Coal Mines in Illinois Continue to Be Exempt from Water Pollution Standards

Coal mines are exempted from meeting water quality standards in the State of Illinois. This includes exempting mines from the antidegradation rules that were adopted just last year to bring Illinois into compliance with the Clean Water Act antidegradation requirements.

For this reason, the mining industry can easily receive water pollution permits to open new mines or expand existing ones.

Prairie Rivers Network discovered this fact while fighting the development of the Black Beauty mine on the Little Vermilion River. Illinois EPA issued permits for the mine despite the fact that it was located immediately upstream of a community drinking water supply and on a stretch of river that has three state endangered species. The Agency was only allowed to issue the permits due to the current exemptions from water quality standards.

USEPA acknowledged in a letter to us dated February 25, 2002, that these exemptions are inconsistent with the Clean Water Act and Federal NPDES permitting regulations. Nowhere in the Act is a state allowed to exempt a class of dischargers from compliance with water quality standards or permitting rules. Still, the Illinois EPA has not addressed the problem.

In 2001, Illinois EPA did establish a working group which included Prairie Rivers Network, as well as representatives of the mining industry, to discuss rewriting the regulations which govern water pollution discharges from mining activities. Unfortunately, that group made virtually no progress and has not met since the fall of that year.

Concerns over this continued delay are now heightened by an announcement made by Governor Blagojevich on March 13, 2003 that he plans to revitalize coal mine development in Illinois by offering economic incentives for the development of plants that use clean coal technology to burn Illinois coal. Unfortunately, this clean burning technology does nothing to address the impact the current exemption from the Clean Water Act is having on Illinois' rivers and streams. Given that and the high likelihood that coal mine permits could increase dramatically over the next several months, it is imperative for USEPA to act as quickly as possible.

Prairie Rivers Network has requested that USEPA take immediate action to correct this error in Illinois' water quality standards. Specifically, we asked them to ---
- Rescind 35 Ill. Admin. Code Subtitle D
- Ensure that mining activities are subject to the antidegradation regulations
- Immediately inform Illinois EPA of its obligation to fully regulate coal mines in accordance with 35 Ill. Adm. Code Sec. 302, 303, 304 and 309.

As long as Illinois EPA is potentially allowed to exempt, or even partially exempt, coal mines from meeting state water quality standards, there is clearly a problem with how the Clean Water Act is being enforced in Illinois.

Take Action

If you want to help end the Clean Water Act exemption for coal mines in Illinois you can---

1) Send a letter to Governor Blagojevich. Tell him to correct the provisions of Illinois water quality standards that exempt coal mines and that are inconsistent with the requirements of Federal law. (Governor Rod Blagojevich, State Capitol, Springfield, IL 62706)

2) Send a letter to USEPA's Region V Administrator Tom Skinner, and tell him to correct the water quality standards that are applied to coal mines in Illinois if Illinois EPA continues to delay action. (Tom Skinner, Administrator USEPA Region V, 77 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604)

3) Join Prairie Rivers Network and support our efforts to ensure coal mines meet water quality standards in the State of Illinois. (www.prairierivers.org/Support/Contribute)