Sponsors (7)
The bill prioritizes stronger federal health, environmental monitoring, and oversight of mountaintop-removal mining—providing earlier detection and greater protection for nearby communities—at the cost of economic disruption for coal regions, higher compliance costs for operators, and added administrative and legal complexity.
Residents of Appalachian and nearby communities will face fewer health risks because the bill pauses new or expanded mountaintop-removal permits pending a federal health determination and requires expanded exposure and disease monitoring to detect harms earlier.
Downstream communities and ecosystems will get greater environmental protection—fewer valley fills and better protections for waterways, public lands, and habitats—because new projects/expansions are blocked pending review and definitions enable targeted regulation.
Communities, hospitals, and regulators will gain clearer, evidence-based federal coordination and transparency through an NIEHS-led interagency effort, public health assessments, and statutory definitions that reduce implementation ambiguity.
Workers, families, and local governments in coal-dependent Appalachian counties face job losses, reduced local tax revenues, and potential local economic decline if new permits and expansions are halted or delayed.
Coal companies and mountaintop-removal operators will face higher compliance costs (monitoring equipment, fees, delays) that could be passed on to consumers or reduce local investment.
The bill may create federal–state tension, add administrative burdens for state and local permitting authorities, and prompt legal uncertainty for landowners and businesses when risk findings are published before mitigation is defined.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Blocks federal permits for mountaintop removal mining in specified Appalachian steep-slope areas until federal health agencies find no health risk; requires monitoring, public data, a health study, and a one-time operator fee.
Introduced July 23, 2025 by Morgan McGarvey · Last progress July 23, 2025
Halts issuance or renewal of federal permits for mountaintop removal coal mining in steep-slope parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia until federal health agencies determine the practice poses no health risk to nearby residents. Requires the NIEHS to lead a comprehensive health study, requires continuous on-site water/air/soil/noise monitoring with monthly public reporting, and charges a one-time fee on past and present operators to cover federal study and monitoring costs.