Forwarded by Jane Clark at [log in to unmask]
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From:   Robin Mann, Sierra Club, Wetlands

Please help us push the Administration to oppose the Mountain Top Removal
Rider by calling the White House comment line at 202-456-1111, and
circulating this message to your contacts.  Details below, from a 11/8
Sierra Club Legislative Office update on appropriations riders.  Thanks!

MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL RIDER

     There is a maverick rider still loose on the range that will
     no doubt be a particularly difficult one to stop.  Referred to as the
     "mountaintop removal rider" it is being pushed by Sen. Robert Byrd
     (D-WV), the powerful ranking member of the Appropriations committee.

     The mountaintop removal rider would overturn an October 20 federal
     court decision that requires state and federal agencies to enforce the
     Clean Water Act and coal mining laws in West Virginia. Judge Charles
     Haden ruled that the West Virginia Department of Environmental
     Protection cannot allow new mountaintop removal mines to dump millions
     of tons of waste rock into some types of streams. He ruled that
     allowing new mines to dump waste rock into streams violates two
     federal laws: the Clean Water Act and Surface Mining Control and
     Reclamation Act. Drafts of Byrd's rider have proposed to exempt the
     dumping of waste rock into streams from any state and federal water
     quality laws.

This rider would, among other things, waive application of federal and
state water quality standards to mountain and valley streams filled and
destroyed by the waste produced by these massive mining operations --
something that has never been done for any special interest group. This
would create a huge loophole in the Clean Water Act that would not only
lead to the destruction of thousands of miles of streams in West
Virginia but set a precedent that will be exploited by other industries
and other states for many years to come.

     Byrd is threatening to use just about any legislative vehicle to pass
     his rider into law.  His most recent target is the Foreign Ops bill
     which is pending before the Senate, but the Interior bill is a
     possible target as well.  This is one anti-environmental rider the
     Administration could use public support in fighting.

     Help strengthen the Administration's position to fight this rider by
     calling or faxing the White House.  Urge President Clinton to stand up
     to Congress and protect our nations streams by opposing the Mountain
     Top Removal Rider.

    White House Comment Line - 202-456-1111 White House Fax Line -
     202-456-2461 Clinton's e-mail - [log in to unmask] Gore's e-mail
     - [log in to unmask]
     White House Address - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20500
     ----------------------------------------------------------------------
     This rider could move any minute.
Rumors have it that the Members of Congress from western hard rock
mining states are teaming up with eastern coal mining states to ensure
that both the rider that allows more mining waste to be dumped on public
lands and the rider that exempts the WV coal mining industry from the
Clean Water Act both pass.  What a time for Republican and Democrats to
decide to work together!  Other rumors have it that the WV dirty water
rider could be broadened to gain support from other coal mining states
to allow mountain top mining in all states to be exempt from Clean Water
Act water quality standards.  Congress will try to make it difficult for
the Admininstration to veto these bills by throwing lots of money at the
Administration's pet initiatives.

The Administration holds the cards on this one. Help strengthen the
Administration's position to fight this rider by calling or faxing the
White House and tell them that they should VETO any spending bill that
contains anti-environmental riders. Be sure to note that any rider that
exempts a particular industry from the Clean Water Act is outrageous.
Urge President Clinton to stand up to Congress and protect our nation's
streams by opposing the Mountain Top Removal Rider and other
anti-environmental riders.

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