SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 40
(By Senators Minear, Manchin, Ross and Sharpe)
Urging the Congress of the United States to reconsider and modify
the 1990 amendments to the federal Clean Air Act, known as
the acid rain legislation.
Whereas, The 1990 amendments to the federal Clean Air Act,
the so-called acid rain amendments, are restricting and will
further restrict, local and country-wide markets for high sulfur
coal, used principally at electric power plants; and
Whereas, Said amendments were adopted without consideration
of the ten-year five hundred million dollar study of acid rain
deposition performed by the federal environmental protection
agency which concluded that acid rain does not pose the
significant environmental threat claimed by environmentalists;
and
Whereas, The effect of said amendments has had the
detrimental impact of significantly and permanently reducing the
production and sales, locally and country-wide, of northern West Virginia high sulfur coal; said impact will become even more
severe by the year two thousand when Phase II of said amendments
which will apply statewide becomes effective; and
Whereas, The direct and indirect economic losses to West
Virginia and her counties, including social costs such as
welfare, retraining and child support, will be devastating to
West Virginia's economy; and
Whereas, A reduction of 1.5 million tons in production of
high sulfur coal has been estimated by a united mine workers
study to result in a loss of hundreds of coal miners' jobs and an
annual revenue loss of five million dollars; and
Whereas, The cost to electric power companies of complying
with said amendments, by using only higher-priced low sulfur
coal, most of which can only be supplied from out-of-state
sources, by expensively converting to different fuels or by
constructing costly sulfur-removing facilities, must be recovered
through imposition of higher electric rates upon consumers; and
Whereas, Repeal of Phase II of the acid rain provisions to
the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 would be consistent with
President Bill Clinton's campaign promise to "Get American Back
to Work" and with the more recent republican "Contract with America" signed by majority members of the House of
Representatives; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the West Virginia Legislature urges the Congress of the
United States to repeal the 1990 amendments to the federal Clean
Air Act, known as the acid rain legislation; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby
requested to forward copies of this resolution to the members of
West Virginia's congressional delegation.