The Eleventh Circuit denied the coal mining industry's petitions for review of a Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) regulation aimed at reducing black lung disease and other respiratory illnesses in miners. The petitioners challenged MSHA's authority to issue the rule under the Federal Min...

A district court dismissed a uranium company's lawsuit that the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) preempts a Virginia law that prohibits any state agency from accepting applications for a permit to mine uranium. The company filed suit against the governor, two cabinet members, and various officials affiliated...

A district court denied DOI's motion to dismiss an environmental group's lawsuit challenging OSM's determination that a surface mining permit could not be automatically terminated without first providing notice to the permit holder. SMCRA provides that certain mining permits will be terminated if th...

A district court dismissed property owners' lawsuit against a mining company for unlawfully diverting excess wastewater into underground mine voids located beneath their land. Although the owners filed suit after the statute-of-limitations period expired, the owners argued that CERCLA's discovery ru...

The Supreme Court of Alaska reversed a lower court decision that plaintiffs challenging land and water use permits allowing intensive mineral exploration in Alaska's prospective Pebble Mine had "sufficient economic incentive" to warrant the imposition of attorney fees against them. The plaintiffs ha...

The Supreme Court of Alaska held that the state's Department of Natural Resources should have provided public notice before issuing land and water use permits allowing intensive mineral exploration in the prospective Pebble Mine. The Alaska Constitution requires public notice when interests in land ...

A district court held that OSM violated NEPA when it approved the expansion of two Colorado mines. The court agreed with environmental groups that OSM violated NEPA by failing to seek public involvement during the review process and by failing to publish notice of the resulting EAs and FONSIs. OSM a...

A district court upheld a U.S. Forest Service decision allowing a uranium mine to renew operations near the Grand Canyon National Park. In January 2012, DOI withdrew approximately 633,547 acres of public lands and 360,002 acres of National Forest System lands for up to 20 years from location and ent...

A district court held that environmental groups may go forward with their ESA lawsuit challenging OSM's issuance of SMCRA permits for two surface coal mines. The groups alleged that OSM failed to adequately consider how wastewater discharges from the mines would impact the Cumberland darter and blac...

The Fourth Circuit held that a Virginia facility that stores and blends coal for a nearby power plant is subject to the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) jurisdiction under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. The Mine Act covers operators of a "coal or other mine," includi...