Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-87-02554/USCOURTS-ca10-87-02554-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 

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PUBLISH 

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

TENTH CIRCUIT 

COAL CORPORATION OPERATING COMPANY 

OF AMERICA, a Delaware corporation; 

GARLAND COAL AND MINING COMPANY, 

an Arkansas corporation, 

Plaintiffs-Appellants, 

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FILED 

United States Court of Appeals 

'Tenth Circuit 

JUNO 61989 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

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No. 87-2554 

DONALD HODEL, Secretary of the 

Department of Interior of the 

United States; and JED CHRISTENSEN, 

Acting Director for the Office of 

Surface Mining Reclamation and 

Enforcement of the Department 

of the Interior, 

Defendants-Appellees. 

Appeal from the United States District Court 

for the Western District of Oklahoma 

(D.C. No. CIV-86-2791-A) 

Donald K. Switzer 

Switzer, West & 

brief), of Logan, 

Vinita, Oklahoma, 

(Thomas J. McGeady, of Logan, Lowry, Johnston, 

McGeady, of Vinita, Oklahoma, with him on the 

Lowry, Johnston, Switzer, West & McGeady, of 

for Plaintiffs-Appellants. 

Myles E. Flint (Dirk D. Snel, Alfred T. Ghiorzi, and Elizabeth Ann 

Peterson, Attorneys, Department of Justice, Land & Natural 

Resources Division, Washington, D.C., with him on the brief), 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General, for the Defendants-Appellees. 

Before MCWILLIAMS, TACHA, and EBEL Circuit Judges. 

TACHA, Circuit Judge. 

Appellate Case: 87-2554 Document: 01019784964 Date Filed: 06/06/1989 Page: 1 
This is an appeal from an order of the district court 

dismissing the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. 1 On 

April 12, 1984, after notice and hearings as prescribed by 

statute, the Secretary of the Interior published a finding that 

the Oklahoma program for regulating surface coal mining and 

reclamation was not being adequately enforced by the State. 

Effective April 30, 1984, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation 

and Enforcement of the Department of the Interior assumed 

responsibility for the surface coal mine inspection and 

enforcement program of the State of Oklahoma. The plaintiffs in 

this case filed this action in December of 1985 to challenge the 

April 1984 decision by the Secretary of the Interior. Section 

525(a) of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, 

30 U.S.C. S 1276(a), clearly requires that a petition for review 

for any such action must be filed within sixty days from the date 

of the Secretary's order. We agree with the district court that 

this sixty-day limitation period is jurisdictional and that the 

plaintiffs' action is time-barred. We affirm the district court's 

order of dismissal. 

1 After exam1n1ng the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause is therefore ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

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Appellate Case: 87-2554 Document: 01019784964 Date Filed: 06/06/1989 Page: 2