WASHINGTON, D.C. — West Virginia 3rd District Congressman Nick Rahall said he believes new Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy took to heart what state leaders said this week about the effects of the agency’s regulations on the coal industry.
“I hope it will lead to some constructive differences in policy in the months and years ahead,” Rahall said Thursday on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Rahall was among more than a dozen Democratic leaders from West Virginia who met Thursday with McCarthy and members of the Obama Administration.
No final decisions were made about problem permits and no actions were taken on other policies during that meeting.
“Certainly, the doors of communication were opened further than they have been with the previous administrator,” Rahall said. “Communication is vital and it doesn’t mean capitulation.”
Rahall said he specifically asked McCarthy about the delay on the permit for the King Coal Highway project in Mingo County, which is designed to improve access to Southern West Virginia through valley fill mining.
He said the project is integral to the future and he told McCarthy so. “This is opening up Southern West Virginia to the years beyond coal. We’re looking beyond coal. We’re taking economic diversification into our own hands here.”
Rahall was the only member of the U.S. House from West Virginia to attend Thursday’s meeting. Both 1st District Congressman David McKinley and 2nd District Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito are Republicans.