Read more in Coal Tattoo

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said Monday her agency is not seeking to halt mountaintop removal, but will "try to minimize, if not end, any environmental degradation to the water" caused by the practice.

Jackson told a National Press Club audience the EPA does not specifically regulate mining practices, but is responsible for policing how those practices impact water quality.

"We fight for clean water under the Clean Water Act," Jackson said. "So our role is limited to ensuring that these projects, if they're approved, do not have a detrimental impact on clean water. We'll continue to do that."

Jackson said the EPA would "in very short order" be providing the mining industry with more specific guidelines to give "clarity" for what companies need to do to obtain EPA sign-off on new valley-fill permits.

The EPA had planned to release those new guidelines this week, but delayed the announcement after some details of the agency plan were leaked to state mining regulators. The EPA is also facing a cool reception to its plan from other federal agencies, including the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.

A year ago, the Obama administration announced it was going to take "unprecedented steps" to reduce the environmental damage from mountaintop-removal coal mining in Appalachia.

As part of those steps, the EPA has been more closely reviewing Clean Water Act "dredge-and-fill" permits for valley fills that the federal Army Corps of Engineers proposed to issue to coal companies. Coal industry officials and coalfield politicians have complained EPA has not provided clear guidelines for companies to follow in trying to get those permits approved.

Read more in Coal Tattoo

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said Monday her agency is not seeking to halt mountaintop removal, but will "try to minimize, if not end, any environmental degradation to the water" caused by the practice.

Jackson told a National Press Club audience the EPA does not specifically regulate mining practices, but is responsible for policing how those practices impact water quality.

"We fight for clean water under the Clean Water Act," Jackson said. "So our role is limited to ensuring that these projects, if they're approved, do not have a detrimental impact on clean water. We'll continue to do that."

Jackson said the EPA would "in very short order" be providing the mining industry with more specific guidelines to give "clarity" for what companies need to do to obtain EPA sign-off on new valley-fill permits.

The EPA had planned to release those new guidelines this week, but delayed the announcement after some details of the agency plan were leaked to state mining regulators. The EPA is also facing a cool reception to its plan from other federal agencies, including the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.

A year ago, the Obama administration announced it was going to take "unprecedented steps" to reduce the environmental damage from mountaintop-removal coal mining in Appalachia.

As part of those steps, the EPA has been more closely reviewing Clean Water Act "dredge-and-fill" permits for valley fills that the federal Army Corps of Engineers proposed to issue to coal companies. Coal industry officials and coalfield politicians have complained EPA has not provided clear guidelines for companies to follow in trying to get those permits approved.

"What we're finding at EPA is that the process of filling the streams has a detrimental impact on water quality and, as you might expect, the more you fill, the more likely you're going to see problems with water quality," Jackson said.

"I'm really proud of the fact that EPA has stepped forward and said we're going to review each and every one of these outstanding permits to try to minimize, if not end, any environmental degradation to the water."

Jackson made her comments about mountaintop removal in response to a question after she delivered a National Press Club speech about "the misconception that we must make a choice between cleaning our environment and growing our economy."

"I've worked in environmental protection for 20 years," Jackson said in the speech. "I've seen meaningful environmental efforts met time and again with predictions of lost jobs and lost revenues. Lobbyists and business journals have done such a good job of engraining it into our way of thinking that many of us believe, sadly, that we must choose between our environment and the economy."

Jackson said that "well-conceived, effectively implemented environmental protection is good for economic growth.

"Don't get me wrong -- environmental regulations are not free," she said. "But the money that's spent is an investment in our country -- and one that pays for itself."

@tag:Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.