In a Washington hearing, US District Judge Reggie Walton said while protecting the environmental and economic interests of the Appalachian region was important, the EPA exceeded its authority by issuing what it called a final guidance last year that sought stream water conductivity level tests by states when issuing mining permits.

The states of West Virginia and Kentucky were among the four lawsuits filed against the agency for its move, as was coal advocacy group the National Mining Association.

“In this litigation, the sole inquiry for the court is the legality of the final guidance and … that inquiry yields the conclusion that the EPA has overstepped its statutory authority under the Clean Water Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and infringed on the authority afforded state regulators by those statutes,” Walton said, according to various media including Bloomberg.

The regulations were part of what has come to be known as the “War in Coal” waged by the Obama administration and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson.

In fact, since taking their seats in 2008, the issuance of mine permits, particularly those for surface mines, have slowed to a crawl.

What used to be a months-long process can easily extend for years.

NMA president and chief executive officer Hal Quinn said the decision gave the nation’s miners and coal communities their “day in court” and affirmed its feeling that the EPA exceeded its authority.

“As we have always maintained, EPA has engaged in an unlawful overreach in its attempt to commandeer the permitting responsibilities the law places with other state and federal agencies,” he said.

“It is now time to get miners back to work by allowing the state permitting agencies to do their jobs.”

The lead case was National Mining Association v. Jackson, 10-1220, in the US District Court for the District of Columbia (Washington).

Appalachia responds

The wave of support for the judge’s ruling was swift and forceful from around the industry, including pro-coal legislators and advocacy groups.

One of the first was West Virginia governor Earl Ray Tomblin, who called the judgment a “huge victory” for the state and its coal miners.

“As the court correctly recognized, the West Virginia [Department of Environmental Protection] knows what's best for West Virginia, not the federal government,” he said.

He said he was confident state DEP Secretary Randy Huffman would “strike a reasonable balance” of environmental protection and moving forward with coal permitting.

“The EPA continues to treat our coal miners unfairly and I won't stand for it,” Tomblin said.

“Today's decision shows we are moving in the right direction and West Virginians should know that I'm in this fight until the end.

“I won't allow these federal bureaucrats to kill the very industry that built our great state.”

In Kentucky, state Governor Steve Beshear said he and his state’s miners had watched operations close and jobs put in jeopardy due in part to the EPA’s actions and called on the agency to release Kentucky’s permits.

“The ruling in US District Court confirms my administration’s long-held position that the federal EPA overreached its authority and essentially halted three dozen pending coal permits in Kentucky – permits that were met with erratic and unpredictable changes in EPA standards,” he said.

“My Energy and Environment Cabinet has worked tirelessly with the EPA to resolve these issues.

“However, the EPA has turned a deaf ear to our reasoning and instead chose to illegally block action on these pending permits.

“Today, the District Court agreed that the EPA’s actions were wrong.”

Kentucky Coal Association president and outspoken coal advocate Bill Bissett said the EPA’s moratorium had been unfair and illegal.

“At a time when our coal miners are concerned about their jobs, it is good news to know that our court system sided today with Kentucky workers over the ideology of appointed bureaucrats,” he said.

“It is our hope that the rest of the nation sees the wrong that was occurring in the commonwealth of Kentucky by our own federal government.

“While it is too early to see any progress with eastern Kentucky mining permits from [the] verdict, it is our hope that new opportunities for mining-related employment will no longer be held hostage by publicly funded anti-coal activists in our government who care little for the working people they are hurting.”

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who was governor when the suit was initially filed, called the decision “a great day” for the state he represented.

“I’m pleased and gratified to hear that the federal court has ruled in favor of our state, the miners who work here and the people who depend on coal for their livelihoods – and against the EPA for overstepping its boundaries,” he said.

“I remain hopeful that this court decision will put us on the path of getting the permits that we need to provide energy and jobs not just for West Virginia but for this entire country.”

Environmentalists were one group obviously unhappy with the ruling.

“We’re saddened that this federal court ruling will prevent the EPA from using this scientific guidance to protect Appalachia’s waters from mountaintop removal mining operations that have been linked to increased harm to human health,” Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition co-director Dianne Bady said.

Coal River Mountain Watch executive director Vernon Haltom told the Williamson Daily News that coalfields residents were depending on the regulations to protect their health since the state of West Virginia had not taken action.

“Since the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection chooses instead to enable unfettered pollution from mountaintop removal, we must rely on the EPA,” Haltom said.

“We hope that today’s court decision does not weaken [its] resolve to protect us from mountaintop removal, which is increasingly linked to deadly human health problems.”