Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Bruce Harris said the groups, led by WildEarth Guardians, "failed to show a likelihood of immediate and irreparable harm," one of multiple legal requirements for a stay to be granted under federal law.
WildEarth, joined in the stay request by Defenders of Wildlife and the Sierra Club, appealed the federal government's environmental review of the Belle Ayr North coal tracts being sought in Wyoming by subsidiaries of Alpha Natural Resources and Peabody Energy, respectively. The coal tracts would add hundreds of millions of tons of reserves to existing mines owned by the
companies.
The environmental groups want the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the coal sales, to take into account downstream climate change impacts caused by coal mined in the PRB. It has accused the agency of violating the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act in vetting the sale, now likely to take place in 2011.
But in a six-page decision, Harris said the groups had not met a four-benchmark legal threshold, in part because even if the sales went forward as planned, actual mining of the coal was many years away.
"Assuming the sales ultimately result in the leasing of one or both of the tracts, actual mining of the tracts will initially be dependent upon the issuance of appropriate federal and state permits," Harris wrote in a six-page decision denying the stay. "Moreover, to the extent WildEarth attributes
significant impacts not to the mining of the coal, but to the burning of the coal in coal-fired power plants, those impacts too are remote in time."
Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director for WildEarth Guardians, said the group would review the decision and its options, including continuing its appeal at the IBLA. More likely, Nichols said, was that the group would take the appeal to federal court, marking the third case related to coal sales in Wyoming before judges on the federal bench.
A BLM spokesman said the agency was reviewing the decision and declined to comment. Representatives from Peabody and Alpha had not immediately responded to requests for comment.
China ChemNet will hold China SNG/CBM (International) Summit on 24-27 Nov, 2010 in Changji City of Xinjiang Province. This summit is the high-end international summit under the guidance of authorities and experts, conference topics include five major aspects of policy interpretation, industry research, business promotion, business meetings and Sino-foreign cooperation, is not only the new type coal chemical industry conference, but also the best opportunity to energy giant polymerization, government and enterprises investment, investors looking for the project. Sincerely welcome you to attend the summit. Details: http://news.chemnet.com/list/zt/meeting/2010energy/index.html
