When a Bureau of Land Management rule under the Biden administration rolled out to shut down coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana sued to reverse the attempt to end PRB mining by 2041.
Now, with the BLM under direction of the Trump administration halting that to increase coal production in the Powder River Basin, tribes and environmental groups want to join the fight against the Wyoming and Montana lawsuit.
“The conservation groups have a 'record of advocacy' for the protection of public lands and 'a demonstrated concern for the damage to public lands caused by oil and gas development,’" wrote Judge Scott P. Klosterman in a Friday ruling to allow several environmental groups to join the fight by defending the idea that coal has got to go.
The environmental coalition — which includes the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice — argued that the Biden-era rule needs to stand because of the impacts of “industrial strip-mining in the Wyoming and Montana portions of the Powder River Basin,” according to the court filing.
The court filing describes how, "The Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and Wyoming contains one of the largest undeveloped reserves of coal on the planet. It is responsible for more than 40% of U.S. coal production, as well as significant volumes of oil and gas."
The groups successfully sued BLM twice before over inadequate environmental reviews, and they're worried that if Wyoming and Montana win, it would bring back land management plans that federal courts already found violate environmental laws.
Wyoming Stakes
The Powder River Basin accounts for 85% of all federal coal produced in the United States and more than 43% of all coal produced nationally.
According to court documents, in 2022 alone, coal mining from the Powder River Basin resulted in $13.77 million in ad valorem taxes, $153 million in severance taxes and $183 million in Wyoming's share of federal mineral royalties.
This money directly supports schools, local government, and state infrastructure.
The Biden administration's policy affects 481,000 acres of subsurface federal mineral coal estate in Wyoming with 48.12 billion short tons of unleased recoverable federal coal, according to the BLM Buffalo Field Office's Resource Management Plan (RMP).
Environmental groups hope to defend the substance of the RMP, spotlighting concerns about climate change and the public health impacts of burning coal.
Environmental groups argued successfully in previous litigation that the Bureau of Land Management failed to consider the "downstream" impacts of burning coal — air pollution and climate effects of burning it for electricity generation.
Those impacts are not part of the Trump administration’s vision for the future of coal production in Wyoming, according to the coalition.
Trump Plan
The current administration says it will "officially end its moratorium on federal coal leasing" and pursue amendments to the Buffalo and Miles City, Montana, RMPs, which includes the rule that would end coal mining in the PRB.
In April, President Trump signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal production, including directing the Department of the Interior to review and potentially reverse the Powder River Basin coal leasing restrictions.
"The Golden Age is here, and we are starting to 'mine, baby, mine' for clean American coal," said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
Wyoming's legal challenge to the Biden-era leasing ban centers on claims that the federal government violated multiple laws, including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act's requirements for coordination with states and the Mineral Leasing Act's directive to promote coal development.
The state argues that the BLM failed to meaningfully coordinate with Wyoming during the planning process, ignored state laws and local land use plans, and exceeded its authority by effectively withdrawing federal lands from coal leasing without following proper procedures.
Wyoming also contends the coal leasing ban constitutes an illegal "withdrawal" of federal lands that should have required congressional notification and public hearings, violated federal requirements to coordinate with states, and contradicted the multiple-use mandate for federal lands.
In the northern part of the Powder River Basin in Montana, the Trump administration just pushed forward coal exports to Asia.
“Coal is still king in the Powder River Basin,” argue Wyoming and Montana in their court filings. “The Powder River Basin spans across northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and accounts for 85% of all coal produced on federal land.
“The federal government’s abrupt halt of new leasing in the Powder River Basin is unreasonable, unjustified, and unsupported by federal law.”
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
