The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

December 23, 2009

EPA: Refined permit process coming; Byrd urges clarity

By Mannix Porterfield

While no stalled permits came up in their talk, Sen. Robert C. Byrd gained an assurance from the head of the Environmental Protection Agency that a refined structure is coming to deal with surface mine applications.

“It seemed to be a very positive discussion,” aide Jesse Jacobs said Tuesday, a day after Byrd met with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson at her invitation.

Byrd recently scolded the coal industry over what he termed “scapegoating” in the controversy over 79 pending permits across Appalachia, 23 of them in West Virginia.

“We did not talk about individual permits,” Jacobs said of the Byrd-Jackson one-on-one.

In fact, the meeting didn’t focus on the permits, and Byrd didn’t press for an acceleration of them.

“The two of them sat down and talked about providing clarity so that all parties involved know what is involved and what is expected in order to move any individual permits forward,” Jacobs said.

“He emphasized repeatedly we need clarity in the process.”

Byrd himself viewed the sit-down with Jackson as “friendly and candid,” and said the two agreed that ongoing discussions must embrace a civil discourse among all parties if any solutions are found to break the impasse.

Mining permits have been delayed while the EPA is attempting to discern if any violate the Clean Water Act.

Industry leaders have been up in arms over the gridlock, contending that without approval, they stand to lose contracts in West Virginia that will prompt layoffs since investments in new installations cannot be made.

Byrd said he specifically sought “a clear set of parameters” in which the industry, the EPA, other regulatory agencies and the unions may work.

Many people with permits in limbo are concerned about what the federal government expects because they are uncertain as to what the process entails, Jacobs said.

“He’s (Byrd) trying to get basically a structure in place so all the parties involved know what is involved to move this stuff forward,” the aide said.

Jackson indicated she intends to get this accomplished “in the near future,” Jacobs said, emphasizing he has no idea what kind of time frame the EPA administrator has in mind.

“They were listening to what he was saying and are prepared to move forward on this,” the aide said.

“I don’t think anything bad is going to come out of it. It was a very friendly, candid, civil in tone talk. I think an entirely good dialogue was established between the two of them. The two of them agreed, along with staff, to keep talking.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

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