The US Senate voted to reverse the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation introduced in the last days of the Obama Administration that guards the country’s waterways from pollution by debris generated by surface mining. In an unprecedented move, the Senate on Tuesday passed legislation reversing President Barack Obama’s Stream Protection Rule (SPR) and allowing mining companies to dump waste into streams without federal oversight. The Senate also began attempts to reverse a disclosure rule, designed to counter bribery and benefit developing countries, under which publicly-traded gas, mineral and oil firms were required to disclose any payments to foreign governments for licences and permits.
The US Senate voted to reverse the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation introduced in the last days of the Obama Administration that guards the country’s waterways from pollution by debris generated by surface mining. The rule, which would have rendered mountaintop removal uneconomical, had been expected to protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forest. The Senate also began attempts to reverse a disclosure rule, designed to counter bribery and benefit developing countries, under which publicly-traded gas, mineral and oil firms were required to disclose any payments to foreign governments for licences and permits.