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operations on lands containing leased Federal coal until the Secretary has approved the mining
<br />plan." 30 C.F.R. § 746.11(a). To this end, a Mining Plan is "binding on any person conducting
<br />mining under the approved mining plan." 30 C.F.R. § 746.17(b).
<br />When considering a request to mine federally owned coal, the Secretary "shall approve or
<br />disapprove [a mining] plan or require that it be modified." 30 C.F.R. § 746.14. At a minimum,
<br />approval of a Mining Plan must assure compliance with applicable requirements of Federal laws,
<br />regulations, and executive orders, and be based on information prepared in compliance with the
<br />National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq. See 30 C.F.R. § 746.13.
<br />Although the Secretary of Interior is charged with approving, disapproving, or modifying
<br />a Mining Plan, the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement ("OSM"), an agency
<br />within the Department of Interior, is charged with "prepar[ing] and submit[ting] to the Secretary
<br />a decision document recommending approval, disapproval or conditional approval of the mining
<br />plan[,]" 30 C.F.R. § 746.13. It is standard practice for the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for
<br />Land and Minerals Management to sign Mining Plans on behalf of the Secretary.
<br />A "mining plan shall remain in effect until modified, cancelled or withdrawn[.]" 30
<br />C.F.R. § 746.17(b). The Secretary must modify a Mining Plan where, among other things, there
<br />is "[a]ny change in the mining plan which would affect the conditions of its approval pursuant to
<br />Federal law or regulation[,]" "[a]ny change in the location or amount of coal to be mined, except
<br />where such change is the result of [] [a] minor change in the amount of coal actually available for
<br />mining from the amount estimated, or "[a]ny change which requires the preparation of an
<br />environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act[.]" 30 C.F.R. §§
<br />746.18(a), (d)(1), (d)(3), and (d)(5). An environmental impact statement is required whenever a
<br />federal action "[s]ignificantly [a]ffect[s] [t]he quality of the human environment." 40 C.F.R.
<br />§ 1502.3. Where a mining plan modification may be required, a permittee may not commence
<br />mining of federal coal until OSMRE determines a modification is not required or a modification
<br />is approved by the Secretary. 30 C.F.R. § 746.18(c).
<br />On August 9, 2006, the Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management
<br />approved a Mining Plan allowing GCC to begin mining federal coal lease COC -62920. This
<br />mining plan approval authorized GCC to construct the new King II mine and to begin extraction
<br />operations on 80 acres of the federal coal lease. This Mining Plan was later modified by the
<br />Assistant Secretary on May 21, 2007, allowing GCC to extract coal from 1,224 acres of federal
<br />coal lease COC -62960. See Exhibit 1, Mining Plan Approval Document, Federal Lease No.
<br />COC -62960 (May 21, 2007). The 2007 mining plan approval was spurred by the issuance of a
<br />federal permit for the mining of coal on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation of southwest
<br />Colorado. This permit, Permit No. CO -0106A, authorized mining of federal lease COC -62920.
<br />Under the 2007 Mining Plan modification, OSMRE determined that coal production at
<br />the King II mine would average 0.6 million tons per year and that "the maximum production rate
<br />of 0.61 million tons per year would not change." See Exhibit 2, Memo from Allen Klein,
<br />Regional Director, Western Region, OSMRE to Brent Wahlquist, Acting Director, OSMRE,
<br />"Recommendation for Approval, Without Special Conditions, of a Mining Plan Modification for
<br />Federal Lease COC -62920 at National King Coal, LLC's King II Mine Located in La Plata
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