The Latest: House voids Obama rule on mining debris

WASHINGTON – The Latest on congressional efforts to reverse President Barack Obama’s rules on the environment (all times local):

4:55 p.m.

The Republican-controlled House has approved a measure to scuttle an Obama-era regulation that prevents coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby streams.

Republicans say the rule is a job killer and is poorly crafted. The measure was approved 228-194.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the stream-protection rule ignores dozens of federal, state and local regulations already in place.

The Interior Department said in announcing the rule in December that it would protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests, preventing coal mining debris from being dumped into nearby waters.

Interior officials said the rule would cause only modest job losses in coal country and could even create jobs as companies hire construction crews to haul and store debris.

The repeal measure now goes to the Senate.

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4:50 p.m.

The Republican-led House has voted to overturn a regulation from President Barack Obama’s tenure that requires companies to disclose payments made to the U.S. and foreign governments relating to mining and drilling.

The House is using an arcane tool that allows a simple majority of both GOP-led chambers to invalidate regulations issued in the final months of Obama’s presidency.

The vote for repeal was 235-187.

The rule was intended to promote transparency so that citizens in some of the world’s most impoverished countries can hold their governments accountable for the wealth generated through mining and drilling.

But Republicans countered that the regulation requires U.S. companies to hand over key details of how they bid and compete while many foreign competitors are under no obligation to do the same.