EPA Approval Of Mountaintop Mine Sets Precedent For Pending Permits

摘要

EPA's agreement to approve a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for a large mountaintop mining project in West Virginia after the agency negotiated a slew of additional site-specific requirements for the mine could form a model for other mining companies to cut similar deals with the agency.rnAlthough the 12-page agreement between Patriot Coal and EPA features dozens of requirements specific to the unique geographic, stream and soil characteristics of the site in question, an EPA source says the agreement nonetheless highlights the principles EPA will seek to achieve in future agreements. The agreement is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.