ACC Spring Coal Forum: ‘Optimism pervades U.S. Coal Industry Amid Fewer Regulations: Forum’

Platts  (March 8, 2017) Clearwater, FL –  Optimism pervaded the coal industry Wednesday as it gathered at the American Coal Council's Spring Coal Forum in Clearwater, Florida, as the early days of the Trump administration have brought regulatory relief for an industry struggling to regain its edge. Early signs of the Trump administration's focus on energy-related regulations have been positive for the industry, including a bill signed last month that eliminated the Stream Protection Rule, as well as executive orders on other energy-related issues, said Michael Nasi, a partner with Jackson Walker, a Dallas-based environmental law firm. Doing nothing in terms of federal intervention would be a major change for the industry compared with the Obama administration, which issued 57 federal implement plans over eight years. The FIPs are typically reserved for extraordinary circumstances under the Clean Air Act, which attempted to give more control to the states. "If all the president does is to stop doing [regulations] like this, he's going to do an amazing job," Nasi said.