NMA applauds ruling that rebukes coal valuation rule

“The prior administration’s rule was fundamentally unworkable. This ruling confirms that valuing coal based on the cost of coal-generated electricity, as op-posed to basing the royalty on the value of the coal at or near a mine, is both un-lawful and defies logic,” said Rich Nolan, NMA President and CEO. “Returning to the pre-2016 rule valuation restores clarity and business certainty.”

In issuing his ruling, Judge Scott Skavdahl wrote: “The primary problem with the new valuation methodology for coal is requiring it to be valued based on the sales price of a different commodity (electricity) where an arm’s-length sale of the coal does not otherwise exist.”

NMA argued just this point in its petition, stating “The rule’s required use of a netback from electricity sales to value coal if the coal is sold to an affiliated power plant is both contrary to law and impossible to perform. Applying the statutory lease royalty rate to an entirely different energy commodity generated from the coal, and that is subject to a highly regulated pricing structure, is inconsistent with the statute.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/11102019/nma-applauds-ruling-that-rebukes-coal-valuation-rule/