Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241
Executive Orders, April 8, 2025
By the authority vested in me
as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America,
it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. In order to secure America’s
economic prosperity and national security, lower the cost of living, and
provide for increases in electrical demand from emerging technologies, we must
increase domestic energy production, including coal. Coal is abundant and cost
effective, and can be used in any weather condition. Moreover, the industry has
historically employed hundreds of thousands of Americans. America’s coal
resources are vast, with a current estimated value in the trillions of dollars,
and are more than capable of substantially contributing to American energy
independence with excess to export to support allies and our economic
competitiveness. Our Nation’s beautiful clean coal resources will be critical
to meeting the rise in electricity demand due to the resurgence of domestic
manufacturing and the construction of artificial intelligence data processing
centers. We must encourage and support our Nation’s coal industry to increase
our energy supply, lower electricity costs, stabilize our grid, create
high-paying jobs, support burgeoning industries, and assist our allies.
Sec. 2. Policy.
It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national
and economic security. It is a national priority to support the domestic coal
industry by removing Federal regulatory barriers that undermine coal
production, encouraging the utilization of coal to meet growing domestic energy
demands, increasing American coal exports, and ensuring that Federal policy
does not discriminate against coal production or coal-fired electricity
generation.
Sec. 3. Strengthening
Our National Energy Security. The Chair of the National Energy Dominance
Council (NEDC) shall designate coal as a “mineral” as defined in section 2 of
Executive Order 14241 of March 20, 2025 (Immediate Measures to Increase
American Mineral Production), thereby entitling coal to all the benefits of a
“mineral” under that order. Further, Executive Order 14241 is hereby amended by
deleting the reference to “4332(d)(1)(B)” in section 6(d) of that order and
replacing it with a reference to “4532(d)(1)(B)”.
Sec. 4. Assessing
Coal Resources and Accessibility on Federal Lands. (a) Within 60 days of
the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of
Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy shall submit a consolidated report to
the President through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy that identifies
coal resources and reserves on Federal lands, assesses impediments to mining
such coal resources, and proposes policies to address such impediments and
ultimately enable the mining of such coal resources by either private or public
actors.
(b) The Secretary of Energy shall include in the report described in subsection
(a) of this section an analysis of the impact that the availability of the coal
resources identified could have on electricity costs and grid reliability.
Sec. 5. Lifting Barriers to Coal Mining on Federal Lands. (a) The Secretary of
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall prioritize coal leasing and
related activities, consistent with applicable law, as the primary land use for
the public lands with coal resources identified in the report described in
section 4(a) of this order and expedite coal leasing in these areas, including
by utilizing such emergency authorities as are available to them and
identifying opportunities to provide for expedited environmental reviews,
consistent with applicable law.
(b) The Secretary of the
Interior, pursuant to the authorities in the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as
amended and supplemented (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.), the Mineral Leasing Act for
Acquired Lands of 1947, as amended (30 U.S.C. 351-359), and the Multiple Mineral
Development Act of 1954 (30 U.S.C. 521-531 et seq.), shall acknowledge the end
of the Jewell Moratorium by ordering the publication of a notice in the Federal
Register terminating the “Environmental Impact Statement Analyzing the
Potential Environmental Effects from Maintaining Secretary Jewell’s Coal
Leasing Moratorium”, and process royalty rate reduction applications from
Federal coal lessees in as expeditious a manner as permitted by applicable law.
Sec. 6. Supporting
American Coal as an Energy Source. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this
order, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary
of Transportation, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, the
Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of the Treasury shall identify any
guidance, regulations, programs, and policies within their respective executive
department or agency that seek to transition the Nation away from coal
production and electricity generation.
(b) Within 60 days of the date
of this order, the heads of all relevant executive departments and agencies
(agencies) shall consider revising or rescinding Federal actions identified in
subsection (a) of this section consistent with applicable law.
(c) Agencies that are
empowered to make loans, loan guarantees, grants, equity investments, or to
conclude offtake agreements, both domestically and abroad, shall, to the extent
permitted by law, take steps to rescind any policies or regulations seeking to
or that actually discourage investment in coal production and coal-fired
electricity generation, such as the 2021 U.S. Treasury Fossil Fuel Energy
Guidance for Multilateral Development Banks rescinded by the Department of the
Treasury and similar policies or regulations.
(d) Within 30 days of the date
of this order, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Agriculture, the
Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Chief Executive Officer of
the International Development Finance Corporation, the President of the
Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the heads of all other agencies
that have discretionary programs that provide, facilitate, or advocate for
financing of energy projects shall review their charters, regulations,
guidance, policies, international agreements, analytical models and internal
bureaucratic processes to ensure that such materials do not discourage the
agency from financing coal mining projects and electricity generation projects.
Consistent with law, and subject to the applicable agency head’s discretion,
where appropriate, any identified preferences against coal use shall
immediately be eliminated except as explicitly provided for in statute.
Sec. 7. Supporting
American Coal Exports. The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the
Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, the United States Trade
Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security, and the
heads of other relevant agencies, shall take all necessary and appropriate
actions to promote and identify export opportunities for coal and coal
technologies and facilitate international offtake agreements for United States
coal.
Sec. 8. Expanding
Use of Categorical Exclusions for Coal Under the National Environmental Policy
Act. Within 30 days of the date of this order, each agency shall identify
to the Council on Environmental Quality any existing and potential categorical
exclusions pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, increased
reliance on and adoption of which by other agencies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4336c
could further the production and export of coal.
Sec. 9. Steel
Dominance. (a) The Secretary of Energy, pursuant to the authority under the
Energy Act of 2020 (the “Act”), shall determine whether coal used in the
production of steel meets the definition of a “critical material” under the Act
and, if so, shall take steps to place it on the Department of Energy Critical
Materials List.
(b) The Secretary of the
Interior, pursuant to the authority under the Act, shall determine whether
metallurgical coal used in the production of steel meets the criteria to be
designated as a “critical mineral” under the Act and, if so, shall take steps to
place coal on the Department of the Interior Critical Minerals List.
Sec. 10. Powering
Artificial Intelligence Data Centers. (a) For the purposes of this order,
“artificial intelligence” or “AI” has the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C.
9401(3).
(b) Within 60 days of the date
of this order, the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, and the
Secretary of Energy shall identify regions where coal-powered infrastructure is
available and suitable for supporting AI data centers; assess the market,
legal, and technological potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to
power data centers to meet the electricity needs of AI and high-performance
computing operations; and submit a consolidated summary report with their
findings and proposals to the Chair of the NEDC, the Assistant to the President
for Science and Technology and the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto.
Sec. 11. Acceleration
of Coal Technology. (a) The Secretary of Energy shall take all necessary
actions, consistent with applicable law, to accelerate the development,
deployment, and commercialization of coal technologies including, but not
limited to, utilizing all available funding mechanisms to support the expansion
of coal technology, including technologies that utilize coal and coal
byproducts such as building materials, battery materials, carbon fiber,
synthetic graphite, and printing materials, as well as updating coal feedstock
for power generation and steelmaking.
(b) Within 90 days of the date
of this order, the Secretary of Energy shall submit a detailed action plan to
the President through the Chair of the NEDC outlining the funding mechanisms,
programs, and policy actions taken to accelerate coal technology deployment.
Sec. 12. General
Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or
otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by
law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be
implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
DONALD J. TRUMP
The states with significant
coal reserves on federal lands include Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Colorado,
and New Mexico, particularly in the Powder River Basin. Here's a more
detailed breakdown:
Wyoming: The Powder River Basin in Wyoming is the
largest coal mining area in the country, with the federal government owning the
rights to a majority of the coal reserves.
Montana: The Powder River Basin also extends into
parts of southeastern Montana.
Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico:
These states, particularly in
the Colorado Plateau region, have significant
federal coal resources.
Federal Lands: The federal government owns and administers a significant portion of the nation's coal resources, with large portions of the coal fields in the Western States occurring on federally owned lands.
Mineral Leasing Act: The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 established governance for coal, petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, and certain other minerals on federal lands.
Coal Production: Federal coal produced from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming accounts for over 85 percent of all Federal coal production.
Cooperative Agreements: The Secretary of the Interior has entered into cooperative agreements with 14 states to regulate coal mining on federal lands within their borders. These states include Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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