The $6.8 billion presumptive budget agreement has been praised for preserving money for education, prisons and Medicaid, but some of the sharpest cuts are aimed at agencies that regulate industry and protect the environment.
SB1184, by Sen. Susan Paddack, D-Ada, would change the permitting process at the state Department of Mines.
Limestone and sand miners are getting a lot of attention from the state legislature lately.
Right now, formal hearings for mining permits take place only after a permit has been issued.
From health insurance exchanges to power plant emissions, the Obama Administration just can’t seem to get Oklahoma to play ball.
A report released in August by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior cites Oklahoma as “the primary surface mining state with ongoing, unresolved AOC problems.”
This all comes as a surprise to the Kiowa Tribe, which has used Longhorn Mountain for hundreds of years.
Not all countries have those kinds of restrictions, however, and growing economies in Asia could drive the renewal of Oklahoma’s coal mining industry.
