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FEDERAL COURT INVOLVEMENT IN THE APPLICATION OF SURFACE MINING LAW
Author(s) -
Clinton Robert L.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
review of policy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1541-1338
pISSN - 1541-132X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-1338.1989.tb01024.x
Subject(s) - discretion , legislation , enforcement , federal court , law , state (computer science) , federal law , political science , surface mining , law enforcement , coal mining , business , law and economics , economics , coal , engineering , supreme court , algorithm , computer science , waste management
This article surveys 122 federal cases reported in the Surface Mining Law Summary from the earliest legislation under SMCRA to the end of 1987. The analysis distinguished between cases in which all OSMRE regulations or applications of SMCRA were upheld by the federal courts, and those in which one or more regulations/applications were overturned. The analysis further classifies the cases according to whether the decisions were favorable to industry (or, conversely, to environmental/citizen groups), according to whether the issues involved were primarily of narrow private right (or, conversely, of broad public policy), and according to state‐of‐origin. Finally, separate examination of those cases in which OSMRE's discretion in the enforcement of SMCRA was restricted is provided. The author concludes t h a t both the federal courts and OSMRE have been reasonably even‐handed in their application of SMCRA, contrary to the earlier expectations of some proponents and opponents of surface coal mining regulation in the United States.