"The Obama administration is appealing a federal court ruling that scrapped U.S. EPA's retroactive veto of a large mountaintop removal coal mining permit in West Virginia, according to court documents filed Friday and [Monday]."

"In March, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson for the District of Columbia said EPA overstepped its bounds when it blocked part of an Army Corps of Engineers permit for Arch Coal Inc.'s Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County.

Environmentalists and industry leaders alike agree that, barring congressional action, the courts likely will decide the bounds of the Clean Water Act when it comes to Section 404 dredge-and-fill permits issued by the Army Corps with EPA participation."

Manuel Quinones reports for Greenwire May 14, 2012. [2]