The Logan Coal Vendors and Citizens For Coal associations are going to stage a Coal Rally tomorrow, Saturday June 23rd at the Madison Coal Fair at 12:00 noon. They will be at the equipment display where Fox News will be interviewing. Fox News is doing a story on the effects of the EPA regulations overreach and its effect on our way of life here. If Jay Rockefeller's slap down on coal pissed you off as it did us please show up and have your say. The equipment display is in front of the courthouse. Bring your signs and stickers!  -- Jim Winkler, Logan Coal Vendors and Roger Horton, Citizens for Coal

On Wednesday, June 20 and West Virginia’s Birthday a gathering of the ten finalists along with their parents joined sponsors at West Virginia Wesleyan College to honor the nominees and announce the winner of the 2012 West Virginia Scholarship.

The nominees and their respective schools were:  Jackson Carey, Brooke High School; Andrew Mellert, Ripley High School; Emily Stasny, Richwood High School; Mary Casto, Musselman High School; Jordan Danko, Ann Flesher & Kathalyn Maxon, Ravenswood High School; Summer Peyton, Logan High School; Rachel Ransom, Jefferson High School; and, Allie Roberts, Parkersburg High School.

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) introduced legislation to put a moratorium on permitting mountaintop removal coal mining until questions about health effects are resolved.  This move would block permits for new or expanded surface mine sites in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia until the EPA and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences issue peer-reviewed research concluding that communities surrounding the mines do not face significant health risks.  The bill would also require OSM to assess and collect a one-time fee from each person that is conducting a mountaintop removal coal mining project.

The bill is not expected to move in this Congress and will be watched for further action.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will propose revisions to the Coal Mining NPDES Rule (47 CSR 30) for consideration during the 2013 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature.  The revisions are intended to implement Senate Bill 615 which passed during the 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature.  Click below for a copy of the legislation. http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Text_HTML/2012_SESSIONS/RS/pdf_bills/SB615%20SUB1%20enr%20PRINTED.pdf

Prior to the passage of SB 615 the coal mining NPDES rules contained a provision that requires a permit holder to be in compliance with ALL state water quality standards regardless of the effluent parameters contained in an NPDES permit.  Referred to as the “permit shield piercing” provision, it does not exist in any other State NPDES rule and is contrary to the federal permitting standards and interpretations of the federal EPA.  Senate Bill 615 effectively invalidated the applicability of the offending rule language and the attached rule revisions will appropriately clarify the applicability of the “permit shield” to coal mining NPDES permits.

The proposed rule revisions have been provided to the WV DEP Advisory Council for review in advance of their publication for public comment.  Once the revisions are published in the State Register there will be 30-day public comment period and the changes will be submitted to the Legislature’s Rulemaking Review Committee early in the fall.  The full Legislature will consider the changes during the 2013 Regular Session.

In December, 2009, U.S. Senator Robert Byrd delivered one of the most critical speeches of the latter part of his storied career.  Byrd called for an “open and honest dialog about coal’s future.”

Byrd questioned the future of mountaintop removal mining, acknowledged the “mounting science of climate change,” called out the coal industry for “fear mongering” and “grandstanding” and called for the industry to “embrace the future” by working with Congress and regulatory agencies.

It was a politically explosive speech; one that ran counter to the traditional tack taken by coalfield politicians from West Virginia.  But he was Robert Byrd, the iconic West Virginia figure whose considerable political capital made him unbeatable on Election Day.