The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has proposed to rescind the Clean Water Act ("CWA") section 404 permit for a controversial mountaintop removal coal mining project in West Virginia, more than three years after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") issued the permit. It would be a rare application of the EPA's "veto" authority to a previously issued permit. When viewed in combination with other pending actions by the EPA, the proposed action appears to signal a decision by the agency to take a more assertive stance toward regulation of mountaintop removal mining operations generally.
Please see full publication below for more information.