Sponsors (7)
The bill prioritizes protecting nearby Appalachian communities' health and environment through a temporary pause on new MTR permits, stronger monitoring, and a funded federal study—trading that protection for higher compliance and administrative costs, greater legal and regulatory uncertainty, and economic pain for coal-dependent workers and local governments.
Residents in Appalachian and other mountaintop-removal (MTR) communities would avoid new or expanded MTR projects during the study/moratorium, reducing near-term exposures to polluted water, air, and soil and protecting downstream drinking water.
Nearby residents, local governments, and public-health officials would gain much stronger monitoring, transparency, and enforcement (continuous water/air/noise monitoring, online posting within 7 days, and an HHS-reviewed public health study), enabling faster identification of hotspots and targeted remediation or interventions.
Federal coordination and a NIEHS-led working group consulting with EPA and other agencies would improve scientific understanding of health impacts and produce a more comprehensive, coordinated basis for policy and remediation decisions.
Coal workers, mining-dependent families, and local governments in coal communities would likely face job losses, delayed projects, and reduced local tax revenue during the moratorium and if tighter restrictions persist.
Operators will face higher compliance costs (continuous monitoring, monthly reporting, and a one-time fee) that could be passed to consumers, reduce production, or raise local energy costs.
Federal, state, and local agencies would incur greater administrative workload and costs to host and process frequent monitoring data, run the study, and manage investigations; funding and staffing needs could strain budgets.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Pauses federal permits for mountaintop removal in specified Appalachian steep-slope areas until HHS finds no health risk, mandates an NIEHS-led health study, operator pollution monitoring/reporting, and a one-time operator fee.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Morgan McGarvey · Last progress July 23, 2025
Stops new federal approvals for mountaintop removal coal mining in defined steep-slope areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia until the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) determines the practice does not present health risks to nearby residents. Directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to lead a federal study on health impacts, requires operators to perform continuous water, air, and noise monitoring (and regular soil monitoring) with monthly data submissions to HHS, and authorizes a one-time fee on current and past operators to cover federal costs of the study and monitoring program.