Stream Saver bill dies in committee

A bill that would have stopped coal operators from burying creeks and streams with mine waste fell two votes short Tuesday in the House Appropriations and Revenue Committee.

The committee voted 13-12 to adopt a committee substitute to House Bill 526 that would have inserted the so-called Stream Saver legislation into a decoy measure that would provide tax breaks for camel feed. Fifteen votes were needed to adopt the substitute bill.

Three lawmakers abstained, including: Rep. Scott Brinkman, R-Louisville; Rep. Bob DeWeese, R-Louisville and Rep. Danny Ford, R-Mt. Vernon.

One lawmaker, Rep. Mike Denham, D-Maysville, left the committee meeting before the vote was taken. He returned shortly after the vote was taken.

Proponents of the bill, which has not received a hearing in the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee in recent years, promised to continue fighting for the legislation.

"We'll holler bigger and louder," said Truman Hurt of Perry County, a member of the advocacy group Kentuckians for the Commonwealth.

The coal industry had opposed the measure, saying it would bring an end to coal mining in Eastern Kentucky. Advocates for the legislation dismissed those claims as hyperbole and said the bill's main effects would be to increase water quality, reduce flooding and protect aquatic habitat.

Committee Chairman Harry Moberly, D-Richmond, pledged future action on the issue.

"We'll have future discussions about this bill and anything else about the environment that is not properly addressed," Moberly said.

- John Stamper