In late June 2017, in a defeat for the coal mining industry, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned a ruling that required the Environmental Protection Agency to report how Clean Air Act regulations affect employment in the coal industry. A lower court judge in West Virginia had ruled that the Clean Air Act imposed a specific duty on the EPA to conduct continuing evaluations of potential loss or shifts of employment.
The Fourth Circuit reversed the lower court, finding that the EPA has a broad and open-ended statutory mandate, giving discretion to the EPA in terms of reporting data. For more information on the Murray Energy Corp. et al. v. Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency case, see http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/Opinions/Published/162432.P.pdf.
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