In a ruling released yesterday, a DC federal court judge blasted the EPA for exceeding its authority under the Clean Water Act with its implementation of “enhanced coordination procedures (ECP)” that effectively nullifed the authority of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The ECP has been used to obstruct the timely issuance of hundreds of mining permits in Appalachia since enacted in first months of the Obama Administration in 2009.
Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association, said this is an important first step in turning back the EPA’s on-going assault on Appalachian coal.
“This ruling is clear and is a vindication that our statements over the past two-and-a-half years are valid,” Raney said. “We are hopeful that a similar ruling will be forthcoming on claims related to the agency’s illegal conductivity guidance.
“The EPA has engaged in making law and has usurped the constitutional balance between the executive branch and the Congress. The EPA’s agenda has cost jobs, threatened communities and has done so at a time when so many in our nation are desperately looking for hope. Over the past two years, the EPA has stripped away that hope from thousands of families.
“We are happy with today’s court ruling but we know that court cases take far too long. Our coal miners and their families can’t wait for years or decades. This ruling is proof positive that Congress must act. Congress and the President could bring an end to the EPA’s assault on jobs today. We renew our call on Congress to take the steps necessary to rein in this out-of-control agency and end its assault on American jobs. We call on Congress to pass HR 2018, the Reins Act and the Train Act. And we call on President Obama to keep his commitment to get Americaworking again. He must call for immediate passage of these pieces of legislation and sign them when they come to his desk. Americans want to work.”
In his ruling, Walton said the intent of Congress was clear with regard to the lines of authority under the Clean Water Act.
“Although the Administrator of the EPA is tasked with administering the Clean Water Act, the Administrator's authority is subject to limitations,” wrote Judge Reggie Walton in his decision. “First, and most important, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act provides an express limitation on the Administrator's authority with respect to the issuance of Section 404 permits. The statutory language explicitly establishes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Corps, as the permitting authority, which strikes the Court as an express limitation.”
“Congress established a permitting scheme in which the Corps is to be the principal player, and the EPA is to play a lesser, clearly defined supporting role,” Walton wrote. “With the adoption of the MCIR Assessment and the EC Process, the EPA has expanded its role in the issuance of Section 404 permits and has thus exceeded the statutory authority afforded to it by the Clean Water Act…, the MCIR Assessment and the EC Process are not consistent with the legal duties and authority accorded the EPA by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act,”