Description: Challenge to federal approvals for expansion of coal mine in central Montana.
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Montana Environmental Information Center v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 11/03/2017 Opinion and Order Download Opinion and order issued modifying injunction. In an opinion issued on November 3 to explain the basis of the October 31 order, the court considered the factors for a permanent injunction. The court concluded that although the removal of federal coal would be an irreparable injury with consequences such as greenhouse gas emissions that could not be addressed through alternative judicial remedies, the balance of the hardships and the public interest warranted a “limited modification.” The court found that the “blanket injunction” it originally issued would not completely address the harms of coal mining because mining of private coal would continue at the mine regardless of the scope of the injunction; the court found that a blanket injunction would, however, inflict economic harm on the coal company’s employees and the local community. 10/31/2017 Order Download Injunction modified. Montana Federal Court Allowed Some Coal Mining Activity to Take Place While Federal Agency Completed Required NEPA Review. On October 31, 2017, the federal district court for the District of Montana modified its August 2017 injunction barring mining of federal coal within an area subject to a mining plan modification for which the court had vacated the environmental assessment. The October 31 order permitted the mining company to conduct development work within federal coal in one section of the mining plan area, but ordered that the amount of federal coal “displaced” not exceed 170,000 tons. The court also required that the federal coal be stockpiled and stored at the mine and that it not be sold or shipped. In its August decision, the court had found that the Office of Surface Mining failed to comply with NEPA, including by failing to take a hard look at foreseeable greenhouse gas emissions and at the impacts of coal transportation. 10/05/2017 Notice of Appeal Download Notice of appeal filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC. The mining company appealed both the October 2 order and the court’s August 2017 decision to the Ninth Circuit and requested emergency relief. 10/02/2017 Order Download Stay denied. 09/15/2017 Motion Download Exhibit showing mine layout filed to accompany emergency motion. 09/11/2017 Brief Download Emergency brief filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC in support of motion to amend judgment, motion for remedies hearing, and motion to stay injunction pending remedies hearing. 09/11/2017 Motion Download Emergency motion to amend judgment, motion for remedies hearing, and motion to stay injunction pending remedies hearing filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC. The mining company filed an emergency motion after the August 2017 order asking the court to amend its judgment and stay the injunction. The mining company argued that the district court should not have issued the injunction prohibiting mining of the federal coal without hearing legal arguments and factual evidence on the appropriate remedy, and without weighing the mandatory factors for a mandatory injunction. The company said the injunction would “[i]n a matter of weeks … cause severe consequences to the mine and its employees, in an area of Montana that can ill-afford economic displacement.” 08/14/2017 Order Download Environmental assessment vacated and set aside and matter remanded to agency for further action. Montana Federal Court Found NEPA Review of Coal Mine Expansion Should Have Included Downstream Greenhouse Gases. The federal district court for the District of Montana ruled that the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement’s (OSM’s) environmental review of a proposed federal mining plan modification for expansion of underground coal mining operations was not sufficient. The court found that OSM failed to take a hard look at indirect and cumulative effects of coal transportation and combustion and at foreseeable greenhouse gas emissions. Although OSM calculated the greenhouse gas emissions associated with coal transportation, the court found that it had not considered other reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts for which analysis would be “possible and not merely speculative.” With respect to greenhouse gas emissions from coal combustion, the court found that OSM’s quantification of such emissions was not sufficient, and that OSM should also have quantified the economic costs associated with emissions since it had quantified the modification’s economic benefits. The Court also found that OSM should have considered non-greenhouse gas pollution associated with combustion. In addition, the court said OSM had improperly decided not to prepare an EIS despite “significant uncertainty about the critical issues,” citing OSM’s failure to adequately evaluate the plan modification’s “context” beyond the local and regional levels and its failure to consider the plan modification’s coal transportation and air pollution effects in its “intensity” analysis. 03/22/2017 Reply Download Reply/opposition filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC in support of cross-motion for summary judgment and in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 03/15/2017 Response Download Combined response/reply filed by plaintiffs in support of motion for summary judgment. 03/01/2017 Brief Download Brief filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC in support of cross-motion for summary judgment and in opposition to plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. 11/04/2016 Brief Download Brief filed in support of plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. Groups Argued that Coal Mine Expansion Environmental Review Should Have Used Social Cost of Carbon. The plaintiffs in an action challenging federal approvals that would permit a Montana coal mine to expand by 7,000 acres filed a brief in the federal district court for the District of Montana setting forth the shortcomings in the federal agencies’ NEPA review. The plaintiffs’ arguments included that the environmental assessment (EA) for expansion had failed to adequately consider the indirect and cumulative impacts of greenhouse gas emissions because, while the EA quantified the life-cycle emissions from mining, shipping, and burning the coal, it did not “evaluate” the impact. The plaintiffs argued that the defendants should have used the federal social cost of carbon to fulfill the obligation to evaluate the impact. The plaintiffs also cited the “highly uncertain and highly controversial” nature of air pollution emissions, including greenhouse gas emissions, as one factor warranting preparation of an environmental impact statement. 08/17/2015 Complaint Download Complaint filed. NEPA Challenge Filed to Contest Expansion of Montana Underground Coal Mine. Three environmental groups filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Montana challenging federal approvals for a mining plan modification for the Bull Mountains Mine No. 1 in central Montana. The plaintiffs contended that the modification would permit the mine’s expansion by 7,000 acres and allow production of up to 15 million tons of coal annually, making the mine the largest domestic source by annual production of underground coal. The plaintiffs alleged that the mining, transportation, and combustion of coal from the mine would have annual greenhouse gas emissions greater than any single point source in the U.S. They contended that the federal defendants failed to comply with NEPA by, among other things, failing to take a hard look at indirect and cumulative effects of coal transportation, coal exports, and coal combustion, and failing to consider foreseeable greenhouse gas emission impacts. -
Montana Environmental Information Center v. U.S. Office of Surface Mining
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 10/30/2017 Order Download Motion to reconsider denied. On October 25 and against on October 30, the Ninth Circuit said the mining company's appeal was not yet effective and held it in abeyance pending the district court’s resolution of the emergency motion seeking to amend the judgment. 10/27/2017 Motion Download Emergency motion filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC to reconsider order. 10/25/2017 Order Download Appellate proceedings held in abeyance. 10/05/2017 Motion Download Emergency motion filed by Signal Peak Energy, LLC for stay pending appeal or in the alternative for expedited consideration.