NYT: Coal industry ‘fingerprints all over’ EPA bill

The New York Times reports as legislation to limit America’s Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate coal ash hits the US Congress this week, environmental advocates see industry footprints all over the bill’s language.

They say millions of dollars spent in lobbying and campaign contributions have yielded another congressional proposal to block Obama administration environmental oversight – and have allowed the industry to frame the debate.

MINING.com reported in September on the first wave of coal plant closures due to new EPA rules; Kentucky power companies Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities said new, stricter, federal environmental regulations will force them to retire three older, coal-fired power plants and recoup the $4 billion in EPA compliance costs through future price hikes for customers.

MINING.com reported in June on an industry-sponsored study that suggests that US federal regulation of coal combustion residuals, or coal ash, currently being considered by the EPA would result in as many as 316,000 lost jobs and as much as $110bn in lost economic activity over a 20-year period.