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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 13, 2017 11:29 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Matt Gabler |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Temporary Cessation of Coal Mine Operations |
| As you know, for a variety of reasons, our coal industry in Pennsylvania continues to experience severe economic hardships. To add to these problems, our coal industry faces different sets of regulations at the state and federal levels. Although operators continue to remain responsible to meet all permit obligations including water treatment activities during cessations, state regulations limit temporary cessation to 180 days except for reasons of seasonal shutdown or labor strike. However, under Federal regulations, temporary cessation is not limited by specific timeframes, but rather by failure to submit an application for permit renewal prior to its expiration. Accordingly, in the near future, I will introduce legislation to more closely align the requirements for temporary cessation with those in Federal regulation allowing operators to cease operations beyond 180 days for reasons other than seasonal shutdown or labor strike so that our operators are not forced to either completely restart operations or permanently halt their mining sites when economic or other reasons cause them to temporarily cease active mining. Please join us by co-sponsoring this commonsense legislation to cut needless bureaucracy for job creators while maintaining appropriate protections for our environment. |
Introduced as HB1333