DC Appeals Court Skeptical of Bid to Upend Rule Favoring Mining

A federal appeals court appeared likely to uphold a George W. Bush-era regulation easing land use restrictions for mining-related activities, following a challenge by environmental advocates.

At oral argument on Tuesday, a three-judge US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit panel appeared hesitant to find that a 19th century mining law clearly restricted the amount of land adjacent to mining sites that could be used to support those operations.

The contested 2003 regulation loosened restrictions on how companies may claim nonmineral land to be used for millsites, or areas for mining-adjacent practices like waste dumping.

Judge Florence Pan, an ...