The governor of the nation’s second-largest coal producing state, crippled by mine closures, production cutbacks, and thousands of layoffs, reiterated his stance that the Obama Administration’s EPA did indeed act outside authority when they sought to block state regulations for mine permitting – a process that, he said, the federal government had already approved.
“Judge Walton said the EPA was out of line and acted unlawfully … [h]e said the EPA had ‘overstepped its statutory authority’,” Tomblin said.
“Overstepping its authority –I’ve been saying that for two years, and it’s great to hear yet another federal judge agree.”
Because “the EPA doesn’t know what’s best for West Virginia”, the governor said the ruling was a reinforcement of the role the state’s Department of Environmental Protection played in the permitting of coal operations in the heart of Appalachia.
The EPA did hinder the issuance of new mine permits in West Virginia, though Tomblin said the Clean Water Act provides US states with the power to “reasonably balance” new mine permits with protection of the environment.
“The ruling provided clear guidance on how our mine permitting process should work; the permit review process rests with the state,” he said, adding the ruling removed any uncertainty that previously existed in the process.
“It's time the EPA ends its war on coal. I hope it will adhere to the rule of the law announced in this decision, so that we can put our miners to back work.
“Rest assured, I'm in this fight until the end. I won't allow these federal bureaucrats to kill the very industry that built our great state”
