Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved H.R. 2824, the Preventing Government Waste and Protecting Coal Mining Jobs in America Act, with a bipartisan vote of 24-15. This legislation sponsored by Rep. Bill Johnson (OH-06) and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (CO-05) would protect American jobs, save taxpayer dollars, and support U.S. energy production by stopping the Obama Administration from imposing new coal regulations that would cost thousands of American jobs and devastate local economies.

Since taking office, the Obama Administration has been conducting a secretive and sweeping rewrite of a coal mining regulation (the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule) that will cost jobs and decrease American energy production. The Administration has spent nearly $9 million taxpayer dollars working to rewrite this rule, including hiring new contractors, only to dismiss those same contractors once it was publically revealed that the Administration’s proposed regulation could cost 7,000 jobs and cause economic harm in 22 states. H.R. 2824 stops this costly rewrite from damaging the livelihood of thousands of hardworking Americans who depend on coal and implements the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

“President Obama’s relentless attacks on the coal industry, the hard working middle class families whose livelihoods depend on mining, and the businesses that depend on the affordable electricity that coal provides must stop. His Administration has spent nearly $9 million conducting its rewrite of the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule, and currently has nothing to show for it. My legislation would begin to put an end to the President’s war on coal by preventing this unnecessary rewrite of the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule from going forward. Coal has proven itself to be reliable in providing low cost, reliable electricity to people across the United States. Ohio alone gets 80% of its energy from coal-fired power plants, and many along the Ohio River rely on coal as not just a source of electricity but a way of life. I am thankful the House Natural Resources Committee approved this important legislation, and I am hopeful that the House of Representatives will take it up for a vote soon. Hard-working Americans should not be the scapegoats for this Administrations failed energy policies,” said Congressman Bill Johnson (OH-06).

“This legislation will stop the massive ongoing waste currently taking place at the department and save the taxpayers money. It will stop the Administration from continuing with a reckless and unnecessary rulemaking process and imposing a regulation that will directly cost thousands of American jobs and cause significant economic harm. The bill will provide regulatory certainty for an important domestic industry that not only provides great family-wage jobs with good benefits but also provides affordable energy for the American people and the Nation’s manufacturing base,” said Subcommittee Chairman Doug Lamborn (CO-05).

Visit /oversight/coalregs to learn more about the Committee’s oversight into the Obama Administration’s rewrite of the Stream Buffer Zone Rule.

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