Industry, States Ask Judge To Vacate Strict EPA Review Of Mine Permits

摘要

Mining industry groups and state regulators are asking a federal district judge to declare invalid EPA's stricter reviews of mountaintop mining permits initiated at the start of the Obama administration, and to order the Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over the permits at issue, to process them in accordance with codified procedures. The National Mining Association (NMA) and its co-plaintiffs filed a May 2 motion for summary judgment declaring illegal EPA's "enhanced coordination procedures" (ECP) to subject Clean Water Act (CWA) section 404 "dredge-and-fill" permits to stricter reviews before they can be issued by the Corps.