Government

EPA: New Guidance On Surface Mining Pending at OMB

The Environmental Protection Agency soon will issue new guidance to regulators responsible for issuing permits for surface mining, says Nancy Stoner, EPA acting assistant administrator for water.

Stoner told a House subcommittee on May 11 that the Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the new guidance, which will take note of input from EPA’s Science Advisory Board and replace April 2010 interim guidance.

GOP members of the subcommittee said the environmental requirements of the interim guidance make it nearly impossible to get a coal mining permit and are costing jobs in Appalachia. Stoner said the guidance is not binding and simply gives regulators a framework to uphold environmental laws.

Pam Hunter McFarland was a Senior Editor of ENR and her expertise was: Sourcebooks, Environment, Labor

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

Post a comment to this article

Live: June 30, 2026 at 2:00 pm EDT Contractors are modernizing preconstruction workflows to improve project readiness, reduce risk, and accelerate decision-making. This webinar explores how centralized project data, AI-powered document review, and connected workflows help teams improve coordination before construction begins.