Citizens Coal Council

Programs: Ccc completed a study by schmid & co. , entitled "stream protection in pennsylvania: in the context of underground mining," which will be issued in october 2016. The report examines the effects that underground mining has on streams and discusses legislative and regulatory efforts in pennsylvania to protect streams from adverse effects.

ccc has been working with the pa abandoned mine lands campaign and a national coalition of groups on the reclaim act. Reclaim is bipartisan bill that will make 1 billion in available funding from the abandoned mine land reclamation (aml) fund to reclaim former coal mining land the aml funding would be used for reclamation of abandoned coal mine sites and polluted water in a way that would promote sustainable redevelopment in economically distressed coal-impacted communities and spur economic development in the coalfields.

the osmre stream protection rule (spr) was finalized december 20, 2016. Ccc and a coalition of over 50 groups immediately opposed h. J. Res. 11, a congressional resolution to kill the rule. Ccc, our coalition partners, and the former director of the osmre provided talking points for the congressional members to use on the floor to oppose the h. R. Res. 11. On january 10, 2017 ccc organized a 2-hour spr briefing by the osmre for coalfield citizens.

citizens coal council, (ccc) public justice, and environmental integrity project secured another one-year agreement with owner of a 500-acre coal ash impoundment in labelle, pennsylvania. The owner has to treat polluted streams, control coal ash air pollution and is not allowed to haul coal ash to the site. Ccc and two attorneys met in december 2016 with the director of the office of surface mining reclamation and enforcement (osmre) to ask the agency to intervene on a landowner's behalf in a case of stream loss with the pennsylvania department of environmental protection. The padep will not force consol energy to fix the damaged stream even though it has been ten years since the damage occurred. Ccc monitors and watchdogs the federal osmre who oversees the implementation of the surface mining control and reclamation act (smcra). Ccc is well known in the coalfields as the go-to organization for anything osmre or smcra related. Every state's mining laws must be equal to or better than smcra. This is why it is important to monitor congressional efforts to weaken the law or the agency that oversees enforcement of the law. Ccc secured a meeting with the office of management and budget (omb) in july 2016 regarding the stream protection rule. The purpose of the meeting was for coalfield citizens to convince the omb not to strip the longwall mining language from the stream protection rule as well as the material damage language. Ccc attended a stakeholder meeting in dc organized by western organization of resource councils. The meeting was with the osmre bonding rulemaking team. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure that all points of view and all possible ramifications of different approaches with the goal of improving the effectiveness of the bonding regulations. Ccc organized a meeting with the director of the osmre and the hopi executive director of black mesa trust, and his wife in november 2016. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the environmental impact statement on the navajo generating station.