For Last Time In Waning Days Of Obama Era, Texas Sues Administration Over Coal Rule

AUSTIN, TX — With just three days left to go in the Obama administration, Texas Republicans filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Tuesday, one last time for old time's sake—more specifically to try to get repealed several environmental regulations opposed by the state.

Along with 13 other mostly Republican states, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the federal government to block a federal rule limiting coal mining near waterways that was recently finalized.

Called the "Stream Protection Rule," the regulation was finalized by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in December.

“This rule takes into account the extensive and substantive comments we received from state regulators, mining companies and local communities across the country,” Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider said in a statement last month announcing finalization of the rule.

The regulation is an update to regulations in place for more than three decades.

But Paxton objects to a rule he sees as having been passed without input from the various states it would affect, prompting him to join in the lawsuit: “By imposing a mandatory, one-size-fits-all rule regarding coal mining, the rule goes against states’ sovereign rights allowed by the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act enacted by Congress in 1977,” Paxton’s news release detailing his actions said.

The attorney general said he seeks a petition for review and injunction of the rule that was recently published in the Federal Register.

“Yet again, we must fight federal overreach,” Paxton said in a prepared statement. “This rule tramples states’ retention of sovereign authority under the Tenth Amendment and seeks to destroy an entire industry, displacing hardworking men and women and setting a precedent to disregard states’ own understanding of major industries within their borders.”

This is likely the last lawsuit Texas will file against Obama, capping a prolific pace of litigation against his administration since he took office. Texas has sued the Obama administration nearly 50 times since Obama took office, an output in litigation about which Texas GOP members have often expressed pride.

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