Lexington – The following statement may be attributed to Tyler White, President of the Kentucky Coal Association, regarding actions taken this week by the United States House of Representatives and Senate with regards to the Stream Buffer Rule:

The Kentucky Coal Association thanks the country’s Majority Leader, Senator McConnell, Senator Paul, and leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives to include Representatives, Barr, Comer, Guthrie, Massie, and Rogers for their support of our vital industry.

This week, our country’s leaders took the first step in rolling back unlawful regulation by unaccountable federal bureaucrats. The Stream Protection Rule would have been a duplicative and overreaching rule altering over 400 regulations. Furthermore, it was forced out at the eleventh hour of the Obama Administration after eight years of secretive work by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), during which states were completely alienated from what is meant to be a cooperative process.

The Kentucky Coal Association will continue to advocate for a fair playing field that will allow coal to compete in the free market. The action by the Republican led House of Representatives yesterday and the Senate today is a step in the right direction and shows the people of Kentucky the commitment this new Congress, and administration has for the coal industry.

In a letter written to Senator McConnell, which was also referred to by the Leader on the floor of the senate the Kentucky Coal Association: “The undeniable truth is that the SPR will have a real impact on the real world. It will cause real harm to real people, who support real families in real communities. And those real families and communities desperately need Congress to intervene on their behalf to rebuke the actions of an out-of-control federal agency by passing a resolution to overturn the SPR and send it to President Trump’s desk to be signed into law.”

This week Congress intervened on behalf of the real families and communities who have real impact on the real world. Most importantly, it is noteworthy that this was the first regulation Congress decided to tackle showing their dedication to coal country and to protecting and creating American jobs.

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Lexington – The following statement may be attributed to Tyler White, President of the Kentucky Coal Association, regarding the confirmation of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt:

The Kentucky Coal Association congratulates former Oklahoma Attorney General, and Kentucky native, Scott Pruitt for his confirmation as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We have the utmost confidence in Administrator Pruitt’s ability’s to effectively manage and guide the EPA within the construct and parameters of the law.

Kentucky has long been the victim of federal overreach and relentless assaults from the EPA throughout the Obama administration. More specifically the coal industry was often the target of this regulatory overreach. We are confident Administrator Pruitt will bring a commonsense and lawful approach to environmental protection.

Administrator Pruitt’s understanding of the rights and roles of states agencies with regard to implementing environmental laws will greatly complement the leadership we have in Kentucky’s Energy and Environment Cabinet.

The Kentucky Coal Association would also like to thank Leader McConnell for his support of Administrator Pruitt from the time he was nominated as well as Senator Rand Paul.

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