This week, the White House officially signed a bill to eliminate the Stream Protection Rule issued by the Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining in December 2016. The rule was a comprehensive update to a number of regulations tied to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, such as how to implement the Act's provisions of 'preventing material damage to the hydrologic balance' outside of a mine permit area and expanded monitoring requirements as a condition of permitting. Notwithstanding the politics surrounding the issue, the rule's elimination will have lasting implications to be addressed by engineers. The unusual use of the Congressional Review Act to eliminate it means that no substantially similar rule can be introduced in the future. Those in the stream restoration business would do well to find effective ways to deal with mine spoil and acid drainage.------------------------------
Steven Splitek, P.E., PMP, ENV SP
Denver, CO
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