Pittsburgh will be the host of one of six public hearings next month on a long-awaited and contentious proposed federal rule designed to better protect streams from the impacts of surface and underground coal mining.

The draft rule, released in July, seeks to update 30-year-old mining regulations by applying science-based protections for streams, fish, wildlife and ecosystems that would also benefit coalfield communities.

The hearing schedule, announced this week by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, also includes meetings in Denver; St. Louis; Lexington, Ky.; Big Stone Gap, Va.; and Charleston, W.Va.

Joe Pizarchik, OSMRE director, said in the release announcing the hearing schedule that the draft rule is “a common-sense approach to protecting people and the environment while coal mining continues.” He said adoption of the rule would protect about 6,500 miles of streams nationwide over the next two decades, as well as prevent mining-related pollution of streams that threatens coalfield communities in the Appalachians and mining states in the West.

The draft rule would change the way mining companies can impact streams and groundwater, requiring testing of stream flow volumes, water temperature, biological conditions and aquatic life before, during and after mining is done. According to the draft rule’s environmental impact statement, it would promote the protection and restoration of perennial and intermittent streams, ensure that land disturbed by mining is restored in an ecologically sound manner and update procedures to protect endangered and threatened species and their habitat.

“Science, technology and modern mining practices have greatly evolved over the last 30 years. We know much more today about the adverse effects of pollution and environmental degradation than a generation ago,” said Christopher Holmes, an OSMRE spokesman. “The proposed rule is designed to help coalfield communities and the industry keep pace with scientific and technological changes. Our intent is to continuously minimize the impact our energy consumption has on natural resources that serve as the foundation for a community’s health and economic development.”

The rule’s biggest impacts are likely to be on steep slope and so-called “mountaintop removal’’ mining operations in states such as West Virginia. But it will also have application in Pennsylvania, where mining waste from underground longwall operations is often deposited in stream valleys, and the full extraction mining method caused surface subsidence that dewaters streams or causes stream bottoms to sag, altering its temperature and aquatic biology.

“It’s been a practice in Pennsylvania for years to grant permits that allow the systematic dewatering of streams. We think that’s illegal and have been trying to get that changed and this rule would do that,” said Patrick Grenter, executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, an environmental advocacy organization with a mining focus. He said he would testify at the hearing in favor of the rule.

John Pippy, chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, a trade group representing the mining industry, said the alliance is still reviewing the 1,267-page rule and environmental impact statement, but expects to submit comments and testify at the Pittsburgh hearing. He endorsed requests made by several Pennsylvania congressmen to the OSMRE for a 120-day extension of the public comment period.

“The proposed Stream Protection Rule is essentially a rewrite of the existing rule, overhauling at least 475 different regulations and mandating blanket procedures across the industry,” Mr. Pippy said in a statement issued by the PCA. “The rule was drafted over the past five years and adequate time will be necessary as we work to determine the implications for Pennsylvania's coal mining practices and subsequently the impact on our state economy and electric ratepayers.”

According to the DEP, there were 256 surface mines in the state in 2014 employing 1,393 people, and 48 underground mines — including eight active, full extraction, longwall mines with 4,939 employees. Total coal production in the state in 2014 was just shy of 56 million tons, with about 8 million tons from surface mines.

The Pittsburgh hearing is scheduled for from 5 to 9 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel, 500 Mansfield Ave., in Green Tree.

Mr. Holmes said the mining office has no deadline for finalizing the rule.

First Published: August 15, 2015, 4:00 a.m.