On Friday, July 11, 2014, two U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals
issued important decisions regarding Clean Water Act permitting.
Both appeals saw the losing side supported by numerous and
diverse amici. These levels of participation
in the appellate process indicate the far-reaching significance of
the decisions beyond the cases' direct application to
Appalachian coal mining.
First, National Mining Association v
McCarthy (formerly Jackson) concerned the oversight of EPA
and the Corps of Engineers over Clean Water Act permitting for
Appalachian coal mining operations. The D.C. Circuit reversed
the D.C. District Court and found that agencies' adoption of
the Enhanced Coordination Procedure for reviewing the Clean Water
Act permits for Appalachian mining operations did not violate the
statutory authority granted by the Act. The court further found
that the Final Guidance regarding more stringent limits to be
applied to those permits was not a final agency action
