The panel ruled that if coal developers want to recoup attorney fees after being sued by legal adversaries, such as environmental companies, they must prove that they were sued in “bad faith” with an intent to harass and embarrass, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Aldon’s lawyers argued that the coal operator should only have to show the legal challenge was groundless to win costs.

"It’s difficult to prove the intent of a party," Alton lawyer Denise Dragoo told the board. "That [bad faith] standard bars a claim for attorney fees."

However, state lawyers said Utah agreed to the bad-faith standard in 1980 as a requirement of the federal government ceding primacy to the state over coal mining regulation. Applying a lower standard could jeopardize that arrangement, they claimed.

The case stems from the 2009 approval of Alton’s plans to strip mine 600 acres at its Coal Hollow project. Environmental groups contested the approval and were unsuccessful, with courts overruling their claim that the impacts of the project weren’t properly reviewed.

Alton wanted to recoup fees from that case, which not only went before the mining board but also the Utah Supreme Court. The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Parks Conservation Association stood to be billed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The decision will prevent Alton from recovering these legal fees and the costs of any future action against the company, something which stands as a possibility due to the controversial proposed expansion of Alton’s Coal Hollow mine.