"The appellate court panel found that a judge erred in 2022 when he reinstated the Obama administration’s moratorium on new coal leasing."

"A federal appellate court on Wednesday delivered a victory for the mining sector and scrapped a lower court ruling that froze new coal leases on public lands.

In an unsigned memorandum, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court judge’s decision in 2022 that reinstated an Obama-era moratorium on reviewing most new coal leasing applications.

The case centers on whether the Trump administration — in restarting the federal coal leasing program — was required under the National Environmental Policy Act to study the environmental effects of permitting more coal mining."

Hannah Northey and Niina H. Farah report for E&E News February 21, 2024. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Court Lifts Federal Coal Sales Moratorium In A Setback For Dems And Environmentalists" (AP) [3]