The National Mining Association (NMA) applauded a ruling from the Ninth Circuit vacating a prior, unprecedented ruling from the district court, which manufactured a nationwide injunction against federal coal leasing unless and until the Bureau of Land Management completed an unnecessary programmatic environmental impact statement. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the NMA, as well as the states of Wyoming and Montana, that the case should have ended once the challenged Department of Interior Secretarial Order was rescinded in 2021.
“This is a victory for American-mined energy and we are pleased with the court’s recognition of the need to dismiss this irreparably flawed ruling,” Rich Nolan, NMA President and CEO said. “With this ruling, important projects can once again advance and support the production of affordable, reliable power to the grid, while creating jobs and economic development across the country, helping federal, state and localities with necessary funding by contributing hundreds of millions each year in revenues to state and local governments.”
