02.02.17

Hoeven: Senate Passes Resolution to Repeal Stream Buffer Rule

Senator Cosponsored Bipartisan CRA Resolution to Rescind One-Size-Fits-All Regulation

WASHINGTON -- Senator John Hoeven today joined a bipartisan group of his colleagues in voting to repeal the Stream Buffer Rule through a resolution he cosponsored under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

“Our vote today rescinds the Stream Buffer Rule, a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t work,” Hoeven said. “North Dakota has a proven track record in regulating surface mining and reclaiming old mine sites. In fact, the Office of Surface Mining, the agency which wrote this rule, concluded in 2015 that our state ‘has an effective program with no issues that need corrective action.’ Despite this, the Obama administration moved forward with the Stream Buffer Rule, which threatened to eliminate thousands of mining jobs, decrease state tax revenues and impose higher prices on consumers. Congress has now repealed the rule, and I look forward to working with the new administration to advance a states-first approach, where we allow the states to work with industry and use the latest technology to produce more energy with better environmental stewardship.”

The previous administration finalized the rule in December, which, like the proposed rule, was primarily based on mining practices used in the Appalachian region. Prior to this, Hoeven hosted Janice Schneider, Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Interior Department, in North Dakota to show her firsthand the impact of the agency’s proposed rule, which threatens thousands of jobs in 22 states, and to press for a states-first approach to the rule.

-###-