SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 35
(By Senators Tomblin, Mr. President, Jackson, Love,
Schoonover, Bailey, Minear, Helmick, Ross, Anderson, Plymale,
Prezioso, Wooton, Walker, Minard, Fanning, Edgell, Dittmar,
Sharpe, Kessler, Bowman, Ball, Mitchell, Hunter, Oliverio,
McKenzie, McCabe, Redd, Boley, Deem, Sprouse and Craigo)
Recognizing the importance of the coal mining industry in West
Virginia and requesting West Virginia's congressional
delegation to support the coal industry.
Whereas, The Legislature works tirelessly to improve the
quality of life for the citizens of the Mountain State; and
Whereas, Coal mining has been, and continues to be, one of the
primary industries responsible for the economic success of West
Virginia and its citizens; and
Whereas, Thousands of West Virginians are employed, either
directly or indirectly, by the coal mining industry which generates
payrolls totaling over $2 billion; and
Whereas, Surface coal mining, including the practice of
mountaintop removal, currently represents one third of the total
coal production in West Virginia; and
Whereas, Surface mining currently accounts for the payment of
millions of dollars in severance taxes, millions of dollars in
income taxes, and millions of dollars in other related taxes paid
to the State of West Virginia; and
Whereas, County governments and county school systems
throughout the state rely on the taxes from coal companies and coal
miners to fund many valuable programs, including public education,
ambulance services and law enforcement; and
Whereas, The loss of any of West Virginia's coal mines and the
loss of any mining-related employment ultimately results in
significant harm to all West Virginians; and
Whereas, The world market place for coal is severely
competitive and supports only mining companies that are dependable,
low cost sources of coal; and
Whereas, Concerns have been raised about the method of mining
known as mountaintop removal and the Governor and the Legislature
have responded to those concerns; and
Whereas, By executive order, the Governor did appoint a task
force to explore the issue of mountaintop removal mining and
related practices. That task force conducted numerous public
meetings and collected significant amounts of information prior to
issuing a comprehensive report containing numerous recommendations
to the Governor and the Legislature; and
Whereas, The Legislature did request a study of the issues surrounding blasting to be conducted by a joint interim
subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Government
Organization and that subcommittee recommended numerous bills to address the concerns of blasting; and
Whereas, The 1999 Legislature, through the passage of Senate
Bill No. 681, has considered the reports and recommendations of the
Governor's task force and the interim subcommittee and has
affirmatively responded to concerns which have been raised about
the issue of mountaintop removal mining by doing the following:
Strengthening the laws and regulations which are designed to
control blasting by extending the pre-blast survey areas, requiring
site-specific blasting plans when blasting is to occur near
structures, imposing new penalties for blasting violations causing
damage to property, establishing a presumption of liability where
damage is done to water wells within certain distances of water
wells and establishing an economical and efficient claims process
for those aggrieved by blasting operations; and
Establishing the office of blasting to review and regulate
blasting operations in surface mining;
Establishing the office of coalfield community development to
require the various stakeholders in the mining process to address
the issues of community development, regional development, property
acquisitions and other issues relevant to the future of the areas
of the state where coal mining occurs;
Repealing the provisions of legislation which was enacted during the 1998 session of the Legislature thereby restoring the
stream mitigation program to its previous status; and
Addressing other issues of concern in the areas of mountaintop
removal mining; and
Whereas, Actions and inactions by federal regulatory agencies
which have had the effect of closing surface coal mines are more
frequent and result in the loss of hundreds of mining and other
jobs in West Virginia; and
Whereas, In an effort to address these problems and to solicit
cooperation with the federal agencies, the Governor, the President
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Delegates jointly
prepared and sent to Carol M. Browner, Administrator of the United
States Environmental Protection Agency, a letter inquiring about
mining standards and agency actions. At the present time, there
has been no response to the letter; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby recognizes the importance of the
coal mining industry and encourages all federal and state agencies
regulating the coal mining industry to demonstrate affirmative
responsiveness by returning to fair and objective behavior,
particularly in the issuance of mining permits and other regulation
of the coal industry; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature supports the continued
mining of coal in West Virginia, including surface mining by all
methods recognized by state and federal law, and is prepared to
cooperate with all federal agencies in an effort to resolve quickly
any outstanding issues which are preventing the mining of coal and
which are contributing to the loss of jobs in West Virginia; and,
be it
Further Resolved, That the Legislature requests West
Virginia's congressional delegation to join in the efforts to
support the coal industry in West Virginia and to make every effort
possible to assist in securing the needed cooperation from federal
agencies to allow the continuation of the mining of coal and to
protect the jobs of coal miners and others who derive their
employment from coal mining; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby
directed to forward a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President and
Vice President of the United States, the Governor of West Virginia,
members of the West Virginia's congressional delegation to the United States Congress, and to the
directors of each of the federal and state agencies that regulate
the coal mining industry in West Virginia.