The President

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

November 2, 1999

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the millions of members and supporters that our organizations represent in the coalfields and across the nation, we are writing to you concerning an urgent situation that threatens critical natural resources. We understand that a mountaintop removal coal mining rider waiving critical provisions on the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) may be added to one of the pending appropriations bills. We urge you to vigorously oppose such a rider.

Our organizations greatly appreciate your leadership on behalf of the environment when you vetoed the Fiscal Year 2000 Appropriations bill for the Commerce, State and Justice Departments. Among other concerns you raised in your veto message, was that the legislation contained unacceptable anti-environmental riders that would harm environmental quality and progress. We hope you will demonstrate similar leadership and veto the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations bill if it contains the anti-environmental riders currently adopted by the Congress.

One of these pieces of legislation now faces a new threat. The Commerce, State and Justice Departments legislation, or perhaps the Interior and Related Agencies bill, may be used as a vehicle to undercut critical provisions of the CWA and SMCRA. This rider would waive the CWA and the stream protection provisions of SMCRA so that the coal mining industry can dump their industrial waste into streams and not have to comply with state or federal water quality standards. It is a special interest loophole that would set a dangerous precedent for other industries that want to ask for exemptions from the CWA and other environmental laws.

We agree with the statement you issued on Saturday, concluding that there is no need to consider legislation on this issue. We urge you to veto any bill that contains such a rider. Any legislation enacted in the current climate of confusion and misrepresentation would undoubtedly be bad public policy. For example, contrary to some representations of this issue, environmentalists have not agreed to any proposal to waive application of the Clean Water Act or SMCRA with respect to mountaintop removal mining. The West Virginia groups involved in the litigation did sign off on the April, 1999 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that

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waived objections to the Army Corps of Engineer's jurisdiction over Clean Water Act permits for these operations. The plaintiffs did not agree to the August MOU that was the subject of the court’s decision. At least one of the draft riders we have seen would not only incorporate the second MOU, which is totally unacceptable itself, but would go much further and exempt valley fills from water quality standards, an unprecedented waiver of Clean Water Act requirements. The lack of clarity surrounding this issue underscores the importance of a deliberative process to resolve these questions and the need to resist efforts to react immediately by attaching a rider to a pending bill.

The mountaintop removal rider comes in response to a recent federal District Court decision that protects the streams and citizens in West Virginia from mining waste. No change is needed in the law to address the concerns expressed by supporters of this rider. The federal judge made clear that the decision only applies to future permitting actions affecting mountaintop removal mines, and has no immediate impact on existing jobs or the operation of existing mines. As you know, the judge put a stay on the decision contingent upon appeal so his decision currently has no impact on the mining industry in West Virginia. There is more than sufficient time for the parties involved to meet and discuss a deliberate and rationale approach to mountaintop removal mining regulation in Appalachia.

SMCRA was passed by Congress in 1977 to protect the people and the environment in the coalfields of Appalachia, the Midwest, and the West from some of the most devastating effects of coal mining. Particularly in Appalachia, a century of coal mining had taken a major toll on the water and the watersheds, and the people who suffered from loss of the quality of life at the hands of the coal mining companies. Today’s coal mining in Appalachia literally strips off hundreds of feet of the tops of mountains, and fills long pristine valleys with waste and spoil from the mining operation. These mountaintop removal and valley fill operations are extremely controversial due to the permanent damage that is occurring to the creeks and rivers in Appalachia that are being filled with the spoils of mining.

We are deeply troubled about the events unfolding in Appalachia around this court decision, where coal mining companies are using the opinion as a tool to drive a wedge between mine workers and West Virginia citizens concerned with protecting the quality of their water. Sadly, coal companies are trying to gain a political advantage by announcing that the court decision is forcing them to lay off mine workers. These company

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layoffs are occurring at mines that will not be affected by the decision. The Americans working and living in the coalfields of Appalachia should not be used as pawns in a political chess game or forced to accept continued environmental degradation as a condition of this game.

As you consider future iterations of annual spending bills for Fiscal Year 2000 from the Congress, please stand firm against the mountaintop removal rider and the other anti-environmental riders that have been proliferating on these legislative vehicles this year. Thank you for your continued diligence on behalf of our environment.

Sincerely,

Carl Pope

Executive Director

Sierra Club

Mark Van Putten

President and CEO

National Wildlife Federation

John Adams

President

Natural Resources Defense Council

Philip E. Clapp

President

National Environmental Trust

Brent Blackwelder

President

Friends of the Earth

Deb Callahan

President

League of Conservation Voters

Fred Krupp

Executive Director

Environmental Defense Fund

Vawter Parker

President

Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund

Rodger Schlickeisen

President

Defenders of Wildlife

Gene Karpinski

Executive Director

U. S. Public Interest Research Group

William M. Eichbaum

Vice President, U.S. Conservation and Global Threats

World Wildlife Fund

Bill Meadows

President

The Wilderness Society

John Flicker

President

National Audubon Society

Stephen D’Esposito

President

Mineral Policy Center

Wanda Hodge

Chair

Citizens Coal Council

Brock Evans

President

Endangered Species Coalition

James Wyerman

Executive Director

20/20 Vision

Patrick Sweeney

Director

Western Organization of Resource Councils

Barbara Jeanne Polo

Acting Executive Director

American Oceans Campaign

David Zwick

President

Clean Water Action

Cc:

Bruce Babbitt, Secretary

Department of the Interior

George Frampton, Chair

Council on Environmental Quality

Jacob Lew, Director

Office of Management and Budget

Carol Browner, Administrator

Environmental Protection Agency

Lt. General Joe Ballard, Chief of Engineers

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers