Washington, D.C.– Congressman David B. McKinley, P.E., (WV-1) issued the following statement after the House passed the 2017 Interior and Environmental Appropriations bill. This legislation cuts back on many of the EPA’s punishing rules and regulations that have hurt our economy while protecting America’s natural resources. If passed by the Senate and signed by the President, it will be the first time an Interior appropriations bill would be approved into law as a stand-alone since 1996.

“For too long the EPA has been devastating working families in West Virginia and around the country, with excessive rules and regulations that have closed businesses and sent people to the unemployment line. If we are going to create jobs and put people back to work, we need to stop this kind of executive overreach,” said McKinley.

“Now we are using the power of the purse to hold the EPA accountable and stop its destructive policies while funding necessary programs that promote clean water, fight wildfires, and protect our natural resources,” McKinley said.

Background & key provisions Rep. McKinley worked to include:

·         No funds shall be used to implement the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) or New Source Performance Standard

·         No funds shall be used to implement the Stream Protection Rule

·         Prohibits use of funds to further develop or carry out the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS)

·         Prohibits funds to implement proposed EPA Methane Emissions Rule

·         No funds shall be used to carry out the moratorium on the Federal Coal Lease Program

·         None of the funds made available shall be used for the social cost of carbon to be incorporated into rulemaking, guidance document or the environmental decision-making process

·         Prohibits funds from being used to implement any changes to royalty rates or product valuation regulations under the federal, coal, oil, and gas leasing programs

·         Authorizes a report regarding the implementation regarding the EPA’s rule on coal ash

·         Provides much needed reforms to the EPA’s new Ozone Standard

·         None of the funds made available will be used to implement the DOI’s Well Control Rule unless or until the Secretary (a) revises it to incorporate information learned from additional workshops with industry experts; (b) provides at least 180 days for public comment; and (c) issues are revised final version of the Well Control Rule.