ELR Citation: ELR 20565
No(s). 86-2606 (4th Cir. Oct 2, 1987)

The court holds that regulations adopted by the Secretary of the Interior in 1982 to clarify the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act's (SMCRA's) two-acre exemption may not be applied retroactively to nullify an exemption granted by Virginia to a deep coal mining operation. The 1982 regulation...