Mar. 27--Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., and have introduced legislation that could halt mountaintop mining.

The Appalachia Restoration Act would amend the Clean Water Act to prohibit the dumping of mining waste and "fill" into headwater streams and rivers.

"Coal is an essential part of our energy future, but it is not necessary to destroy our mountaintops in order to have enough coal," Sen. Alexander said in a prepared statement.

He said the bill does not ban other methods of coal mining, but instead would prevent this particular type.

Carol Raulston, spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, disagreed and said the bill, even if limited only to mountaintop mining, would idle 14,000 miners in Appalachia.

"As we read his bill, it would make it impossible to get a surface mining permit for any kind of mining," she said. "The prohibition to dump fill would make it impossible to mine, so we obviously would oppose the bill."

Sen. Alexander is a member of the Water and Wildlife Subcommittee of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, which has jurisdiction over the issue.

Introduced just days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it plans to take a closer look at pending permit requests for mountaintop mining operations, the bill brought praise from environmental groups.

Dr. Matthew Wasson, director of programs at the environmental nonprofit group Appalachian Voices, said protecting streams from what he calls an extreme form of mining will restore the economy, not hurt it.

"This is not an either/or choice." he said. "Mountaintop removal does the same thing to our economy that it does to our mountains. Ending mountaintop removal will allow sustainable, long-term economic growth to flourish in Appalachia."

Sen. Alexander's statement said mountaintop mining produces less than 5 percent of the coal mined in the United States.

"Millions of tourists spend tens of millions of dollars in Tennessee every year to enjoy the natural beauty of our mountains -- a beauty that, for me, and I believe for most Tennesseans, makes us proud to live here," the senator said.

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