The Association completed its third of three Regional Membership Meetings on Wednesday evening in Beckley.  The first meeting had been held in Morgantown with the second one in Charleston on Tuesday.  Each of the sessions were well attended with a great deal of discussion and exchange on the variety of issues confronting our industry today.  While health & safety and environmental regulations, policies and statistics were covered, a good bit of time in each meeting was taken with discussions surrounding the manpower challenges facing the industry as well as the Legislative issues expected in the 2012 Regular Session.  We appreciate everyone who participated by keeping the meetings lively and pertinent.

Earlier this month, Board of Directors’ member, Jim Bunn II, was named a Young Gun by the West Virginia Executive Magazine.  Jim was one of only ten who were named from more than 250 nominees for the Class of 2011.  Nominees must be 43 or younger, live and work in West Virginia, have held the same position for two years and be active in their community.  Jim and the others, along with their families were recognized at a November ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion.  The article describing Jim’s award is available at the following link, www.wvexecutive.com.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued an order on Monday (11/28) postponing the proposed consolidation of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  In October, Secretary Salazar announced plans to merge OSM, which regulates coal mining and reclamation, with BLM, which oversees federal lands and energy leases, effective as of December 1 of this year, in order to improve efficiency and reduce agency resource needs.  The new order gives the US Department of the Interior (DOI) officials until February 15, 2012, to meet with stakeholders and provide a written report concerning the potential effects of the merger on those impacted by coal mining, including industry, tribes, state regulators and local communities.  Monday’s order also states a new effective date for the merger will be set following the issuance of the February report.

On November 23 the Inspector General of the federal Environmental Protection Agency released a report stating that EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers take longer than their statutory goals state to issue coal mining permits inAppalachia.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) requested the report in October 2010. Inhofe asked the IG to look at the status of 237 mining permit applications and the time it took to review each, the reasons for the length of review and the number of permits that fell under EPA’s “enhanced review” and “conductivity” procedures.  Army Corps regulations say permits should be completed in 60 to 90 days, but the Corps has an internal goal of 120 days for processing permits, the IG found.

The report reviewed 185 projects over the last year, for which the Corps issued 30 percent of the permits. Of the 56 permits issued, 23 were finished within the 120-day goal.  Out of 66 pending applications, 41 have been in process for more than a year. Of the total projects, 75 exceeded two years, though that includes withdrawn permit applications.

The inspector general's office found several reasons for permit review delays, including the complexity of issues and new scientific evidence about the environmental impacts of coal mining. The report also found "involvement by EPA headquarters" to be a reason for permit review lengths.

For a copy of the report contact jbostic@wvcoal.com

On November 17th, a coalition of groups opposed to coal, filed suit in the D.C. District Court requesting the EPA act on their petition to establish performance standards for methane, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter emissions from coal mines under the Clean Air Act.  A copy of the complaint is available here.  In June 2010, these plaintiffs petitioned EPA to list coal mines as a stationary source and establish performance standards for these pollutants.  Petitioners claim EPA’s delay in responding is unreasonable.  The suit cannot force EPA to grant the petition nor set the standards plaintiffs are seeking; rather, the suit is aimed at forcing the agency to take action on the petition.  Given the importance of this issue, and to potentially lessen the likelihood that EPA will simply settle the litigation and agree to an unreasonable rulemaking schedule, the National Mining Association (NMA) intends to intervene in the litigation.