Opinion ID: 501787
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Alluvial Valley Floors Performance Standards

Text: 272 Both the Secretary and Industry appeal the district court's finding that the Secretary must establish minimum standards to preserve or reestablish the essential hydrological functions of alluvial valley floors (AVFs). We affirm, albeit on a different rationale, the district court's conclusion. 273 The Secretary has promulgated regulations pursuant to SMCRA to control coal mining on certain AVFs. An AVF is a deposit on the floor of a stream laid by running water. It is often an integral part of irrigation-based agricultural activity. The importance of AVFs is especially marked in the West, where they are the productive lands that form the backbone of the agricultural and cattle ranching economy in [arid and semiarid] areas. H.R.REP. NO. 218, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 116 (1977), reprinted in 1977 U.S.CODE CONG. & ADMIN.NEWS 593, 649. 274 The Surface Mining Act, in Sec. 515(b)(10), requires of all mine operators the following performance standard: 275 (b) General performance standards shall be applicable to all surface coal mining and reclamation operations and shall require the operation as a minimum to-- 276 .... 277 (10) minimize the disturbances to the prevailing hydrologic balance at the mine-site and in associated offsite areas and to the quality and quantity of water in surface and ground water systems both during and after surface coal mining operations and during reclamation by-- 278 .... 279 (F) preserving throughout the mining and reclamation process the essential hydrological functions of alluvial valley floors in the arid and semiarid areas of the country[.] 280 The Secretary has interpreted this language literally and implemented regulations that apply the performance standard to all alluvial valley floors. 30 C.F.R. Secs. 822.11, 822.13(a)(1) (1984). Industry challenges the regulations as inconsistent with the permit application requirement set forth in Sec. 510(b)(5), which requires a permit applicant to show that his proposed operations will not disrupt alluvial valley floors in the western United States that are significant to farming. 81 Industry contends that the Secretary's decision to apply the Sec. 515(b)(10) performance standard to those alluvial valley floors not significant to farming renders the Sec. 510(b)(5) permit requirement a nullity. And, Industry claims, the only way to harmonize the two sections is to read Sec. 515(b)(10) as implicitly incorporating the significant to farming limitation of Sec. 510(b)(5). The district court rejected these arguments. 281 We agree with the district court's conclusion--though not necessarily its rationale--and hold that the Secretary's interpretation of Sec. 515(b)(10), as manifested in his regulations, is reasonable and entitled to deference. See Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. at 2781-82. The language of the statute provides ample support for the Secretary's position because, on its face, it extends to all alluvial valley floors. Industry thus bears a heavy threshold burden. For this court to disregard Chevron deference, Industry must demonstrate that Congress had a specific intent that is contrary to the plain meaning of the statute, or in the alternative, that the legislative history and/or the structure of the statute demonstrate that Congress' intent was ambiguous and that the Secretary acted unreasonably in construing the statute according to its plain meaning. Id. Under either approach, Industry's arguments fall well short of persuading us to upset the Secretary's regulations. 282 Industry's position is grounded on an erroneous view of the relationship between the permit requirements set forth in Sec. 510 and the performance standards of Sec. 515. By contending that the Secretary has ignored the statutory exemption of Sec. 510(b)(5), Industry suggests that it is somehow anomalous for the Secretary to presume that Congress provided a different level of protection at the permit stage than it did after mining operations commence. But it seems entirely plausible to us that Congress could have intended just that, i.e., to protect all alluvial valley floors in arid and semiarid areas with a performance standard while also providing special protection at the permit stage for those alluvial valley floors significant to farming. Under the Secretary's interpretation, then, Sec. 510(b)(5) is not an exception to the performance standards in Sec. 515, but rather a supplement. It is an additional guarantee that, at least with respect to particularly important alluvial valley floors (those significant to farming), mine operators will fully anticipate at the outset what is required for compliance with the Act's performance standards. Although the legislative history cited by Industry clearly supports the notion that Congress intended special protection for farms dependent on alluvial valley floors, it does nothing to refute the notion that other alluvial valley floors are also subject to protection, albeit not at the permitting stage. In light of the foregoing, we reject Industry's challenge and uphold the Secretary's reasonable construction of the statute. 283