• Christopher B. Power, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Charleston, WV
• Professor Patrick C. McGinley, WVU College of Law, Morgantown, WV

McGinley

• The Principal Environmental Regulation of Coal Mining: State Primacy and Federal Oversight; Residual Office of Surface Mining (OSM) Authority and OSM’s Primary Role in Federally-Administered States and Federal Land; WVCA v. Bragg; Pa. Federation of Sportsmen v. Hess: Implications for Federal Court Subject Matter Jurisdiction; Inconsistent State Law Interpretations: Canestrero
• The SMCRA Permit and State Discretion: Activities that Require SMCRA Permits; Ownership and Control and The Applicant Violator System (AVS); Right of Entry. Permit Application Requirements; Public Notice and Comments to the Agency; Reclamation Performance Bonds and Duration of Liability Under SMCRA; Bond Release; SMCRA § 522 and Lands Unsuitable for Mining; Challenging a Permit or Its Conditions
  

• Enforcement: Environmental Protection Performance Standards: Mine Site Reclamation, Surface Water Drainage and Discharges, Groundwater Protection, Blasting & Explosives; Violations, Cessation Orders and Failure-to-Abate, Penalty Assessments and Pattern-of-Violations, Administrative review of agency actions, Petition for Review, Challenging the Fact of the Violation, Challenging the Penalty Assessment, Temporary Relief, Judicial Appeals, Individual Civil Penalties, Bond Forfeiture, and “Permit-Blocking” Under AVS
• Dams and Embankment Design and Safety
• Notices of Violation; Cessation Orders and Associated Penalties; Pattern of Violation Determinations; Bond Forfeiture; Injunctive Relief; Imposition of Individual Liability and Associated Penalties (Civil and Criminal)
• Citizen Rights; Citizen Participation in Permit Application Process; Citizen Complaint to Agency; Agency Duty to Investigate; Citizen SuitsChallenging Agency Rulemaking
  

• Kirsten L. Nathanson, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC
• Christopher B. Power, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Charleston, WV
  

• Section 402 and the NPDES Program; Technology Based Effluent Limits; Water Quality Based Effluent Limits; Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL); Anti-degradation Requirements
• Spill Control and Countermeasures Plans
• Citizen Suits; Foreclosing Suits by State-Initiated Administrative Actions
• Section 404: The Dredge and Fill Program; The Historical Reliance by the Corps of Engineers on General Permits and Rivenburgh and Bulen; The Move Toward Individual Permits and Coeur Alaska and OVEC v. Bulen (Aracoma); The Declining Significance of the § 404(b)(1) Guidelines
  

Kirsten L. Nathanson, Crowell & Moring LLP, Washington, DC

• Waste and Hazardous Substances; Toxic Substances Control Act § 6(e)(TOSCA) and PCBs
• CERCLA (“Superfund”)
• Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
• Safe Drinking Water Act
• Endangered Species Act
• Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
• National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)
• ATF Explosives License

• Christopher B. Power, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, Charleston, WV
  

• Limited Application to Coal Mining Operations; Major/Minor Sources; New Source Performance Standards for Coal Preparation Plants and Coal Handling Facilities; Fugitive Dust and Ambient Particulate; Blasting
• Climate Change and the Future Use of Coal
  

• Laura E. Beverage, Jackson Kelly PLLC, Denver, CO

• Statutory Authority: Mine Safety & Health Act of 1969 and 1977; 2006 MINER Act; Today’s Enforcement Climate
• State Mine Safety & Health Regulatory Programs
• Jurisdiction: When Does MSHA Jurisdiction Begin and End?
• Warrantless Inspection Power; Document Inspection; Types of Inspections; Accident Investigations
• Enforcement; MSHA Enforcement Tools: Citations and Withdrawal Orders; Significant and Substantial Classifications; Negligence Determinations; Flagrant Penalty Assessments; Pattern of Violations
• Litigating MSHA Enforcement Actions & Civil Penalties: Notice of Contests; Contest of Penalty Assessments; Discovery Process; Hearing Procedures
• Appeal; Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission (FMSHRC); Courts of Appeal Review
• Special Investigations Under § 110(c) and Criminal Charges: Statutory Provisions – Civil and Criminal; Initiation of Investigations; Exercising Rights During an Investigation; Potential Penalties
• Discrimination Cases Under § 105(c); Protected Activity; Requirement for Charge; Defenses; Remedies; MSHA Investigation Process; Hearing; Appeal
• Future Issues: Legislative and Regulatory