Republicans To Overturn Coal Rule Protecting Streams, Other Regulations

Speaker Paul Ryan signed a resolution Friday overturning the Department of the Interior's rule that limits the coal industry's ability to pollute nearby streams, sending it to President Trump for final a final signature.

The resolution comes in a week full of regulation rollbacks. Republican legislators also voted to repeal regulations requiring companies involved in drilling and mining to report payments made to foreign governments.

And just around the time Ryan was signing the resolution overturning the stream protection rule, Trump issued directives to roll back Dodd-Frank and the Labor Department's "fiduciary rule."

"This is the first repeal of President Obama's policies that Congress is sending to President Trump’s desk," Ryan said in a statement, referring to the coal regulation. "Fittingly, it will bring relief to Americans hurt by years of overreach and overregulation. We are repealing the Department of Interior’s stream protection rule—a rule the Obama administration pushed through at the last minute that was designed to decimate coal country."

A handful of Democrats joined Republicans in killing the rule: Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donelly of Indiana, Heidi HeitKamp of North Dakota and Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

Environmental groups largely favored the rule.

"The Stream Protection Rule sought to tackle the decades-old practice of coal companies dumping tons of dangerous mining waste from their mining operations into nearby waterways that were frequently used for drinking, farming, and fishing by local communities," said the Sierra Club in a statement.

"This practice contaminates local water with dangerous heavy metals like mercury, selenium, and arsenic, which can cause severe mental development problems and stunted cognitive growth in children exposed to these toxins," it added.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader from New York, called Trump out on his work to weaken Dodd-Frank and the fiduciary rule.

"President Trump’s campaign promises to rein in Wall Street weren’t worth the bank notes they were printed on," Schumer said.

Dodd-Frank was passed following the 2008 financial crisis. In part, it requires banks to hold larger amounts of capital to protect them in the case of another economic meltdown. Republicans have long argued the law is excessively burdensome on the financial industry.

The executive order only directs a "reconsideration" of Dodd-Frank regulations, but the GOP and the White House are expected to drastically reduce the act's reach.

"We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank," Trump said Friday morning. "Because frankly, I have so many people, friends of mine, that had nice businesses, they just can’t borrow money … because the banks just won’t let them borrow because of the rules and regulations in Dodd-Frank."

The fiduciary rule, passed under Obama, requires financial advisers to act strictly in the best interest of their clients. Without the rule, financial advisors would face less regulatory scrutiny and would have more leeway to profit off their client's choices.

As in the cases of the other regulations, Republicans find this rule to be unnecessarily restrictive and argue it limits consumer choices.

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