The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields and a Field-Based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity in Central Appalachian Streams

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EPA is announcing a second extension of the public comment period for two related draft documents: (1) "The Effects of Mountaintop Mines and Valley Fills on Aquatic Ecosystems of the Central Appalachian Coalfields" (EPA/600/R-09/138A) and (2) "A Field-based Aquatic Life Benchmark for Conductivity in Central Appalachian Streams" (EPA/600/R-10/023A). We are specifically extending the comment period to give the public additional time to evaluate the data used to derive a benchmark for conductivity. The original Federal Register notice announcing the public comment period was published on April 12, 2010 (75 FR 18499), and an extension of the public comment period was published on June 1, 2010 (75 FR 30393). By following the link below, reviewers may download the initial data and EPA's derivative data sets that were used to calculate the conductivity benchmark. These reports were developed by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development as part of a set of actions taken by EPA to further clarify and strengthen environmental permitting requirements for Appalachian mountaintop removal and other surface coal mining projects, in coo