Cantwell proposes new federal coal leasing reform

The U.S. Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) led a proposal with 14 senators on Saturday to reform the federal coal leasing program that requires more science-backed decision making.

The Interior Department began an initiative to review and update the nation’s programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS), under which federal coal is leased. Cantwell and the senators wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell proposing new criteria under which the federal coal program would fall. The program seeks to maintain the progress of the power sector, while also critically assessing the feasibility of the current coal leasing program.

Under the proposed reform, all decisions made regarding the coal leasing program must follow three rules – they must get the science right, they must reconsider the government’s market role and they must reconsider how the balance multiple uses over time.

The senators who signed the proposal said that the U.S. policy on coal leasing does not take into account its coal-intensive carbon footprint or the non-competitive Western coal market. The proposed reform seeks to get policymakers to take a critical look at coal leasing legislation in an attempt to align the coal leasing program with the goals of the PEIS and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The proposal includes reformation for other aspects of the federal coal program as well, including offering assistance for the diversification and rebuilding of America’s coal country.