{Washington, D.C.}...In response to a lawsuit filed by the National Mining Association against the EPA and Administrator Lisa Jackson, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton in Washington, D.C. ruled Tuesday that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its powers by setting up water-quality criteria for coal mining operations in Appalachia. Last year, the EPA tightened guidelines on the practice of dumping waste into Appalachian valley waterways from surface mine blasting. Walton said the EPA infringed on the authority given to state regulators by federal clean water and surface mining acts. The National Mining Association, which had denounced the guidelines as a "jobs destroyer," says it's now time to get miners back to work by allowing state permitting agencies to do their jobs. The National Mining Association says it has always maintained that the EPA has engaged in an unlawful overreach in its attempt to commandeer the permitting responsibilities the law places with other state and federal agencies.
