Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Mountaintop Mining/Valley Fill in Appalachia

EPA issued the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on mountaintop mining in 2003. We accepted public comments until January 21, 2004. Some comments were submitted in writing while others were given orally during public hearings in July 2003 in Hazard, Kentucky and in Charleston, West Virginia. EPA received more than 83,500 comments on this document. We issued the Final Programmatic EIS in 2005.

The Final EIS includes the following:

• Summary
• Responses to comments received on the Draft EIS (part of the Public Comment Compendium), issues identified in the comments, and responses on the issues
• Errata from the Draft EIS, and
• Appendix - Errata Continuation which includes other studies.

The Final Programmatic EIS incorporates by reference the Draft Programmatic EIS published in June 2003. After considering all the comments received on the Draft PEIS and developing responses, the agencies determined that changes required to the Draft Programmatic EIS were minor. Therefore, the agencies implemented the provision of the Council on Environmental Quality regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act at Section 1503.4(c), which reads:

(c) If changes in response to comments are minor and are confined to the responses described in paragraphs (a)(4) and (5) of this section, agencies may write them on errata sheets and attach them to the statement instead of rewriting the draft statement. In such cases only the comments, the responses, and the changes and not the final statement need be circulated (Sec. 1502.19). The entire document with a new cover sheet shall be filed as the final statement (Sec. 1506.9).

In accordance with this provision, the agencies placed a Final Programmatic EIS cover sheet on the Draft Programmatic EIS and, along with the errata sheet and comments/responses, filed it as the Final Programmatic EIS on mountaintop coal mining and associated valley fills in Appalachia.

Links to major documents, including the final and draft EISs, and the Public Comment Compendium, are below.  Should you require any other documents relating to the Programmatic EIS, please contact the EPA Region 3 Library:

215-814-5254
Fax: 215-814-5253
Email: Library-Reg3@epa.gov

Before viewing or downloading these documents, please note the page lengths and large file sizes.

2003 Draft Programmatic EIS

• Draft Programmatic EIS (2003) (PDF)(669 pp, 9 MB, 903-R-00-013)
• Appendices A-C (PDF)(277 pp, 3 MB, 903-R-00-0013A)
• Appendix D (PDF) (1427 pp, 40 MB, 903-R-00-0013B)
• Appendices E-F (PDF) (618 pp, 9 MB, 903-R-00-0013C)
• Appendix G (PDF) (1549 pp, 39 MB, 903-R-00-0013D)
• Appendix H (PDF) (1620 pp, 78 MB, 903-R-00-0013E)
• Appendices I-K (PDF) (236 pp, 8 MB, 903-R-00-0013F)

2005 Final Programmatic EIS

• Final Programmatic EIS (2005) (PDF) (507 pp, 18 MB, 903-R-05-002)

2005 ​Public Comment Compendium

• Compendium Volume I (PDF) (561 pp, 49 MB, 903-P-05-001A)
• Compendium Volume II (PDF) (564 pp, 49 MB, 903-P-05-001B )
• Compendium Volume III (PDF) (552 pp, 34 MB, 903-P-05-001C)