Court Sends Loose Kentucky Coal Rules Back to EPA for More Starch. By Brett Barrouquere, AP, September 4, 2008. "[The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit] yesterday rejected a Kentucky regulation for coal-mining discharges into waterways and [sent the rule back to the EPA to be rewritten]... The decision came as a result of a lawsuit filed in 2004 by the Kentucky Waterways Alliance... [which charged that] the agency approved rules for Kentucky that had so many exemptions... they were practically useless... The exemption [which EPA must now revise] allows coal mines to dump in areas with good water quality if the state finds a social and economic need for the dumping. Kentucky's regulations also exempted a variety of pollution discharges into waters in which fish, shellfish and wildlife live... The appeals court found that the EPA, in approving the exemptions, failed to explain why their effect would be insignificant... Judge Deborah Cook wrote for the majority of the three-judge panel... Judge Eric Clay wrote a separate opinion saying he would have... required the EPA to rework all of Kentucky's regulations because they too often rely on assurances from the state without any legal backing... EPA spokeswoman Dawn Harris-Young declined comment yesterday... [as did the] Kentucky Waterways Alliance."
2008-09-04
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