I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2050 To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop removal coal mining until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 3, 2019 Mr. YARMUTH (for himself, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. TONKO, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. BEYER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. KHANNA, and Ms. MCCOLLUM) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Energy and Commerce, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To place a moratorium on permitting for mountaintop re- moval coal mining until health studies are conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Appalachian Commu- 4 nities Health Emergency Act’’ or the ‘‘ACHE Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2050 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Communities surrounding mountaintop re- 3 moval coal mining projects, which involve surface 4 coal mining including blasting with explosives in the 5 steep slope regions of Kentucky, Tennessee, West 6 Virginia, and Virginia, have raised concerns that 7 pollution of the water, air, and soil that results from 8 mountaintop removal coal mining may be causing 9 health crises in their communities. 10 (2) Peer-reviewed scientific research and re- 11 ports have raised serious concerns about mountain- 12 top removal mining with respect to elevated risks in 13 categories of birth defects studied: circulatory/res- 14 piratory, central nervous system, musculoskeletal, 15 and gastrointestinal. 16 (3) Mountaintop removal coal mining has also 17 been associated with elevated levels of adult hos- 18 pitalizations for chronic pulmonary disorders and hy- 19 pertension that are elevated as a function of county- 20 level coal production, as are rates of mortality; lung 21 cancer; and chronic heart, lung, and kidney disease. 22 These health problems strike both women and men 23 in mountaintop removal coal mining communities. 24 These elevated levels of disease, defects, and mor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2050 IH tality persist even after controlling for other vari- 1 ables. 2 (4) Initial scientific evidence, and the level of 3 public concern, warrant immediate action to stop 4 new mountaintop removal coal mining permits and 5 increase environmental and human health moni- 6 toring at existing mountaintop removal coal mining 7 projects while the reported links between health ef- 8 fects and mountaintop removal coal mining are in- 9 vestigated by Federal health agencies. 10 (5) The National Institute of Environmental 11 Health Sciences is uniquely qualified to manage a 12 working group of Federal health agencies with ex- 13 pertise that is relevant to study of the reported 14 links. 15 SEC. 3. HEALTH STUDIES. 16 (a) STUDIES.—The Director of the National Institute 17 of Environmental Health Sciences, in consultation with 18 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen- 19 cy and the heads of such other Federal departments and 20 agencies as the Director deems appropriate, shall— 21 (1) conduct or support comprehensive studies 22 on the health impacts, if any, of mountaintop re- 23 moval coal mining on individuals in the surrounding 24 communities; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2050 IH (2) submit to the Secretary, and make publicly 1 available, a report on the results of such studies. 2 (b) DETERMINATION.—Upon receipt of the report 3 under subsection (a)(2), the Secretary of Health and 4 Human Services shall publish a determination on whether 5 mountaintop removal coal mining presents any health 6 risks to individuals in the surrounding communities. 7 SEC. 4. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING PERMIT 8 MORATORIUM. 9 Until and unless the Secretary of Health and Human 10 Services publishes a determination under section 3(b) con- 11 cluding that mountaintop removal coal mining does not 12 present any health risk to individuals in the surrounding 13 communities, a permit or other authorization may not be 14 issued for any mountaintop removal coal mining project, 15 or for any expansion of such a project, by— 16 (1) the Secretary of the Army, acting through 17 the Chief of Engineers, or a State, under section 18 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 19 U.S.C. 1344); 20 (2) the Administrator of the Environmental 21 Protection Agency, or a State, under section 402 of 22 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 23 1342); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2050 IH (3) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 1 the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and En- 2 forcement, or a State, under the Surface Mining 3 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 4 1201 et seq.). 5 SEC. 5. MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING CONTIN- 6 UOUS HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONI- 7 TORING. 8 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Until the Secretary of Health 9 and Human Services publishes a determination under sec- 10 tion 3(b)— 11 (1) any person conducting a mountaintop re- 12 moval coal mining project shall— 13 (A) conduct continuous monitoring for any 14 pollution of water and air (including noise) and 15 frequent monitoring of soil as a result of such 16 project for the purposes of comprehensively— 17 (i) characterizing any pollution emit- 18 ted from the project; and 19 (ii) identifying ways in which mem- 20 bers of affected communities might be ex- 21 posed to these emissions; and 22 (B) submit the results of such monitoring 23 to the Secretary on a monthly basis; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2050 IH (2) the Secretary shall make such results avail- 1 able to the public through the World Wide Web in 2 a searchable database format not later than 7 days 3 after the date on which the Secretary receives such 4 results. 5 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—If a person conducting a moun- 6 taintop removal coal mining project fails to conduct moni- 7 toring and submit results in connection with such project 8 as required by subsection (a), a permit or other authoriza- 9 tion may not be issued for the mountaintop removal coal 10 mining project, or for an expansion of such project, by— 11 (1) the Secretary of the Army, acting through 12 the Chief of Engineers, or a State, under section 13 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 14 U.S.C. 1344); 15 (2) the Administrator of the Environmental 16 Protection Agency, or a State, under section 402 of 17 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 18 1342); or 19 (3) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 20 the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and En- 21 forcement, or a State, under the Surface Mining 22 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 23 1201 et seq.). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2050 IH SEC. 6. FEE TO PAY FOR HEALTH STUDIES AND MONI- 1 TORING. 2 (a) COLLECTION AND ASSESSMENT.—The President, 3 acting through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 4 and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior, shall 5 assess and collect from each person that, as of the date 6 of the enactment of this Act, is conducting a mountaintop 7 removal coal mining project in the United States a one- 8 time fee in an amount sufficient to recover the Federal 9 cost of implementing sections 3 and 5. 10 (b) USE OF FEE.—Amounts received by the United 11 States as a fee under this section may be used, to the 12 extent and in the amount provided in advance in appro- 13 priations Acts, only to pay the Federal cost of carrying 14 out sections 3 and 5. 15 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING.— 18 The term ‘‘mountaintop removal coal mining’’ means 19 surface coal mining that uses blasting with explo- 20 sives in the steep slope regions of Kentucky, Ten- 21 nessee, West Virginia, and Virginia. 22 (2) STEEP SLOPE.—The term ‘‘steep slope’’ has 23 the meaning that term has under section 515(d)(4) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 2050 IH of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act 1 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1265(d)(4)). 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Apr 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2050.IH H2050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS