Pruitt announces plans regarding coal regulations.
WASHINGTON — “The regulatory assault is over.” That is what U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told coal miners Thursday at the Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pennsylvania.
As a presidential candidate, President Donald Trump pledged to create coal mining jobs, even holding rallies with official campaign signs reading, “Trump digs coal.” After taking office, Trump signed executive orders aimed at eliminating regulations passed under the Obama administration, including the Stream Protection Rule and the Clean Power Plan.
“The coal industry was nearly devastated by years of regulatory overreach,” Pruitt said to 100 workers.
The EPA would also partner with states in order to meet air quality standards, clean up toxic waste sites and improve water infrastructure.
Companies would have to reduce the amount of toxic heavy metals being released from plants to comply with the rule.
This is another step the Trump administration is making to change regulations impacting the coal industry; Trump signed an executive order Feb. 16 repealing the Stream Protection Rule, which required additional mine reclamation work, data gathering and waterway monitoring near mining sites.
28 executive order to review the Clean Power Plan.
The regulation established carbon dioxide emission rates at coal-power power plants in an effort to reduce emissions by 32 percent come 2030.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, employment in the coal industry has declined from 259,000 in 1979 to around 53,000 in 2016.