Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, (R-WY), is introducing legislation to prohibit the implementation of the Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Federal coal managed by the Buffalo, Wyoming Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management.
Last month, the Bureau of Land Management announced that they had issued a final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) and proposed amendment to its Buffalo Field Office land use plan. The release of the final SEIS and proposed amendment opened a 30-day public protest period.
The BLM developed the SEIS and plan amendment in response to a 2022 order from the United States District Court for the District of Montana. The BLM’s proposed alternative, Alternative A, would amend the 2015 Buffalo Field Office resource management plan and make BLM-managed coal resources in the planning areas unavailable for future leasing. Federal coal production is anticipated to continue through 2041 under existing leases.
As required by the court’s order, the supplemental analysis evaluates alternatives for federal coal leasing in the Buffalo Field Office and includes updated information and analysis regarding the health impacts, both climate and non-climate, of developing fossil fuels in the area.
The 12 active surface coal mines within the Buffalo Field Office produced approximately 220 million short tons of federal coal in 2022, down from roughly 400 million tons in 2008.
Both U.S. total coal production and Powder River Basin coal production peaked in 2008 and have since declined steeply, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Representative Hageman, as well as others in the coal industry, have objected to the federal RMP because the ruling would not purse a new leasing alternative, which would basically put an end coal production in Wyoming by 2041, shuttering 12 of Wyoming’s active coal mines and putting 48 billion short-tons of BLM-administered federal coal off limits for mining.
Representative Hageman says, in a press release, “This rule means economic collapse for Wyoming and lights out for America. It is no coincidence that the BLM’s decision came with a Washington Post article touting this as the U.S. making its biggest step yet to end coal mining. While done through a regional office, this is a national decision that will undermine U.S. access to affordable and reliable energy while devastating the Wyoming economy. Coal is the energy of the future, and these producers work hard to ensure the U.S. has access to energy which enables the modern way of life. I thank all our Wyoming coal producers and workers for what they do, I will always have your back and do whatever it takes to ensure Wyoming thrives from our natural benefits in the Powder River Basin. This bill is the first step, and I will not stop until this threat to Wyoming from our own federal government is defeated”
