Published: October 27, 2017 |

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For the past several years, Kentucky’s coal industry has had two top priorities when it comes to regulatory relief – rolling back the Obama administration’s power plant rule and stopping an overreaching rule on waterways near coal mining sites.

Throughout those years, I’ve worked tirelessly to oppose the EPA’s job-killing regulations and the Obama administration’s war on coal. We made significant strides in Congress, but the new administration this year has finally given us the critical support needed to turn these goals into reality.

Earlier this month, when I held a roundtable with coal industry leaders in Lexington, the mood was different than in past meetings. Rather than being faced with story after story of mine closures and devastation, without any sense of optimism for what the future held (which I sadly heard too often during similar gatherings in Eastern and Western Kentucky late last year), there was a sense of hope for their slowly recovering industry.

In March, President Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at making America energy independent, which, in addition to immediately rolling back a litany of job-killing regulations, called for agencies to identify and suspend their policies that harm domestic energy production. It also called for a review of President Obama’s power plant regulations.

This was a huge win for us in our efforts to overturn a truly disastrous rule, and last week’s news that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt intends to end the Obama administration’s power plant rule is even more welcome good news. The optimism we began to see earlier this year is continuing to grow, and this announcement surely helps.

I’m pleased to see the new administration making good on their promises to join our efforts to lift major roadblocks, and I remain excited about the possibilities for revitalizing our coal industry in the years ahead.

I’ve always believed that the Environmental Protection Agency’s core mission is to protect our air and water, not to pick winners and losers through regulating an entire industry out of existence. I’m encouraged by the new administration’s commitment to ensuring the EPA’s focus is on clean air and water, not on standing in the way of energy independence.

I have always said there must be balance when it comes to regulation. America can and should be both pro-growth and pro-environment.

In addition to last week’s announcement, earlier this year President Trump eagerly signed legislation I co-sponsored to repeal the rule regarding waterways near coal mining sites.

Before its repeal, the rule’s provisions included prohibiting coal mining within 100 feet of streams. It allowed federal bureaucrats to preempt and overrule state permitting standards. The National Mining Association had estimated that the Rule endangered one third of coal-related jobs and could have cost billions in lost federal and state tax revenue.

Following the repeal of that rule, President Trump also signed an Executive Order calling for a review and reconsideration of the Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) Rule – another major step forward for both the coal industry and Kentucky’s farmers.

I originally introduced the Defense of Environment and Property Act to push back on the Obama administration EPA and Army Corps of Engineers’ WOTUS rule because it significantly expanded the definition of waters in the U.S. to include non-navigable waters, certain dry land, drains, ditches, small ponds, and even depressions in fields that are only wet after heavy rains.

My legislation called for defining navigable waters as navigable-in-fact and relatively permanent bodies of water. Since the President’s Executive Order called for a review consistent with the same definition I already used in my Defense of Environment and Property Act, I mailed a copy of my bill to EPA Director Scott Pruitt to assist in the rewriting.

Rolling back some of the most egregious examples of government overreach on Kentucky miners has always been a top priority of mine, and I applaud President Trump for continuing his efforts to provide regulatory relief to all Americans.

These swift and recent positive developments in repealing the regulations responsible for so much loss and devastation in Kentucky are a sign of the many opportunities for our Commonwealth going forward.

I promised to lead the fight against President Obama’s war on coal in Kentucky. While I am extremely proud of my record in keeping that promise, I am even more proud to reaffirm my commitment to working on your behalf to ensure a brighter future for Kentucky.