unusual findings to the manufacturer and the Director.

WV approved emergency shelter manufacturers are to review this report, when received, and respond with an evaluation of attributed of their equipment that would prevent such an occurrence or an action plan for the examination and corrective actions to be taken to the Director by February 15.

Please mark your calendars with a change for the Kanawha Valley Mining Institute’s meeting to February 10^th.  The meeting was initially set for the 3^rd but has been changed due to the WV Coal Mining Symposium.