Obama officials reviewing mountaintop removal rules PDF Print E-mail
Written by KEN WARD, Jr., Charleston West Virginia Gazette   
Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Obama administration officials are considering changes to regulations for mountaintop removal coal mining, a government lawyer told a federal judge yesterday.

"We are in a state of transition," said Cynthia Morris, a Department of Justice lawyer representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but added she had "nothing significant to report" yet about what was being considered. Morris made the statements during a district court hearing on the status of pending mountaintop removal litigation.

A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month overturned a 2007 district court decision that required more detailed reviews by the corps before it approved Clean Water Act authorizations for coal operators to bury streams. A district court injunction remains in effect until the circuit court decides on a request by environmental groups that the full appeals court hear the case.

Environmental groups have been pressuring the Obama administration and U.S. EPA to block a long list of pending permits the corps is poised to issue following the 4th Circuit decision. Activists and lawyers for the groups were disappointed by the lack of detail revealed yesterday about where the administration is heading on the issue, but hope a review will lead to tougher regulations.

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 28 March 2009 )
 

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