President Donald Trump has overturned a law preventing coal waste from being dumped in streams and rivers.

He called the stream protection regulation a “job-killing rule” before signing a measure called Resolution 38 to overturn it.

According to a press release from the White House, his reasoning was to protect coal workers and the communities that depend on them from the effects of the industry’s decline, which the green regulation would have likely accelerated.

His administration said the blocked regulation threatened the coal industry with millions of dollars in compliance costs and would have put an unsustainable financial burden on small mines.

Before President Trump’s inauguration, he promised coal workers he would support them and reverse the harmful actions of the past administration – several of these coal miners attended the White House signing ceremony last week.

When the rule was originally announced in December 2016, the US Government at the time said it would protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests.

Donald Trump’s controversial nominee has been sworn in to lead the US environmental department.