National Wildlife Federation v. Hodel

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) aimed to remedy the adverse environmental effects of surface coal mining. The SMCRA had a twofold system of addressing environmental harms caused by coal mining: (1) a permitting system for coal-mining operations and, once a permit was issued, (2) a set of performance standards with which coal-mining companies had to comply. The performance standards covered land designated as prime farmland, land designated as grazing or pastureland, and terraces constructed on the location of formerly mined lands. The performance standards also included backfilling and grading requirements. In 1983, the secretary of the interior (secretary) (defendant) adopted new performance standards that allowed greater flexibility in determining compliance. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) (plaintiff), an environmental nonprofit, and coal companies (plaintiffs) challenged various portions of revised regulations under the SMCRA. The coal companies argued that appropriately conducted soil surveys were an adequate measure of soil productivity under the SMCRA and that the statutory language addressing whether soil productivity had returned to the land’s premining conditions was qualified by the words “as determined from the soil survey.” The district court rejected both sides’ arguments, holding that the secretary acted within his authority in enacting regulations under the SMCRA for prime farmland (requiring the actual growth of crops for at least a three-year period) and for grazing and pastureland (not requiring grazing as the measure of reclamation success). The district court set aside the backfilling and grading requirements and remanded for the secretary to provide more specific guidance on such issues as terraces. The NWF and the coal companies appealed.