Trump EPA shifts cost of mine pollution cleanups to the US taxpayers

To prevent mining companies from dodging their responsibility to the public, the Obama administration published a rule that required mining operations to prove they can bear the cost of pollution cleanup related to their operations; these cleanup costs had previously been borne by the US taxpayer through federal and state agencies. This month, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt abandoned the Obama-era rule and once again put the cost of cleanup related to mining operations on the shoulders of US taxpayers. In support of this reversal, Pruitt pointed to modern mining practices, other state and federal requirements, and the desire to safeguard an “important sector of the American economy and rural America, where most [] mining jobs are based” from “undue regulatory burdens.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/17/donald-trump-epa-mining-pollution-rules