Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Obama's last coal rule likely headed for the chopping block in Congress

Politico: The Obama administration's years-in-the-making rule to protect streams from mountaintop removal coal mining is on track to go into effect a day before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, meaning Congress will have to step in to kill it quickly.

Trump has railed against regulations on the coal industry in general, although he has not specifically addressed the Interior Department's stream rule, which has been in the works since 2009 and was finally released Monday. His pick to be Interior secretary, Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), is an ardent coal backer and has called for Congress to block the rule. Zinke would be in charge of unwinding the rule, but that process could take years through normal administrative channels. A quicker route runs through Congress, where Republicans are assembling a hit-list of recently passed rules they can block with little recourse from Democrats.

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