Program areas at Citizens Coal Council
Ccc's osmre watch program is a proactive safeguard for the surface mining control and reclamation act (smcra) against legislative threats. We don't wait for issues to arise, but swiftly advocate against any proposed legislation that could undermine the act, amplifying the voices of coalfield communities. Through ongoing dialogue, we mobilize legal experts and engaged Citizens to strengthen osmre's impact and ensure its continued existence.
With the assistance of attorney tom fitzgerald of the Kentucky resources Council, ccc coordinated and submitted 58 pages of comments on the ten-day notices and corrective action that appeared in the federal register on april 25, 2023. The comments were submitted on behalf of ccc members.
Coal river mountain watch, Citizens Coal Council, the appalachian community health emergency (ache) campaign, and more than 40 environmental justice groups have sent a letter to secretary of interior deb haaland requesting completion of the mountaintop removal Coal mining health review canceled by the trump administration in 2017.
Ccc, alongside sierra club and appalachian voices, filed a ten-day notice complaint in the united states district court in dc against the acting secretary of the department of interior regarding the trump administration's rule. This arbitrary and capricious modification of key provisions in the ten-day notice process prompted legal action. Ccc submitted comments and recommendations to the padep Citizens advisory Council in the proposed format and substance of the 6th act 54 five-year report. Our evaluation of past five-year reports, plus detailed follow-up discussions with the mining program, leads us to conclude that padep's underground bituminous mining regulatory program 1) does not protect coalfield communities or the environment, 2) has failed to do so since the 1994 act 54 law was passed, 3) has refused or resisted the cac and citizen comments, suggestions, requests, and recommendations to improve its protection of the environment from longwall mining impacts by bringing padep's actions, errors, and omissions into compliance with all applicable laws, including the pa clean streams law and article i, section. 27 of the pa constitution on ways to protect the environment from longwall mining impacts.