Coal-State Democrats Joining GOP Efforts To Curb EPA
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By SEAN HIGGINS, INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 07:18 PM ET


The Environmental Protection Agency is getting a harsher light aimed at it from Congress since the last election — and not just from Republicans. The scrutiny is increasingly bipartisan.

West Virginia Democrats last week joined a push to strip the EPA of its authority to pull permits after they have been issued. That follows the agency's decision two weeks ago to pull a permit from the state's largest mountaintop coal mine.

It is the latest case of coal-state Democrats balking at the EPA's regulatory agenda. Last year, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., championed legislation to strip the EPA of the power to issue greenhouse gas rules for two years. Six Democrats co-sponsored it.

That opposition will give bipartisan support to the GOP-led effort to roll back the EPA's agenda. Republicans are expected to unveil a bill soon to rein in the authority the EPA has claimed to regulate greenhouse gases. The White House had hoped to use the agency's regulatory power to bypass a gridlocked Congress. Instead, Congress may be coming after it.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, have vowed to aggressively probe the EPA and lay the groundwork for limiting its powers.

The EPA has more friends in the Senate, where Democrats still lead. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., never allowed a vote on Rockefeller's EPA bill despite private assurances to the senator.

But EPA critics are hopeful now that the Democrats' majority has shrunk.

"The Senate is much more evenly divided, so it really only would take a couple of Democrats," said a top Senate aide. "The ability to cut a deal is more in play this year than last Congress."

Coal Mine Is The Canary

One potential deal involves the West Virginia case. Last month, the EPA used a rarely invoked power to halt Arch Coal's (ACI) $250 million project. It argued that the mining could pollute groundwater. Green groups had pushed for the project to be stopped for years.

The move outraged the state's congressional delegation. Rep. Nick Rahall, a Democrat, noted that the original permit had come after years of negotiations with the federal government.

"Now that this line has been crossed, there is nothing to prevent this, or any future, EPA from reaching back to veto a previously granted permit, which means businesses will understandably be reluctant to invest because there is no apparent finality to the process," Rahall said in a statement to IBD.

Last week, Rahall backed, along with West Virginia GOP Reps. Shelley Moore Capito and David McKinley, a bill to strip the EPA of the power to pull a permit once the Army Corps of Engineers has approved it. The state's two senators, both Democrats, are attacking the EPA's move as well.

"With their anti-coal agenda, the Obama administration has put West Virginia in a very tough spot, especially with the Democratic delegation," said a top Senate aide.

In a joint letter in December, Rockefeller and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told the EPA: "We believe it is unwise to place a mining permit under additional scrutiny after it has been rigorously reviewed, lawfully issued and active for over a year."

Last week, Manchin vowed to introduce a Senate version of the House bill, arguing that the agency's action had "far-reaching" consequences beyond his state.

Bipartisan Coalition

"The type of permit at issue, a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit, is a requirement for commercial investment in several industries including but not limited to mining, agriculture, homebuilding, transportation and energy," Manchin said in a statement.

EPA critics say a bipartisan coal-state coalition is possible.

"It's not just West Virginia: Ohio, Kentucky, any (Appalachian state) can be affected by the EPA's gross regulatory overreach," said Jamie Corley, spokeswoman for Capito.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., author of an admiring history of the Appalachian people, is a potential ally.

"We are not going to let the EPA regulate coal out of business," Webb said at a September rally of coal miners opposed to the EPA pulling the West Virginia permit.

The newly elected Manchin, West Virginia's former governor, made the EPA a key theme of his 2010 Senate bid. He sued the EPA to stop it from rescinding the permit and later used a cap-and-trade bill for target practice in an ad.

Rockefeller has not endorsed Manchin's bill, though he's reportedly complained about the EPA's decision to the White House. His office declined to comment.

Senate sources say Rockefeller may fear that legislation could hurt Arch Coal's bid to throw out the EPA decision in court.