Renewable Energy Update

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE THERE’S FIRE? THE D.C. CIRCUIT CONFIRMS THE COMMISSION’S ADOPTION OF THE SECRETARY’S INTERPRETATION OF “MINE FIRE”

August 10, 2015

For clients and friends of Jackson Kelly PLLC
Volume 11, Number 24
©2015 Jackson Kelly PLLC

On July 31, 2015, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals (the “Court”) evaluated and denied the petition for review of The American Coal Co., (Docket No. LAKE 2010-408-R), upholding the Commission’s finding that the existence of a mine “fire” does not require the presence of flame.  In bringing…

Jackson Kelly Attorneys Help Draft Mineral Rights Legislation

August 6, 2015

House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1617, which aims to increase workforce development by clarifying Indiana’s mineral rights laws, was recently signed into law by Governor Mike Pence.

Attorneys in Jackson Kelly’s Evansville, Indiana office helped draft HEA 1617 as a way to help clarify Indiana law by allowing a developer to harvest mineral rights on a plot of land where the owner is unknown or if initial…

EPA Seeks Order From 4th Circuit to Prohibit Discovery by Murray Energy-UPDATE: EPA Needs More Time to Locate and Review Documents

July 27, 2015

We have previously reported on Murray Energy’s action against EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia.  There, Murray has sued EPA to enforce § 321(a) of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations” of potential loss or shifts of employment” which may result from the administration or enforcement of the Clean Air Act. 

Recently, the District…

Sierra Club Moves Efforts to Rescind WV and KY State NPDES Programs to Fourth and Sixth Circuits

July 22, 2015

The Sierra Club and its local partners previously petitioned EPA to withdraw its approval of the NPDES programs in at least Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia, largely over alleged deficiencies by the state agencies in handling coal-related permits.  Earlier this year, when EPA did not formally respond to the petitions, the Sierra Club sued EPA in federal courts in Kentucky and West Virginia.  

In…

EPA Seeks Order From 4th Circuit to Prohibit Discovery by Murray Energy: UPDATE 4th Circuit Denies Relief to EPA

July 13, 2015

We have previously reported on Murray Energy’s action against EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia.  There, Murray has sued EPA to enforce § 321(a) of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations” of potential loss or shifts of employment” which may result from the administration or enforcement of the Clean Air Act. 

Recently, the District…

EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in Limbo After Supreme Court Decision

July 2, 2015

On Monday, in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency “strayed far beyond [the] bounds” of reasonableness by not considering costs in its decision to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants from fossil fuel-fired power plants. The case, Michigan vs. EPA, was decided 5-4, with Justices Scalia, Roberts, Kennedy,…

Mingo Logan Appeals Adverse District Court Decision on § 404 Permit “Veto” - Again

June 18, 2015

Mingo Logan Coal Company obtained a Clean Water Act § 404 permit from the Corps of Engineers in January 2007.  The permit authorized fills associated with the Spruce Mine in Logan County, West Virginia.  In January 2011, USEPA exercised its authority under CWA § 404(c) and “vetoed” the permit.  Mingo Logan challenged the veto in the D.C. District Court, claiming both…

EPA Seeks Order From 4th Circuit to Prohibit Discovery by Murray Energy

June 17, 2015

We have previously reported on Murray Energy’s action against EPA in the Northern District of West Virginia.  There, Murray has sued EPA to enforce § 321(a) of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to “conduct continuing evaluations” of potential loss or shifts of employment” which may result from the administration or enforcement of the Clean Air Act. 

Recently, the District…

Jackson Kelly Attorneys to Present at EMLF 36th Annual Institute

April 27, 2015

Several Jackson Kelly PLLC attorneys will be present at the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation’s Thirty-Sixth Annual Institute on June 21-23, 2015 in Amelia Island, Florida. These include:  

• M. Shane Harvey of the Firm’s Charleston, West Virginia, office and current Coal Chair for EMLF will speak as part of the Welcome and Introductions during the General Session.
• Robert G. McLusky and …

WVDEP Issues Order Requiring Additional Reporting From Coal Prep Plants

April 22, 2015

WVDEP April 2015 Order

On April 15, 2015, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“WVDEP”) mailed out a generic order to all of the approximately 90 coal preparation plants in West Virginia.  The Order requires prep plants to identify all chemical components of the products used at the plant as well as the outlets that could potentially receive these…

Board Affirms Certification Revocation for Water Lab in WV

March 27, 2015

By order dated March 11, 2015, the West Virginia Environmental Quality Board (“EQB”) affirmed an earlier order by WVDEP revoking a laboratory certification granted to Appalachian Laboratories (“AppLabs”).  WVDEP issued the order on October 16, 2014 in response to press accounts that a former employee of AppLabs (John Shelton) had pleaded guilty to diluting or falsifying water samples…

EPA Moves to Dismiss Sierra Club Efforts to Rescind State NPDES Programs

March 27, 2015

The Sierra Club and its local partners previously petitioned EPA to withdraw its approval of the NPDES programs in at least Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia—largely over alleged deficiencies by the state agencies in handling coal-related permits.  Earlier this year, when EPA did not formally respond to the petitions, the Sierra Club sued EPA in federal courts in Kentucky and West…