OSM--Office of Subterfuge & Misinformation
Bush Administration Would Ease Legal Limits on Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining
WASHINGTON, DC, August 22, 2007 (ENS) - The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, OSM, is proposing to exempt coal mining wastes from a 1983 regulation known as the Stream Buffer Zone Rule that prohibits coal mining activities from disturbing areas within 100 feet of streams.
Regardless of the rule, the agency has allowed thousands of miles of headwaters and perennial streams in Appalachia to be permanently buried by coal companies under millions of tons of waste generated by mountaintop removal coal mining.
On Friday, the OSM will release a draft Environmental Impact Statement, EIS, considering the effects of its proposed revision to its Stream Buffer Zone Rule and several possible alternatives. The draft EIS will be open for public comment on the internet at www.regulations.gov.
The agency said in a statement Tuesday that based on the findings of the draft EIS, it will revise regul…