Griffith To Rein In The EPA

Here's another battle that's shaping up:  Liberty vs. the Environmental Protection Agency.

Joining that battle is Morgan Griffith, Republican congressman, Virginia's 9th District.

Here's the latest from his office (in a press release):

Last week, 14 of my colleagues joined me in sending a letter to Chairman Mica of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has direct jurisdictional authority over the Clean Water Act. The recent revocation of the water permit for the Spruce No. 1 Mine is a clear example of the EPA’s overreach. Following an extensive environmental review and final approval by the Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA swooped in and took the unprecedented step of rescinding the permit after it had already been granted. If a permit can be granted and then be allowed to be taken away by the EPA, small businesses and working families are assured of the one thing they don’t need more of – uncertainty.

I urge the committee of jurisdiction to review the Clean Water Act, and more specifically, the EPA’s ability under Section 404(c) to revoke permits for projects the Army Corps has previously researched and approved. I look forward to working closely with the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to investigate these actions taken by the EPA.

His letter to Chairman Mica:

January 26, 2011


The Honorable John L. Mica
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
U.S. House of Representatives
2165 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Mica:

Based upon its claim of authorities under Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on January 13, 2011, took the unprecedented step of rescinding a water permit for the Mingo Logan Spruce No. 1 Mine, issued in 2007 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). This decision has enormous implications, and we urge you to fully and thoroughly investigate this action by EPA and, if necessary, make appropriate clarifications to the law.

In an October 16, 2009, letter to the Huntington District of the Corps, the Acting Region III Administrator for EPA – William Earley – acknowledged both: “that the project has been modified to reduce projected impacts” and that his office was “aware that EPA has never before used its Section 404(c) authority to review a previously permitted project since Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972.” As such, we believe this action by EPA will have a chilling effect on any entity regulated under this section of the Clean Water Act, sending the message to all American businesses that EPA does not consider ANY validly issued and adhered to permit to be immune from revocation.

With the unemployment rate at an unacceptably high rate of 9.4 percent nationally and manufacturing employment remaining flat, the federal government should not be looking for ways to use its authority to destroy the jobs of hardworking Americans in work it approved after a 10-year environmental review, including a 1,600 page Environmental Impact Statement in which EPA both participated in and agreed to its terms. According to figures published in a January 14, 2010, Minority Staff Report by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the Spruce Mine project would provide 253 mining jobs -- with long-term employment opportunities projected to have a duration of 13 to 15 years -- and 298 indirect jobs in the community. Moreover, according to the National Mining Association, the jobs at the mine would pay $65,000 a year plus benefits, and EPA’s permit revocation will prevent the investment of $250 million in the Mingo Logan community.

In addition to the quite troubling economic impacts for the affected community, we are also disturbed by the lack of transparency showed by EPA in taking this action. In a written response to questions from U.S. Senator James Inhofe, dated December 2, 2009, the West Virginia Secretary of Environmental Protection, Randy C. Huffman made three (3) disturbing points:

1. His state department never heard from EPA directly before EPA initially took action. Mr. Huffman’s department received a copy of a September 3, 2009, letter the EPA sent to the Corps, requesting that the Corps suspend, revoke or modify this permit, not from EPA, but from the Corps.

2. Although EPA had suggested to Mr. Huffman’s department and the owner of the mine that changes in the mine’s operation might mollify EPA’s views on permit revocation, EPA was unable to articulate what changes were required or to identify any clear criteria it would use in judging what was acceptable.

3. The EPA had not expressed its concerns about the mine permit to Mr. Huffman’s department before supplying his department with a copy of its October 16, 2009 letter to the Corps.

For an Administration that campaigned on government transparency and recently issued an executive order concerning the review of hundreds of federal regulations to make sure they are not impeding economic growth, this action by EPA represents a dramatic disconnect between words and deeds.

The United States Constitution explicitly gives Congress the power to write laws, not the Executive Branch. We believe this action raises several issues with other Federal laws including whether EPA has authority under the Clean Water Act to revoke a permit once the permit has been issued in the absence of any allegation that the permit was violated; whether EPA can use the Section 404(c) process to usurp the states’ authority over its own water quality decisions; and whether EPA’s veto action substantially interferes with the mineral owner’s property right giving rise to a “taking” claim against the Federal government.

We respectfully urge you and your committee to fully and thoroughly investigate this action by EPA, and we stand ready to help you should you wish.

The way of life in the coalfields of Virginia is threatened by a far-removed, out-of-touch, out-of-control federal bureaucracy that has as its only concern, based upon the flimsiest of evidence, the misguided preservation of our boulders and mountain gullies, and the human inhabitants of Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Tazewell, and Wise Counties be damned. That bureaucracy must be stopped.

Here's to Morgan Griffith for championing that cause.