KFTC and allies support an end to streamlined permits

KFTC with 6 other organizations from the region just sent a letter supporting an end to streamlined Clean Water Act permits, called nationwide permits (NWPs).

These expedited permits are only supposed to be authorized for projects that have no more than minimal harmful effects, alone or cumulatively.  Over the last several years, numerous government and academic studies have indicated that mountaintop removal and valley fills do not have a minimal impact.

However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ignored those findings – including some of their own - in approving many valley fill permits without consideration of their harmful consequences. The Obama administration is moving to change that practice.

Valley fill permits may still be granted but go through a more stringent "individualâ€ permitting process that allows increased public comment, a deeper consideration of environmental impacts and a demonstration that the stream loss is in the public interest.

Ending the use of NWP 21 permits for surface mining is one step toward protecting people and the environment, but it does little to curtail mountaintop removal. Congress must pass the Clean Water Protection Act in the House and the Appalachia Restoration Act in the Senate to permanently protect the Appalachian people and the Appalachian mountains.

If you have not gotten a chance to submit your own comments about ending the use of NWPs for surface coal minign, the public comment period ends this Friday, August 14 by 5 p.m. 

Included is a sample message that you could cut and paste into Here.

I appreciate the Army Corps of Engineers following through on its agreement to end the use of "nationwide 21â€ permits which allow for streamlined approval of valley fills permits in Appalachia.

However, we believe the Obama Administration can, and must, do better to protect citizens in Appalachia. The Administration needs to end mountaintop removal today. No amount of regulation will make it safe, economically beneficial, or environmentally sustainable to blast apart our mountains and dump the toxic waste into our streams. In its own public notice, the Army Corps of Engineers acknowledges the significant detrimental impacts that mountaintop removal mining and valley fills are having on Appalachian communities and land.

It is inappropriate for the Army Corps of Engineers to continue issuing nationwide 21 permits until this decision is finalized. In order to protect Appalachia and give community members a say in the process, the Army Corps of Engineers should halt the issuance of nationwide 21 permits immediately and not grandfather in existing nationwide permits.

I believe it is critical that the Obama Administration not just regulate this type of mining, but end it completely to protect our mountains, streams and communities for generations to come.