Washington, D.C. —Representative David McKinley (WV-1) re-introduced legislation today to stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s unprecedented overreach by limiting its power to retroactively revoke permits, like they did with the Spruce Mine permit.

On January 13, 2011, the EPA took the unprecedented step to retroactively revoke a lawfully issued, four-year old section 404  water permit for the Spruce No. 1 Surface Mine in Logan County, West Virginia.

 “When the EPA retroactively revoked the Spruce Mine permit in Logan County, they destroyed good-paying jobs in West Virginia and made businesses of all types lose trust in the federal permitting process,” said McKinley.

This permit was issued by the Army Corps of Engineers in January 2007. The permit was issued after an extensive 10-year environmental review, including a 1,600 page environmental impact statement in which the EPA fully participated and agreed to all terms and conditions included in the authorized permit.

 “This action creates uncertainty for any business that needs a permit for its operations – not just coal but manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and many others,” McKinley added. “I will continue to fight this gross abuse of power and return certainty to permitting so businesses can create jobs.”

In the previous two Congresses, Congressman McKinley introduced similar legislation. Most recently, H.R. 524 was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 20, 2014.

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