Capito Statement On Obama Administration Announcement On Mining Permits

Press Release

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., released the following statement following an announcement by Obama Administration officials about the status and review process for mining permits throughout the Appalachian region.

"We all have an interest in ensuring appropriate oversight and review of proposed mining permits, but there's also a real need for certainty as to how this process will unfold," said Capito. "Continued delay and uncertainty will serve only to cause more mines to idle production, robbing us of quality jobs and economic output."

"I'm concerned that today's announcement is yet another example of the Administration slowly trickling additional rules and agenda items that serve only to create further ambiguity when it comes to the mining permitting process. Instead of answers, we are faced with more questions. The mining permitting process is quickly joining the U.S. tax code as a bureaucratic nightmare."

"As the Administration undertakes this process, they must remember that it will be the miners and mining communities that face the consequences of delay and ambiguity of the current environment. One way or another, they need to stand up and tell us how and when the applications will be looked at and acted upon."

Capito, with 11 other members of congress, recently wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commanding General Lieutenant General Robert Van Antwerp inquiring about the current permitting process.

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