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.