Today, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) released the final Stream Protection Rule. Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) released the following statement:

“The Obama administration jammed this futile, job-killing rule through under the wire. The only silver lining with today’s release is that their eight-year waste of taxpayer money finally comes to an end. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to overturn this unparalleled executive overreach and implement policies that protect communities forsaken by this administration.”

Background

In 2010, OSM signed a memoranda of understanding with 11 states to act as cooperating agencies. These cooperating agencies, in theory, would have an important role in the development of the Environmental Impact Statement and subsequently the final rule.

In 2015, Chairman Bishop requested a Government Accountability Office review of OSM’s compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act, particularly the mandate to “provide for meaningful participation” as nine of the 11 states withdrew as cooperating agencies.

On January 12, 2016, the House passed H.R. 1644 (Rep. Alex Mooney, R-WV), the “Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act (STREAM Act),” to block this rule and increase transparency in the development of regulations concerning stream buffer zones.