UPDATE:  The comment period to the Office of Surface Mining on the stream buffer zone rule change has ended.  Check back on our website later for an update on the OSM's decision.

It’s absurd that we are even having this conversation.  The only discussion about the Stream Buffer Zone ought to be about expanding it.

-Jeff Chapman-Crane

What is the Stream Buffer Zone rule?

        The Stream Buffer Zone rule has been in effect since 1983 to protect the nation’s headwater streams from being buried by valley fills from mountaintop removal and radical strip mining. The current law, requires that the impacts of mining be kept at least 100 feet from a stream.  In August, the Bush Administration and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) proposed a change to the law that would seriously weaken this stream protection and eliminate it in many cases.

What does this change to the Stream Buffer Zone Rule do?

        The new rule actually encourages companies to mine in or bury streams.  It does this by exempting stream crossings, sedimentation ponds (which are in streams), permanent valley fills (that bury streams), and coal waste disposal facilities (sludge ponds) from compliance with the stream buffer zone rule. (Read More...)

Take Action!

The comment period on the SBZ rule change ended on November 24th.  Check the website later for information the the OSM's ruling.