EPA Headquarters Overrules Kentucky-Region IV Pact On Mine Permits

摘要

EPA headquarters has nixed a tentative pact between its Region IV office and Kentucky regulators to end a months-long impasse over state surface coal mine permits that the agency objected to for failing to meet its strict Clean Water Act (CWA) permit guidance, continuing an uncertain path for the permits and dozens more that EPA is likely to block. The state and regional officials thought they had reached an agreement on a "template" for approved permits that would have beefed up the "best management practices" (BMPs) companies would have to implement to reduce runoff at their mines, but EPA headquarters nixed the deal because the template did not include the strict conductivity limits EPA outlined in the guidance, Kentucky's top environmental regulator told a House subcommittee May 5.