Dow Jones reported that US mining regulators are defending their efforts to tighten coal mining standards after a leaked report showed a possible set of rules would kill more than 7,000 jobs.
In a conference call with reporters, top officials at the US Interior Department attempted to head off criticism over the proposal, saying they were still in the early stages of developing a rule and vowed to consider its effect on employment.
Mr Joe Pizarchik director of the department's Office of Surface Mining said that "We will take a serious look at potential job impacts."
The Interior Department was forced to defend its efforts after a draft analysis began circulating among state officials and was then leaked to media outlets.
According to a copy obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, the Interior Department is weighing five different alternatives for its so called stream protection rule and its preferred alternative would lead to a net loss of 7,000 jobs.
The draft analysis said that the greatest number of job losses would occur in the Appalachian Basin. And while the job losses would have a relatively small impact on regional unemployment numbers, the report did say the proposal would result in a substantial loss of earnings and personal income in local areas in some coal producing regions.
The unemployment projection in the draft report has prompted an outcry from US lawmakers. The head of the US House Natural Resources Committee, Mr Doc Hastings, is asking the Interior Department to provide further details on possible job losses and is considering a hearing on the issue.
He said that "Clearly the administration has preconceived notions of the changes it wants to execute and is pursuing those goals on a self-imposed deadline without any adequate consideration of the impacts on workers, jobs or communities."
The goal of the stream-protection rule, which is still months away from even being proposed, is to protect streams from the spoil or waste produced from mountaintop mining. This is a practice whereby coal companies use dynamite to blow off mountain tops to gain access to coal seams underneath the earth's surface.
The Interior Department launched work on its stream protection rule after signing an agreement with other federal agencies, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, to reduce the effect of mountaintop mining. The rule would replace the so called stream buffer zone rule, adopted by President Mr George W Bush.
(Sourced from www.dowjones.com)
