Judge: Resumption of US coal sales by Trump needs review

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Montana said U.S. Interior Department officials had avoided an environmental study of their actions by describing it as a mere “policy shift.” (File Photo By US Government – http://www.mtd.uscourts.gov/bmm.html, Public Domain)

BILLINGS, Mont. – A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Trump administration failed to consider potential damage to the environment from its decision to resume coal sales from federal lands, but stopped short of halting future sales.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Montana said U.S. Interior Department officials had avoided an environmental study of their actions by describing it as a mere “policy shift.” In so doing, officials ignored the environmental effects of selling huge volumes of coal from public lands, the judge said.

The ruling marks another in a string of judicial setbacks for President Donald Trump’s attempts to boost North American energy production.

A previous order from Morris blocked the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would transport crude from Canada’s oil sands. Other courts have issued rulings against the administration’s plans for oil and gas leasing and coal mining.

More than 40 per cent of U.S. coal is mined from federal lands, primarily in Western states. Companies have mined about 4 billion tons of coal from federal reserves in the past decade, contributing $10 billion to federal and state coffers through royalties and other payments.

The Obama administration imposed a moratorium on most federal coal sales in 2016. The move followed concerns that low royalty rates paid by mining companies were shortchanging taxpayers and that burning the fuel was making climate change worse.

President Donald Trump lifted the moratorium in March 2017 as part of his efforts to revitalize the slumping coal industry.

“The moratorium provided protections on public lands for more than 14 months,” Morris said in Friday’s 34-page order. He added that lifting the moratorium was a “major federal action” sufficient to trigger requirements for a detailed analysis of its environmental impacts.

Morris ordered government attorneys to enter negotiations with states, tribal officials and environmental groups in order to determine the next steps in the case.

“The court held clearly that the Trump administration needs to rationally consider the consequences of its decision. Those include dire impacts to clean water, public health and our climate,” said Earthjustice attorney Jenny Harbine, who represents environmental groups and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, which had sued to stop the lease sales.

Representatives of the Interior Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management administers about 300 coal leases in 10 states. Most of that coal – 85 per cent – comes from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana.

Production and combustion of coal from federal lands accounted for about 11 per cent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2014.