<TEXT OF EMAILED LETTER>

Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 2:48 PM

Subject: Letter to the Editor from Congressman John Faso
To: "letters@freemanonline.com" <letters@freemanonline.com>

Dear editor,

Prior to leaving office, the Obama administration issued numerous new and far-reaching regulatory mandates.
One such last-minute regulation that has been rejected by the House and Senate is the Stream Protection
Rule, which had a major impact on coal-producing regions of the nation. These 400 regulations would have
destroyed one-third of the US coal-mining workforce on top of the 68,000 coal-mining jobs lost in recent
years. In addition, the Department of Interior did not meaningfully engage with stakeholders for input, resulting
in only three percent of our nations coal mines contributing information and best practices to this massive,
1,640-page rule.

The impact of this action has been misrepresented by opponents who falsely allege that dumping of coal
mining waste into streams and waterways will occur. I support the Clean Water Act, and the overturning of this
hastily conceived and implemented rule does nothing to affect the protections established by the important
decades-old law. The Clean Water Act treats all discharges into the nations waterways as unlawful unless
specifically authorized by permit. Not one letter of the Acts protections has changed. Furthermore, as laid out
in a 1983 regulation still in place, surface mining within 100 feet of streams remains prohibited.

The reality is that this rule was not an effort to protect streams; it sought to regulate the coal industry out of
business and eliminate tens of thousands of jobs in that industry. Overturning it, while maintaining our nations
commitment to high environmental standards, made sense.

Sincerely,
John J. Faso
Member of Congress
19th Congressional District
2 Hudson Street
Kinderhook, NY 12106
Phone: (518) 610-8133