The Obama administration has approved a Clean Water Act permit for an underground coal project in Mingo County, W.Va., after the mine owner made several concessions aimed at enhancing water quality protections.

Consol of Kentucky's Spring Branch No. 3 mine was among dozens pulled for enhanced federal environmental reviews of mining projects under a 2009 interagency agreement between U.S. EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department.

Although Spring Branch No. 3 is an underground mine, the original application called for significant surface disturbances that would result in stream damage.

Facing EPA objections, Consol significantly modified the project.

"It's EPA's position that this project has been substantially improved through significant new avoidance and minimization measures," EPA said in a Feb. 14 letter recommending that the Army Corps issue the permit.

The company agreed to reduce the surface damage from almost 57 acres to a little more than 19 acres. It also committed to lessen the impact on waterways and restore affected streams to pre-project conditions. The modifications will reduce the amount of coal that Consol will extract to 2.77 million tons from 2.85 million tons.

"EPA appreciates the applicant's significant revisions that further avoid and minimize potential adverse environmental impacts associated with this mining operation," EPA wrote.

There are still 13 West Virginia and 16 Kentucky mining projects pending on the enhanced federal review list. Some companies have withdrawn applications. In Ohio and Tennessee, the permits have either been issued or the applications withdrawn.

Permits have generally been granted to projects in which companies have made concessions or proposed efforts to address EPA concerns.

Permits issued recently include Hobet Mining's Surface Mine No. 45 in Lincoln County, W.Va., and CoalMac's Pine Creek Surface Mine in Logan County, W.Va.

The industry contends the enhanced review procedures and other efforts to safeguard the environment are a serious overreach by the Obama administration (Greenwire, Jan. 24).

"Our top line view is that all of this activity is illegal," said National Mining Association spokeswoman Carol Raulston in a recent interview.

The trade group is challenging a new federal water pollution guidance, saying it is being enforced as if it were a final rule without going through a required public notice and comment period (Greenwire, July 20, 2010).

Mining companies are also still reeling from EPA's revocation of a federal permit for a large mountaintop-removal coal project, Arch Coal Inc.'s Spruce No. 1 mine in Logan County. EPA justified that decision, saying talks with the company failed to yield an agreement to substantially reduce environmental damage (Greenwire, Jan. 13).

St. Louis-based Arch Coal disputes that assertion.

"We undertook extensive and rigorous studies and translated those to our mine permit to ensure that the Spruce No. 1 mining operation will have minimal environmental impacts," the company said in a statement. "The Corps and EPA agreed in 2007 when the permit was first approved. The 13-year permitting process included the preparation of a full environmental impact statement, the first permit in the eastern coal fields to ever undergo such review."

Meanwhile, coal-state lawmakers from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill are supporting measures to block current and future enhanced regulatory efforts by federal agencies. They are also pushing to reinstate Arch Coal's permit (E&E Daily, March 2).

Reporter Paul Quinlan contributed.