Jay, McKinley spar on coal ash provision - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports
We were at work researching and polishing another report, on another of the potentials for productively utilizing the solid residua that arise from our essential use of Coal in the generation of truly economical electrical power, when we stumbled into the information concerning that same issue we present herein.
You might want to be alert for that other report, which will follow in a few days.
Right now, our working titles are: "Coal Ash to Help West Virginia Gain 80,000 Jobs", and/or, "West Virginia Ships to the World on Coal Ash Highway"; and, the furtherance of such lofty goals as intimated by those titles might well hinge on our discussion herein.
First, we remind you of the good work started on Coal's behalf by West Virginia's two champions in the United States Senate, as seen in our report of:
West Virginia Coal Association | WV Senators Rockefeller and Manchin Support Coal Ash Reuse | Research & Development; concerning:
"S1751; Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act; Summary: 10/20/2011--Introduced.Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize states to implement coal combustion residuals permit programs. Requires each state governor to notify the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) within six months about whether such state will implement such a program. ... Prohibits this Act from being construed to alter the EPA's regulatory determination, entitled "Notice of Regulatory Determination on Wastes from the Combustion of Fossil Fuels," that "the fossil fuel combustion wastes addressed in that determination do not warrant regulation under such Act. (Sponsor:)
Senator John Hoeven, of North Dakota; (Cosponsors:) Senator Joe Manchin, D-WV and Senator Jay Rockefeller, D-WV (et. al.)".
In that report, we also noted that similar legislation was introduced to the 112th Congress as "House Resolution 2273: Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act", by one of West Virginia's exemplary Congressional Representatives, the Honorable David McKinley.
And, insofar as we, with our unfortunate and admitted limitations, have been able to ascertain, only one astute Coal Country reporter was on top of that issue, as seen in:
Senators Supporting Fly Ash Bill - News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register; "Senators Supporting Fly Ash Bill; October 26, 2011; Joselyn King; The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register; West Virginia's Democrat senators are supporting a bill to stop fly ash from being regulated as a hazardous material by the Environmental Protection Agency. Senators Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin are among the original co-sponsors of House Bill 2273, the 'Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act.' The measure was first introduced in the House by Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va.
(Actually, Rockefeller and Manchin were co-sponsors, as noted, of the Senate version, S1751, not McKinley's House Bill 2273, as the wording might intimate.)
West Virginia's congressional delegation is united in its support of the bill, believing tougher regulation of fly ash would add to the cost of energy produced by coal-fired electrical plants - and to the electric bills paid by most consumers.
'We're trying to make it fly,' Manchin said. 'The EPA is depicting something as a hazard when it was never before believed to be a hazard.'
The House passed the bill by a vote of 267-144 on Oct. 14 with all three House members from West Virginia voting for it.
Manchin acknowledged many bills passed recently by the House are getting pigeonholed in the Senate.
'I sure hope it doesn't,' he said of the fly ash bill. 'I'm hoping common sense prevails.'
Rockefeller said the bill 'is an important issue for West Virginia.'
'I'm glad to have helped introduce this bipartisan bill in the Senate,' he said. 'It will allow businesses throughout West Virginia to have some certainty about the regulations they need to comply with, it will continue to protect miners' jobs, and it will improve protections to public safety. I look forward to working with my colleagues to move this bill forward.'
-----------------------
Sadly, since the bill has been, as we detail below, "referred to committee", Senator Manchin's fears of it being "pigeonholed" might have been realized.
And, nothing much, aside from that commendable note in the Wheeling papers, seems to have heralded that first noble attempt to inject some reason and productive common sense into the Federal Government's address of Coal Ash issues.
However, a great deal was made in the press of a disputatious issue concerning a more recent transportation bill, as seen, for just one, out of too many similar examples, in excerpts from the initial link in this dispatch:
"Jay, McKinley spar on coal ash provision; May 2, 2012; By Paul J. Nyden; The Charleston Gazette;
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va, stressed his support for coal ash recycling on Wednesday ... .
'I do not and have never supported federal efforts to label coal ash as a hazardous waste ... .
'Reuse and recycling of coal ash is absolutely in the best interests of West Virginia and the country. We just need to make sure that concerns about health and the environment are addressed, too.'
McKinley included a provision about recycling coal ash in the House Transportation Bill, legislation now being considered by the Senate.
'Currently, coal-fired power plants in 48 states around the country create coal ash every day, but there are no federal standards for safe disposal of the product. This is the first time in 30 years that Congress is offering environmentally safe standards for the disposal of coal ash,' McKinley said.
Rockefeller said adding a coal ash provision to the Transportation Bill is a political maneuver to make it harder to pass the legislation.
'Setting standards for coal ash impoundments is, and always has been, an environmental question. Pushing this or any other controversial provision will bring down a highway bill that West Virginia workers desperately need,' Rockefeller said.
'I'm going to keep working on coal ash reuse, but I'm not going to pretend to West Virginians that it's ready or right for the highway bill. We need roads and bridges and the jobs that go with them in our state ... .'
Last week, McKinley said if the coal ash provision in the Transportation bill 'goes down', it puts this issue and others like it in the hands of unelected bureaucrats to make decisions that will ultimately affect all of us.
'This bill protects jobs and public health by ensuring that needed provisions are put in place so that the 48 states around the country can continue recycling coal ash.'
McKinley criticized the Environmental Protection Agency in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
McKinley believes his coal ash amendment to the Transportation Bill will also save $110 billion in construction costs by allowing the use of coal ash in making cement for roads."
----------------------
A very similar article appeared the next day on the other end of the state, as seen in:
Senator Clarifies Coal Ash Stance - News, Sports, Jobs - The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register; "Senator Clarifies Coal Ash Stance; May 3, 2012; By Joselyn King; The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register; Sen. Jay Rockefeller supports the recycling of coal ash for other uses - but he does not support an amendment to the House transportation bill that seeks to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating coal ash as a hazardous substance";
and, both articles, we now suspect, despite their appearance, weren't founded, as they might, inadvertently we're certain, appear, on actual interviews with the participants.
As seen in:
ROCKEFELLER STATEMENT SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON COAL ASH - Press Releases - Press Room - United States Senator Jay Rockef ; "May02 2012; ROCKEFELLER STATEMENT SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON COAL ASH ;
"Senator Jay Rockefeller issued the following statement today emphasizing his support for coal ash recycling and dismissing misleading comments made about his record.
'I do not and have never supported federal efforts to label coal ash as a hazardous waste ... .
Reuse and recycling of coal ash is absolutely in the best interests of West Virginia and the country';
very, very similar information, as a read of the full Rockefeller statement, as accessible via the link, will reveal, was broadcast from the Senator's office, and remains available on his web site.
For his part, Congressman McKinley later offered the following:
Congressman David McKinley : Press Releases : Rep. McKinley Expresses Disappointment in Decision Not to Retain Coal Ash Langua;
"Representative McKinley Expresses Disappointment in Decision Not to Retain Coal Ash Language in Transportation Bill; 06/27/12; Today, Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E., expressed his deep disappointment over the failure of the House and Senate Conferees to retain the bipartisan-supported coal ash provision in the transportation bill.
'While I respect the democratic process, removing the House-passed amendment unfortunately sends two messages,' said Rep. McKinley. 'The first is that citizens living in the vicinity of coal ash impoundments will not have the new EPA safeguards provided in the bill and they will continue to be exposed to health and environmental issues they have been experiencing for the past thirty or more years. The second message regarding removal of the coal ash provision is the loss of hundreds of thousands of construction jobs because of the increased cost of concrete and the additional loss of 316,000 jobs related to the beneficial recycling of coal ash into both construction and consumer goods.'
'It’s a shame our colleagues in the Senate wanted to make this more of a political statement in their ongoing War on Coal rather than an issue about jobs and the environment,' said Rep. McKinley. 'The reuse and the safe disposal of coal ash have been in front of Congress for the past 30 years but they keep ‘kicking the can down the road’ instead of adopting a bi-partisan solution. For the first time in all these years, Congress actually had a solution and one which included federal EPA oversight.'
The coal ash bill, H.R. 2273, originally passed the House in October 2011 but the Senate failed to take action on the issue."
--------------------------
Well, concerning "H.R 2273", as we noted a bit further above, Senators Rockefeller and Manchin did, in fact, serve as co-sponsors on the closely-related "S1751; Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act"; so some action, at least, was taken.
And, Congressman McKinley himself actually applauds them for that, as seen, again on his web site, via what seems a reprint of an article from the State Journal, in:
Congressman David McKinley : In the News : Manchin, Rockefeller Co-sponsor Coal Ash Bill in Senate;
"Manchin, Rockefeller Co-sponsor Coal Ash Bill in Senate; 10/21/11; Measure virtually identical to one McKinley sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sens. Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W. Va., have signed on as co-sponsors of a U.S. Senate bill they say would ensure the safe and effective disposal of coal combustible residuals, also known as coal ash. Ash is a byproduct of coal-fired power plants and is recycled as a building material. The bill is practically identical to one that passed the House of Representatives Oct. 14. That bill was introduced by Rep. David McKinley, R- W.Va. It limits the EPA’s ability to regulate the disposal of coal ash. The EPA has proposed to regulate coal ash in one of two ways: similarly to household waste and primarily under state authority, or more stringently as a “special waste” under federal hazardous waste guidelines".
-----------------------
And, our take here on all of it is, that, our Coal Country press are turning out to be lousy foremen for our little old Coal Country chicken ranch.
They're taking a lot more interest in, and devoting far too much ink to, a minor dust-up between two roosters in the hen yard than they are in finding out where the egg basket is.
Why, we are compelled to ask, don't they pull themselves away from the AP wire long enough to make a few calls, make direct inquiry as to the health of "H.R 2273" and of "S1751", and get back to us on that?
Don't wait too long.
As can be seen in:
Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act (S. 1751) - GovTrack.us; "Referred to Committee Oct. 20, 2011; Report by Committee not yet occurred. This bill has a 2% chance of being enacted";
the Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act has, apparently having been abandoned by concerned family, and lacking essential care or even simple atttention, begun to wither away in the hospice; and, it's chances for survival look pretty grim.
Maybe bringing it out for a big, and long overdue, dose of Coal Country sunshine, letting it know that someone, somewhere, actually cares, would do it some good.