By Matt Samples

April 19, 2018 - Steel production is crucial to the coal market in West Virginia, but regulations jeopardize success in the steel industry. 

Thousands of West Virginia coal jobs are required to produce the millions of tons of metallurgical coal necessary to fuel steel production at a blast furnace in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

A steel mill’s furnace chamber will regularly require a new lining due to unavoidable and recurring operational wear and tear. Such work effects no change from the furnace as originally designed, yet the EPA previously claimed these jobs were subject to a more onerous and costly process typically reserved for new or modified facilities. 

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday to clear up what “routine maintenance, repair and replacement,” means.

The more stringent standard, known as New Source Review, makes ordinary repairs cost prohibitive and could ultimately force a shutdown of the equipment.

Ultimately, the proposed rule by Morrisey would force the EPA to define the terms "routine," "maintenance" and "repair." 

By doing this, it would potentially reduce costs for the steel companies trying to maintain their blast furnaces and other equipment. It is possible that less regulation would allow more steel production, and in turn, more coal necessary to run steel mills.  

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