Amid everything going on in Washington, President Trump signed legislation last week. As reported by The Hill on Thursday afternoon:
President Trump on Thursday signed legislation ending a key Obama administration coal mining rule.
The bill quashes the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule, a regulation to protect waterways from coal mining waste that officials finalized in December.
The legislation is the second Trump has signed into law ending an Obama-era environmental regulation. On Tuesday, he signed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution undoing a financial disclosure requirement for energy companies.
Both the mining and financial disclosure bills are the tip of a GOP push to undo a slate of regulations instituted in the closing days of the Obama administration. The House has passed several CRA resolutions, and the Senate has so far sent three of them to President Trump for his signature.
Regulators finalized the stream protection rule in December, but they spent most of Obama’s tenure writing it.
The rule is among the most controversial environment regulations the former administration put together. The coal mining industry said it would be costly to implement and lead to job losses across the sector, which is already suffering from a market-driven downturn in demand for its product.
Speaker Ryan released a statement on the repeal of the stream protection rule, which you can read here.
The rule was repealed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which looks to play an important role in deregulating the economy during the early period of the Trump administration. Speaker Ryan’s website explains:
Enacted in 1996 as part of Speaker Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, the CRA requires federal agencies who implement a major rule or regulation to submit it to Congress to review the substance and impact.
A “major” rule is defined by the CRA as one that has resulted in or is likely to result in (1) an annual impact of $100 million or more on the economy; (2) a major increase in costs or prices for consumers, industries, government agencies, or geographic regions; or (3) significant adverse effects on competition between U.S. businesses and foreign businesses.
So these regulations are big. And often harmful. They’re the kind of rules that start out as fine print in Washington, and end up forcing small businesses to raise their costs, eliminate jobs, and ultimately close their doors.
The speaker’s press release states that the repeal of the stream protection rule “is just the beginning.”
Let’s hope so.