Richard Neil Farmer, who served as general counsel of United Coal at the time Massey Energy acquired it in the late 1990s passed away on Sunday, January 5 in Hurricane

Joseph B. Talbott, a former Webster County House of Delegates member, passed away last week, according to officials with the state House of Delegates.

John Sabo, retired employee of Weir International and served as their representative as WVCA Associate member, passed away on January 6.

Bud Runyon, former VP of Sales at ICG, passed away yesterday, January 9^th.

According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) weekly production report, for the week ending 1/4/14, U.S. metallurgical exports through November 2013 were down 5.3% as compared to the same period in 2012 (60.7 million tons v. 64 million tons) and steam coal exports were off by 8.5% (46.8 million tons v. 51.2 million tons). Imported coal was also down 3.5% for this period (8.1 million tons v. 8.4 million tons). West Virginia’s 52 weeks production through 1/4/14, was down 3.2% statewide when compared to the same period in 2012/13 (115.8 million tons v. 119.6 million tons), with northern WV production up 2.7% (42.3 million tons v. 41.2 million tons) and southern WV off 6.3% (73.5 million tons v. 778.4 million tons). U.S. production for the 52 weeks through 1/4/14 was down 1.5% (992.6 million tons v. 1 billion tons).

In a Jan. 2, 2014 opinion the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington denied BNSF Railway’s motion to dismiss a case brought against it under the Clean Water Act (CWA) by seven environmental groups, led by the Sierra Club, concerning alleged discharges of coal dust and other coal materials to waters. As we previously informed you, as part of their coordinated effort to attempt to disrupt the construction of several proposed coal export facilities, the environmental groups brought suit against BNSF and several mining companies claiming that CWA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits are required for every discharge of coal material from every rail car into any jurisdictional water or wetland during transit, despite the fact that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has never required such permits. While the environmental groups voluntarily dismissed their case against the coal companies, they are continuing to pursue the charges against BNSF. Importantly, the district court’s ruling, while not making any findings as to the merits of the environmentalists’ claims, does provide a summary of certain relevant CWA cases that could provide insight into how it might rule on several of the substantive issues involved in the case.

Charles G. Snavely, Arch Coal’s President of Eastern U.S. Operations, has announced his retirement after a 35-year career in the coal industry.  Charles will continue serving Arch in a consultancy role on critical projects that fall outside the scope of the day-to-day operations through 2014.

Gary L. Bennett will succeed Snavely as president of eastern operations.  “Gary has been a key member of Arch’s management team for many years, and is very well-prepared for this important role,” said Kenneth D. Cochran, Arch’s senior vice president of operations.

On Wednesday, 1/8/14, EPA re-proposed its New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new “fossil fuel-fired” power plants using Clean Air Act (CAA) § 111(b). 79 Fed. Reg.1430. The notice provides for a 60-day public comment period closing on March 10, 2014. EPA also announced that it will hold a public hearing on Jan. 28, 2014 in Washington, D.C., and separately noticed the rescission of its prior proposal of April 12, 2012 in its entirety. According to sources, it appears that EPA made few substantive changes from the original pre-proposed version released on Sept. 20, 2013.  We encourage all members and others to comment about the ridiculous nature of these rules and the impossible standards they set forth.  Contact the Association for additional information regarding specific comments to these re-proposed rules.