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Tag: EPA

Daines Introduces Bill to Roll Back EPA Regs

May 13, 2015

“A War on Coal is a War on the Crow People” WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today joined a bipartisan group of Senators to introduce legislation that ensures Montanans have access to affordable energy and protects good-paying coal jobs. Daines is an original cosponsor of The Affordable Reliable Energy Now Act (ARENA), which holds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accountable and protects states’ rights by requiring the EPA to demonstrate how their proposed regulations could impact each state. This legislation preempts the EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan, set to be released this summer, which could shutter Montana’s coal-fired power

Daines Slams EPA Administrator on Job-Killing Coal Plan

April 29, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today slammed Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy for pushing forward new EPA carbon regulations without fully consulting affected states and tribes or addressing the plan’s detrimental impacts on coal production and jobs in Montana. During today’s Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Daines emphasized Montanans’ concerns that the EPA’s proposed “Clean Power Plan”  could shutter the state’s coal-fired power plants and hinder Montana tribes’ and the state’s abilities to develop their coal resources. Daines also pressed McCarthy on the EPA’s failure to take into account how allowing State Implementation Plans under

Daines Works to Prioritize State Based Sage Grouse Conservation Plans

April 22, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today helped introduce legislation that prioritizes state-created conservation and management plans for the recovery of the Sage Grouse. Daines is an original cosponsor of S. 1036, the Sage-Grouse Protection and Conservation Act, which would require the Department of the Interior to share scientific data with states, assist states in crafting and implementing their plans, and recognize the state plans for a minimum of six years. The Act empowers states to take the lead in Sage Grouse conservation while preventing a listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Montana is best equipped to manage and

Daines Investigates Importance of Coal to Tribal Economies

April 8, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today chaired a Senate Indian Affairs Committee (SCIA) field hearing in Crow Agency, Montana on empowering Indian Country. Daines examined the need to responsibly develop coal resources as a vital component of the tribal economies along with the importance of access to international markets. Daines spoke with Crow Chairman Darrin Old Coyote regarding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) harmful policies that stand in the way of the tribes’ ability to develop their coal resources and create good paying jobs. Daines also questioned Chairman Old Coyote on the economic benefits of making permanent the Indian Production Coal Tax Credit. 

KULR-8: Senator Steve Daines Talks Jobs and Coal in Indian Country

April 8, 2015

CROW AGENCY – Senator Steve Daines emphasized unemployment, the coal industry and jobs in Indian Country as part of a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs field hearing in Crow Agency on Wednesday. The hearing at the Little Big Horn College Health and Wellness Center lasted nearly two hours, and Attorney general Tim Fox and Crow Tribe Chairman Darrin Old Coyote were among the speakers. Sen. Daines discussed the importance of passing a permanent Indian coal tax credit. The temporary tax credit, which provides millions of dollars for the Crow’s economy, expired in December 2013. Daines and Old Coyote both testified

Missoulian: Senate’s Asbestos Awareness Week resolution takes special note of Libby

March 31, 2015

LIBBY – Among a lengthy list of a U.S. Senate resolution’s “whereases,” Libby’s long battle with asbestos has taken a special place. The Senate late last week unanimously passed a resolution – which specifically mentions Libby – designating the first week of April as National Asbestos Awareness Week. The resolution, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and co-sponsored by Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines, also calls on the surgeon general to “warn and educate people about the public health issue of asbestos exposure, which may be hazardous to their health.” Linda Reinstein, president and co-founder of the

Daines Slams New Fracking Rule As Direct Attack on American Jobs, Energy

March 20, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today blasted the Department of Interior’s new regulations on hydraulic fracturing on federally-owned lands as a direct attack on American jobs and American energy. “The Obama administration is at it again. States like Montana have successfully overseen hydraulic fracturing for years, but once again, the Obama administration seems more set on overregulating our energy industry than promoting the responsible development of our nation’s vast energy resources,” Daines stated. “This top-down regulation is duplicative, burdensome and ultimately, a direct attack on American energy production, critical tax revenue for our schools and communities, and thousands of good-paying jobs across

Daines Calls for Montana Solutions to Land Management, Coal Jobs and Increasing Access to Public Lands

March 4, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines today advocated for the Department of Interior to better incorporate Montana-driven solutions in the management of Montana’s public lands, energy resources and wildlife habitats. During this morning’s Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on the Department of Interior’s fiscal year 2016 budget request, Daines pressed Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to work more collaboratively with Montana in the conservation and management of the state’s sage grouse population. Daines also called for Department funds to be better utilized to expand access to public lands and pushed back against the Department’s recently proposed energy regulations that could have

Daines Calls for Prioritized Funding for Tribal Water Projects

March 4, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Steve Daines is working to ensure that Montana tribes have the resources they need to maintain irrigation projects on Montana reservations. During today’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee legislative hearing on S. 438, the Irrigation Rehabilitation and Renovation for Indian Tribal Governments and Their Economies Act (IRRIGATE Act), Daines stressed the importance of fixing the maintenance backlog issues facing a number of irrigation projects throughout Indian Country, including five in Montana. Daines also reiterated his support for funding additional authorized rural water projects through the Bureau of Reclamation, including those on the Fort Peck and Rocky Boy