Montana Attorney General Tim Fox filed for intervention on behalf of his state June 29 in support of the Department of the Interior (DOI), which is being sued by four other states for lifting a moratorium on federal land coal mining leases, according to a press release.
Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke ended the moratorium in March. New Mexico, California, New York, and Washington joined with several environmental groups to sue for reinstating the Obama-era pause on issuing coal mining leases for federal land, the press release said.
“Montana seeks to intervene in this case because it has a significant interest in ensuring that federal coal leasing located within the state continues,” the intervention states. “Montana would be grievously harmed if the interest groups and plaintiff states prevail.”
The plaintiffs allege that Zinke violated multiple environmental protection act laws by repealing the moratorium.
Montana Environmental Information Center deputy director Anne Hedges criticized Fox’s action and said the federal government is responsible for protecting public lands, the environment, and taxpayers, in a press release obtained by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
“Unfortunately, Trump has put the brakes on protecting those interests,” Hedges said according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. “By siding with the Trump administration, Fox appears to support subsidizing out-of-state coal companies rather than protecting Montanans’ pocketbooks and public lands.”
Montana contains around 25 percent of the U.S. recoverable coal stores. The Department of Interior Office of Natural Resources Revenue reported $31.5 million in coal royalties off federal lands in Montana, with nearly half of that paid to the state, according to the Montana Department of Justice press release.
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