The Bureau of Land Management’s proposal would end future coal leasing in the Powder River Basin

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on May 16 that it is proposing to end future coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, in response to a 2022 court order. The basin is located in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana .

If the proposal is passed, coal mining in the region would likely end in 2041 when existing leases expire. Anyone who previously participated in the planning process that led to the proposal has until June 17 to register a protest.

The area’s 12 active surface coal mines produced approximately 220 million short tons of federal coal in 2022, according to the agency. That’s down from a peak of about 400 million tons in 2008. Wyoming is the nation’s largest coal producer, accounting for about 41 percent of the national supply, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Industry groups and several Wyoming elected officials oppose the end of coal leasing in the basin.

In a statement, Gov. Mark Gordon said Wyoming will seek to quash or change the plan before it becomes final.

“All the cards are on the table now. At the highest levels, the Biden administration – including Secretary of the Interior Haaland – has shown a complete disregard for workers and their families; local communities and neighborhood businesses; the ambitions of local governments and economic development organizations; university scientists and others working diligently on viable solutions to climate problems; as well as the livelihoods of power plant workers and everyone who depends on reliable, affordable and viable electricity,” Gordon wrote.

Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called the plan shortsighted.

“This will kill jobs and could cost Wyoming hundreds of millions of dollars used to pay for public schools, roads and other essential services in our communities. Cutting off access to our strongest resources means giving up America’s greatest economic benefits: continuing to produce affordable, abundant, and reliable American energy,” he wrote in a statement.

But environmental groups say it marks a “historic shift” in the way the federal government manages coal by recognizing the health and environmental impacts on nearby communities.

The Powder River Basin Resource Council, a conservation and family farming organization based in Wyoming, said the proposal recognizes that the energy market has shifted away from coal.

“As someone who lives near some of the nation’s largest coal mines, I am grateful for the BLM’s leadership in finally addressing the long-standing negative impacts that federal coal leasing has had on the Powder River Basin,” said Lynne. Huskinson, a retired miner from Gillette and board member of the board. “For decades, mining has damaged public health, our local lands, air and water, and the global climate. We look forward to BLM working with state and local partners to ensure a just economic transition for the Powder River Basin as we move toward a clean energy future.”

In addition, several fossil fuel industry groups in the region have announced they are suing the BLM over recent increases in the cost of harvesting oil and gas from federal lands.

They argue that the higher deposit amounts will effectively stop new developments and especially hurt smaller businesses. The agency says the increase is necessary to ensure taxpayers don’t have to pay for a company’s recovery costs.

“Eighty percent of Wyoming operators are small businesses, and together they produce one-third of Wyoming’s oil,” said Pete Obermueller, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming (PAW). “Rules like these will fall heavily on Wyoming’s smallest entrepreneurs, making it economically impossible for many of them to continue producing. PAW joins this challenge to protect Wyoming’s small operators from the heavy hand of a government that wants to force them to close their doors.”

The state of Wyoming is also suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over new rules that require most coal-fired power plants to reduce their emissions by 90 percent by 2032.