Bill Johnson Votes for STREAM Act, Coal Jobs

Press Release

Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) issued the following statement after voting for the "Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act". The legislation passed the House 235-188.

"Today we once again fought back against the Office of Surface Mining's (OSM) poorly-named "Stream Protection Rule' in order to protect important coal jobs in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio, and throughout the country. OSM's ill-conceived rule would cost tens of thousands of American jobs while raising the cost of electricity on hard-working families. Neither the President, nor OSM, have ever expressed any concern over the human cost, or the higher electricity costs, families in coal country would bear as a result of this rule. The war on coal is real. Any objective observer can see this clearly. Coal miners and operators are doing everything they can to hold on, and this bill would give them a fighting chance. State agencies are in a much better position to make important environmental decisions regarding coal mining, and this harmful rule does not help -- in fact it hurts, and I'll continue to do everything I can to fight it off."

The STREAM Act would simply require the OSM to work with the National Academy of Sciences to study and better understand how current OSM rules affect the industry. It would also prevent the implementation of this rule - or any similar rule - until one year after completion of the study, allowing for Congress, industry and the public to review.

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