Federal Court Clarifies 2023 Changes to National Environmental Policy Act For First Time

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the D.C. District Court denied an attempt by Signal Peak Energy to force the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) to rush an environmental review of a proposed 175-million-ton expansion at the Bull Mountains coal mine in Montana — which aims to be the nation’s largest remaining underground coal mine.

Signal Peak’s lawsuit was among the first asserting that a federal agency failed to comply with amended National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) timelines codified in the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act. Conservation groups represented by attorneys at Earthjustice, Western Environmental Law Center, and Sierra Club moved to intervene in the lawsuit, arguing that OSMRE was well within its two-year timeframe to prepare an environmental impact statement. Additionally, the Fiscal Responsibility Act specifically authorizes an agency like OSMRE to extend NEPA deadlines if the agency determines it needs additional time. The court agreed.

In February 2023, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the expansion of the Bull Mountains coal mine after conservation groups challenged OSMRE’s failure to adequately analyze the mine’s climate impacts. The Court ruled the agency must complete a new environmental review. Signal Peak then sued OSMRE, seeking a court order compelling the agency to complete the new required environmental review months ahead of schedule.

Once OSMRE completes the new review, the agency will have to decide whether to approve the proposed Bull Mountain mine expansion, which would release 240 million tons of climate pollution, the equivalent of adding more than 50 million cars to U.S. roads for a single year.

Signal Peak, which The New York Times revealed has been linked to Vladimir Putin and whose owners and previous executives have participated in bribery, embezzlement, drug trafficking and covering up worker injuries, has a proven record of destroying precious water resources above its existing mine, harming ranchers and wildlife. The company has also harassed, sued, and attempted to drive local ranchers out of the Bull Mountains.

Signal Peak is owned by three out-of-state corporations: FirstEnergy, a utility company based in Akron, Ohio; Gunvor Group, a foreign trading company based in Switzerland and registered on the island of Cyprus; and WMB Marketing Ventures based in Dublin, Ohio, owned by coal magnate Wayne Boich. Meanwhile, coal from the mine is exported to Japan, South Korea, and Chile.

“Today’s ruling confirms the law does not force agencies to slash or short-change environmental reviews at the whim of corporate polluters Instead, it grants agencies the time necessary to complete a hard look at the risks the public deserves and NEPA requires,” said Earthjustice Attorney Shiloh Hernandez. “Signal Peak failed to bully the government into rushing its decision to approve or deny a mine expansion that will harm ranchers and wildlife, threaten water sources and livelihoods, and further imperil our climate.”

“This mine is an abject disaster for the Mountains and the water quality and quantity of the area, which is an absolutely critical resource in such an arid region,” said Derf Johnson, Deputy Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “We’re happy to see that OSM is going to be given the time necessary to conduct a full and thorough environmental review of this mine's impacts.” 

"This was a no-brainer. This was an outlandish request to rush an expansion that would have devastating impacts on some of our state's most critical resources, especially as renewable energy continues overtaking coal," said Caryn Miske, Director of Montana Sierra Club. "Montanans from every corner of the state are still living with the consequences of reckless corporations rushing to extract and leaving toxic messes behind." 

“We’re relieved the court said no to Signal Peak Energy’s attempt to dangerously compress the time needed to review this coal mine expansion,” said Kelly Fuller, Climate and Energy Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “The mine has already harmed the water that local families in the Bull Mountains rely on to make a living. But the Interior Department can help keep its situation from getting worse by rejecting the mine expansion after it completes the environmental review.”