"House Panel Votes To Weaken Obama’s Coal Moratorium"

"A House committee on Thursday voted to exempt some leases from the White House's moratorium on leasing federal land for coal mining.

The Natural Resources Committee voted 22-13 to pass the bill from Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) to permit leases to go forward if a company had submitted an application for the mine before the moratorium took effect earlier this year.

The legislation also sets a three-year time limit on the Interior Department’s ongoing review of its coal leasing program and establishes an outside advisory committee that includes state, tribal and industry representatives to study coal, oil and natural gas lease policy on federal land."

Timothy Cama reports for The Hill September 8, 2016.