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Congressman Bill Johnson (R-Marietta) issued the following statement after the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) released the final version of their so-called “Stream Protection Rule:”

At least a third of coal-related jobs across the United States are now at severe risk due to the fact that this rule issued by OSM essentially deems such a plentiful amount of coal economically infeasible to mine. Not only will many good-paying jobs be lost, but so will tax-revenues across coal country. This rule provides no discernable environmental benefits, and it interferes with the extensive environmental protections at both the state and federal levels.

States across the country, like Ohio, were completely shut out during the development of this rule-making process, despite the requirement (as specified in the omnibus which was signed into law in December of 2015) for OSM to cooperate with the states. Now, in the waning days of the Obama Administration, the rule was released.  When the 115^th Congress convenes in January, my top priority will be doing all I can to urge House Leadership to use the Congressional Review Act to overturn this rule. Through this process, Congress, through the passage of a joint resolution signed by the President, may overrule a new regulation within 60 legislative days.

The people of coal country and across America voted in November, and they voted to protect coal, coal-related jobs, and our way of life. I will continue to fight tooth-and-nail to protect jobs in Eastern and Southeastern Ohio, and to work with the incoming administration and House leaders to overturn this ill-advised, job crushing rule.