MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A decision from U.S. District Court will require the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate how government regulations will impact the coal industry’s workforce.
Murray Energy Corporation applauded Tuesday’s decision by U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Judge John Preston Bailey.
In a statement, Robert Murray, Murray Energy President and CEO, said, “This is a great day for coal miners in the United States and for all citizens who rely on low cost electricity in America.”
Bailey’s order gives the EPA 14 days to come up with a plan and implementation schedule that would determine the potential job losses caused by agency regulations.
Murray Energy Corporation filed suit accusing the agency of ignoring Section 321 (a) of the 1971 Clean Air Act that requires such an assessment.
“This is just one of several actions that we have undertaken to protect the livelihoods of coal miners and their families and to preserve low-cost electricity in our Country,” said Gary M. Broadbent, Assistant General Counsel and Media Director for Murray Energy. “We have been successful in obtaining a nationwide stay of the so-called Clean Power Plan, and we are vigorously pursuing all six of our lawsuits against the Obama EPA.”