Two dangerous bills are making their way through Nashville this year that would remove all strip-mine permitting and oversight from the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and transfer it to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).

The Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will be hearing SB1998 on Wednesday, March 5th. Contact the Committee members today and tell them to vote NO on this bill, which would cost Tennessee millions and reduce the efficiency of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA).

In addition to calling committee members, please let Governor Haslam know Tennesseans do not want this bill and ask him to veto this bill if it comes across his desk. Click here to send an email to the governor or call the office for a printed postcard.

The Tennessee Mining Association predicts that this legislation will quadruple coal mining in our state (mostly in surface mine operations) and it supports these bills. SOCM has worked hard over the last 41 years to eradicate destructive forms of surface mining that poisons our air, our water, and our people. We don't need an understaffed and underfunded TDEC office handing out permits for surface mines when it can't even enforce current permits!

TDEC's Division of Water Resources has not taken a single enforcement action against a mining company in Tennessee in more than two years. Last year, Tennessee Clean Water Network released a study of TDEC's water protection programs showing a 75% reduction in enforcement actions taken by TDEC since 2007.

For more information on this legislation and for talking points to use when contacting legislators, click here. Remember to check SOCM's Legislative Page on our website for up-to-date information on the bills that SOCM committees are following.

For more information on SOCM's E3 (Energy, Ecology, Environmental Justice) Committee, contact the Committee Chair at e3@socm.org.