FACT CHECK #U3_MUZIN

WHAT WE FOUND

In January 2011, the Obama administration officially revoked a permit for the Spruce No. 1 mine in West Virginia, which was one of the largest planned mountaintop removal coal mines 1. This permit had been issued years earlier in 2007 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the George W. Bush administration 1 2. This action marked the first time in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it had retroactively vetoed a previously authorized mining permit 2. While the administration also implemented a broad moratorium on new coal leasing on federal lands in 2016 4 7, the specific withdrawal of an existing, multi-year-old permit is a documented fact regarding the Arch Coal project 1 10. High-credibility sources confirm the EPA used its authority under the Clean Water Act to block the project despite the permit's prior approval 1 2.

SOURCES

1. 1 · politico.comACADEMIC
   EPA pulls coal mine permit - POLITICO

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2. 2 · rpc.senate.govACADEMIC
   Obama’s War on Coal

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3. 3 · naturalresources.house.govFACT-CHECKER
   Fact Checking the Obama Administration’s Energy Production Claims

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4. 4 · daines.senate.govACADEMIC
   The Hill: Trump administration ends Obama's coal-leasing freeze - Senator Steve Daines

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5. 5 · time.comACADEMIC
   New EPA Rules Show Obama's No Longer Hiding War on Coal | TIME

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6. 6 · factcheck.orgFACT-CHECKER
   Obama's Misleading Oil Boast - FactCheck.org

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7. 7 · apnews.comNEWS
   Judge revives Obama-era ban on coal sales from US lands | AP News

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8. 8 · npr.orgNEWS
   coal climate change Obama Trump Biden appeals court moratorium energy : NPR

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9. 9 · eenews.netWEB
   9th Circuit ruling axes Obama-era freeze on coal leasing - E&E News by POLITICO

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10. 10 · everycrsreport.comWEB
    The Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium

    TIER B