CHARLESTON, WV - Today, Governor Jim Justice wrote the following letter to Congress in opposition to the Stream Protection Rule.
Dear Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell,
As Governor of one of the leading coal producing states in the country, I am writing to you today urging the Congress to disapprove the "Stream Protection Rule" 81 Fed. Reg. 93,066 that the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement issued on December 20, 2016.
This rule would further cripple coal mining in West Virginia and in other states across the country and is a drastic overreach by this regulatory agency.
West Virginia has been harmed significantly in recent years due to burdensome rules and regulations imposed on the mining industry at the federal level and I ask you today to help us begin the process of healing our economy and putting our miners back to work by rejecting this rule.
Thank you for your consideration of our position on this extremely important matter.
Very respectfully,
Jim Justice