If the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has its way, the nation’s miners will be saddled with a new regulation that is akin to a solution in search of a problem.  In the process, it would effectively duplicate other federal agencies’ responsibilities, preempt state authority, and potentially cripple an important industry.

ARPN President Daniel McGroarty discusses the issue at hand in a new op-ed published in various local news outlets, including the Sentinel News.

Here’s an excerpt, in which McGroarty zeroes in on the EPA’s motivation behind its regulatory push:

“Behind all this is an EPA bowing to the demands of activists who ignore current environmental and financial assurance laws that protect taxpayers from post-mining costs. To justify a new layer of federal rules, activists point to old legacy mines from a bygone era, abandoned long before the advent of current environmental laws. They ignore the fact that money set aside under EPA’s proposed rule will not fund the cleanup of such legacy sites. 

No wonder a growing chorus of critics, including key congressional committee chairmen, are joining state regulators in asking tough questions about EPA’s approach: Why has EPA not consulted financial institutions to properly assess the market’s capacity to cover such financial obligations? Why is EPA deaf to suggestions from small business on how it should minimize economic impacts?  And, why do we need a new layer of federal regulation when current law already provides the insurance that the public expects?” 

Click here to read the piece in its entirety.