A coal mining company that submitted an application for an emergency coal lease sale in 2019 filed a lawsuit in federal district court in North Dakota to compel federal defendants to complete their environmental review for the lease application. The company alleged that federal defendants had told the company that the environmental assessment for its application could not move forward because the impact on greenhouse gases could not be analyzed because “no test currently exists to determine whether leasing the federal coal … will have a significant impact on global carbon dioxide emissions.” The company described the federal inaction as “inexcusably part of ‘what appears to be … a de facto moratorium’ concerning federal coal leasing.” The complaint asserted violations of the Mineral Leasing Act, the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970, NEPA, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

Coal mining company's lawsuit to compel federal defendants to complete their environmental review for an emergency coal lease application.

Falkirk Mining Co. v. U.S. Department of the Interior

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Coal Mining Company Said Environmental Review Delay for Lease Sale Was Unlawful

Filed

United States of America

North Dakota

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Coal Mining Company Said Environmental Review Delay for Lease Sale Was Unlawful

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance