opinion and order

Federal Court Upheld Climate Change-Related Portions of New EA and FONSI for Coal Mine Expansion but Vacated EA on Other Grounds

Challenge to new environmental review conducted for re-approval of mining plan modification allowing expansion of an underground coal mine in Montana.

350 Montana v. Haaland

Litigation

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Citing Seriousness of NEPA Errors, Montana Federal Court Vacated Approval of Coal Mine Expansion

brief

350 Montana v. Haaland - brief

reply

350 Montana v. Haaland - reply

response

350 Montana v. Haaland - response

motion for summary judgment

350 Montana v. Haaland - motion for summary judgment

complaint

350 Montana v. Haaland - complaint

motion to intervene

350 Montana v. Haaland - motion to intervene

Lawsuit Filed Challenging New NEPA Review for Underground Coal Mine’s Expansion

Filing Year For Action

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Coal is a combustible sedimentary rock formed from carbonised plant matter, rich in carbon and hydrocarbons, and occurring in several main types including hard coal and brown coal.

Activities involving the catching, processing, and selling of fish for food, recreation, and industry.

Air pollution involves harmful contaminants in the air, affecting both indoor and outdoor environments. It can lead to health issues like respiratory diseases and heart problems, and climate impacts such as global warming. Pollutants can damage plants, trees, habitats, and water bodies like rivers and lakes.

Zoning and spatial planning are both methods for guiding the distribution of people and activities in a space, and are regulatory restriction.

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Federal Court Upheld Climate Change-Related Portions of New EA and FONSI for Coal Mine Expansion but Vacated EA on Other Grounds

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector