Judge Goodwin Voids Mountaintop Permits; Corps Responds

I have not read the decision, but the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reports that Judge Goodwin struck down the use of Nationwide Permit 21 in WV, which allows small fills at mountaintop mining sites. This was closely followed by a request by the US Army Corps of Engineers for reconsideration or clarification of his order. This is a significant blow to mountainop mining in the state.

Generally, to place fill in waters of the United States (most streams, lakes, coastal waters) it is necessary to get a permit from the Corps of Engineers. In order to save itself the difficulty of doing full permit reviews for small projects, the Corps has established nationwide permits that can be done according to certain specified requirements, without going through the entire permitting process. Of course, there's more to it than that - there are conditions that apply to each permit, notice is required, there are significant conditions imposed by each state for compliance with water quality standards - but they are simpler than full permits, for which NEPA procedures are required.

Subsequent to the judge's order, the Corps asked for clarification. You can find the Corps' request on Ken Ward's blog, which also has hyperlinks to the Judge's decision and to other relevant information. Ken is very thorough in his postings, even if I do disagree with his slant on mining.