".... The department will consider whether this existing regulation is essential to protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public."

Please consider the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding environment also..... not just on the collection of coal, but the disposal of the ash also.

Greetings,

I have a good understanding of the environmental impacts that current day surface mining (aka mountain top removal) poses, and feel that current regulations are insufficient to protect the environment.  All to mine coal, a principle contributor to global warming, and a multitude of health issues.

We need to protect our forest and streams, they are essential to the continued existance of life on this planet as we know it.

When you clear the forests, blow the tops off of mountains and push the waste into surrounding streams and wetlands, you are showing a total disregard for the planet and our future.  All in the name of making a profit or greed.

This is exactly why I need my government to put a stop to these practices. 

Thanks for your interest in my comments.

Bob Richardson

Please strengthen regulations regarding mountain top removal mining!   This incredibly destructive process negatively affects biodiversity as well as the health of the people in the communities where this practice occurs. Filling in of and polluting sreamheads only adds to the environmental pricetag.

We need to leave this million year old carbon in the ground and start investing NOW in clean, renewable energy.  What can possibly be right about permanently defacing the Appalachian mountains?