Judge sides with coal industry; Ruling declares Obama administration overstepped its authority

摘要

A FEDERAL JUDGE in Washington, D.C, ruled that the Obama administration overstepped its authority in tightening oversight of permits used by coal companies in mountaintop removal mining. The Obama administration introduced an Interagency Action Plan in 2009 that used the Clean Water Act to immediately halt permit reviews of mountaintop mining based on environmental concerns stemming from mining impacts on streams and watersheds.That decision impacted more than 200 coal mining permits and permit expansion applications that were pending when the temporary moratorium was declared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The process limited permit applications in Kentucky and West Virginia to a total of 29.