Environmental Groups Challenge Stream Buffer Zone Changes in Court
1/16/2009 -
A coalition of environmental groups has filed a legal challenge to the Bush administration’s stream buffer zone changes, which the groups deem a “midnight regulation” allowing coal mining operations to pose an even greater threat to U.S. waterways.
Attorneys with Earthjustice, Sierra Club and Waterkeeper Alliance filed the challenge in a Washington, D.C., federal district court on behalf of:
• Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.
• Kentucky Waterways Alliance.
• Tennessee-based Save Our Cumberland Mountains.
• West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.
• Coal River Mountain Watch.
• Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
The rule change — published in the Federal Register last month — will take affect Jan. 12.
The changes would allow coal mining activities within the previously established 100-foot buffer zone around flowing streams.
“This is among the 11th hour landmines planted by the Bush administration that an EPA headed by Lisa Jackson stands to inherit,” Earthjustice attorney Jennifer Chavez said.
“We are doing what we can to make it easier for the incoming administration to undo the damage wrought by the last one and restore our nation’s commitment to protecting the waters and summits of the Appalachians,” Chavez continued.
“The Bush Administration’s last-minute rulemaking violates the spirit of the Clean Water Act much the same way that mountaintop removal coal mining violates the spirit of Appalachia,” Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer Bill Price said.
To view the complaint: www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/sbz-rule-final-complaint-12-19.pdf.
Contact: Jennifer Chavez, Earthjustice, (202) 667-4500.
Attorneys with Earthjustice, Sierra Club and Waterkeeper Alliance filed the challenge in a Washington, D.C., federal district court on behalf of:
• Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards.
• Kentucky Waterways Alliance.
• Tennessee-based Save Our Cumberland Mountains.
• West Virginia Highlands Conservancy.
• Coal River Mountain Watch.
• Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
The rule change — published in the Federal Register last month — will take affect Jan. 12.
The changes would allow coal mining activities within the previously established 100-foot buffer zone around flowing streams.
“This is among the 11th hour landmines planted by the Bush administration that an EPA headed by Lisa Jackson stands to inherit,” Earthjustice attorney Jennifer Chavez said.
“We are doing what we can to make it easier for the incoming administration to undo the damage wrought by the last one and restore our nation’s commitment to protecting the waters and summits of the Appalachians,” Chavez continued.
Unlawful Midnight Regulations?
Opponents of the rule change say that it violates the Clean Water Act, and that it is among the Bush administration’s unlawful “midnight regulations.”“The Bush Administration’s last-minute rulemaking violates the spirit of the Clean Water Act much the same way that mountaintop removal coal mining violates the spirit of Appalachia,” Sierra Club Environmental Justice organizer Bill Price said.
To view the complaint: www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/sbz-rule-final-complaint-12-19.pdf.
Contact: Jennifer Chavez, Earthjustice, (202) 667-4500.
