With little more than a month before its initial report is due, Gov. Joe Manchin's new commission on post-mining development for mountaintop removal sites has scheduled its first meeting. Commission members are set to gather on Monday in a Capitol conference room, according to a public notice issued last week.
Manchin announced creation of the panel in late January, but did not appoint any of its members until late April. Lara Ramsburg, the governor's communications director, said the appointments were delayed primarily by administration work during the legislative session. Lawmakers ended their regular session on March 16. Manchin appointed 13 commission members on April 21 and four more on May 1, according to Secretary of State records.
Among five commission appointees listed as "public members" by the governor's office were two coal industry lobbyists and former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer.
Manchin formed the commission with an executive order that followed up on comments the governor made during his 2008 State of the State address. The governor suggested in the speech that mined lands could be used for "renewable energy projects such as biomass, solar and wind." Manchin also said he was "committed to examining the legal barriers that restrict" such developments. Manchin staffers have been unable to explain what those legal barriers are, and Randy Huffman, now Manchin's DEP Secretary, said that the problem isn't so much "legal barriers" as it is a failure by coal companies to come up with post-mining development plans.
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