Lawmakers pledged to take action on Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower court’s ruling that the EPA didn’t overstep its power in stripping a mountaintop mine of its permit.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) said the EPA’s revocation of a federal permit that was issued years ago for the mountaintop mine in West Virginia sets a “disturbing precedent” that could impact the entire U.S. economy.
“If the EPA can be allowed to retroactively take away a permit for a coal mine, there could be nothing to stop them from doing so at any other mine, construction site or manufacturing plant,” Shuster said. “What good is a permit if it can be revoked at any time? Changing the rules once a project has started creates absolute uncertainty that will be devastating to our economic growth and competitiveness and puts billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs in jeopardy.”
House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Chairman Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) also questioned how the EPA could revoke a permit without any previous violation of the permit’s terms.
“In the coming weeks, the committee will take action and consider targeted legislation to address this critical issue,” Shuster said. “The EPA has been given unprecedented powers by the Obama administration. This regulatory overreach spearheaded by an imperial presidency must be stopped.”