ELR Citation: ELR 20806
No(s). 90-5058 (Fed. Cir. Feb 26, 1991)

The court holds that on enactment, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act's (SMCRA's) prohibition against surface mining of alluvial valley floors constituted a taking of a property owner's right to mine a single specific deposit of coal, requiring payment of $60 million plus interest in compliance with the Just Compensation Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court holds that the U.S. Claims Court correctly found that any surface mining permit application would have been futile. Even if SMCRA is considered regulatory, it went too far by prohibiting the surface mining of plaintiff's coal. A property right to surface mine the coal deposit before SMCRA's enactment ceased to exist, because no permit could possibly have been obtained for a mine that would obviously violate the Act's express permit conditions. The court holds that the Claims Court's findings on the economic impact of the regulation, its interference with reasonable investment-backed expectations, and the character of the governmental action established that SMCRA's enactment effected a taking of the coal estate. Neither the possibility that the landowner could farm some land nor SMCRA's coal exchange provision preserved the economic benefit of the coal. Further, SMCRA's exchange provision, which allows the government to take property and simultaneously offer to pay for it, confirms the presence of a taking of coal, and an offer to pay would make no sense if nothing were taken. The court holds that, as in Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, a proper government purpose is outweighed by the fact that the entire value to the owner of the property was destroyed. Finally, the court holds that the Claims Court's determination that the property owner is entitled to just compensation of $160 million is not clearly erroneous.

[Previous decisions in this case are published at 15 ELR 20124 and 20 ELR 20610.]

Counsel for Appellants
John A. Bryson
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington DC 20530
(202) 514-2000

Counsel for Appellees
George W. Miller
Hogan & Hartson
Columbia Square, 555 13th St. NW, Washington DC 20004-1109
(202) 637-5600

Before MARKEY, NEWMAN, and CLEVENGER, Circuit Judges.