BLUEFIELD — Reaction on Friday was swift and varied as coal industry supporters and opponents of mountaintop removal mining reacted to a federal judge’s ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency had overstepped its statutory authority by holding up 29 surface mining permits at coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton of the Washington, D.C. district issued the partial summary judgment Thursday afternoon in the National Mining Association’s lawsuit against the EPA and Administrator Lisa Jackson. The NMA challenged a 2009 decision by the EPA to coordinate reviews of backlogged surface mining permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Surface mining permits have slowed dramatically under the Obama administration.
“We have only had two permits approved since the first of this year,” Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association said. “This decision is great, but my concern remains that the EPA won’t pay any attention to it.”
Raney said that Judge Walton’s ruling vindicates what the Coal Association has been saying for 2-and-one-half years. “You would think that with President (Barack) Obama’s commitment to jobs that he would be eager to get coal miners back to work. Mine operators are ready to hire coal miners, but they’ve been held up without permits.”
Federal and state lawmakers in West Virginia, as well as Southwest Virginia, appeared pleased with Walton’s ruling. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., said it is “a great day for West Virginia.” He was quoted in a press release as stating that he is “hopeful that this will put us on the path to receiving the permits that are needed to provide the energy and the jobs, not just for West Virginia, but for the entire country.”
U.S. Senator John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., was quoted in a press release that miners “must have certainty about the regulatory landscape” and added that Walton’s ruling “confirms that the EPA went too far. Under the law, no federal agency can change the rules of the game of its own accord without going through the full public process.”
U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., was quoted in a press release as stating, “This decision by the court marks an important step in stopping the EPA from making up new illegal processes designed to withhold mine permits. The EPA seems to think its mission is to make it increasingly difficult for the U.S. to tap into its domestic energy resources, including coal, oil and natural gas.”
Members of the environmental community were equally quick on the press release draw. A joint press release from a group called “Appalachian Environmental Advocates” quoted six environmentalists, all vowing to continue to support the EPA and keep pressure on surface coal mining.
“We will continue working to protect mountains and streams, even as the coal industry tries to continue destroying them,” Ed Hopkins, director of the Sierra Club’s Environmental Quality Program was quoted as stating in the press release.
U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., told the Huffington Post that Walton’s partial summary judgment represents “a significant step,” in reining in the EPA’s efforts to reward “a core constituency that doesn’t want any coal mining,” and U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., urged the EPA not to appeal the court’s decision, according to a press release.
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin was quoted in a press release as stating that Thursday represented “a great day for West Virginia,” and added: “As we stated over a year ago, the EPA and the Obama Administration have been exceeding the authority granted to them by Congress to regulate water quality in the Appalachian Basin. We believe in the rule of law and the judge has confirmed our assertions against the EPA.”
Randy Huffman, cabinet secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, was quoted in the same press release as being pleased with the decision. “This puts the Corps of Engineers back into the area of regulatory stability. Now we can focus on the process outlined in the law and rules rather than on these unlawfully promulgated processes.”
Walton’s partial summary judgment pointed out: “The statutory language explicitly establishes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Corps, as the permitting authority, which strikes the court as an express limitation.” Walton also pointed out that, “the EPA has expanded its role in the issuance of Section 404 permits and has thus exceeded the statutory afforded to it by the Clean Water Act.”
“What it does is show that Congress needs to weigh in and show the balance between congress, the administration and the courts,” Raney said. “It is good to get a good decision. They’re few and far between.” The West Virginia Coal Association represents 98 percent of the coal operators in the state.
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