Appeal: 16-1005 Doc: 51 Filed: 02/17/2017 Pg: 1 of 46

PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 16-1005

VIRGINIA URANIUM, INC.; COLES HILL, LLC; BOWEN MINERALS, LLC;

VIRGINIA ENERGY RESOURCES, INC.,

Plaintiffs Appellants,

v.

JOHN WARREN, in his official capacity as Director of the Virginia Department of

Mines, Minerals and Energy; BRADLEY C. LAMBERT, in his official capacity as
Deputy Director of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy;
JAMES P. SKORUPA, in his official capacity as Director of the Virginia
Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy's Division of Mineral Mining,

Defendants Appellees,

and

TERRY MCAULIFFE, in his official capacity as Governor of Virginia;

MAURICE JONES, in his official capacity as Virginia Secretary of Commerce and
Trade; MOLLY J. WARD, in her official capacity as Virginia Secretary of Natural
Resources; DAVID K. PAYLOR, in his official capacity as Director of the Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality; ROBERT J. WELD, in his official capacity
as Regional Director of the Department of Environmental Quality's Blue Ridge
Regional Office; MICHAEL DOWD, in his official capacity as Director of the
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's Air Division; MELANIE D.
DAVENPORT, in her official capacity as Director of the Virginia Department of
Environmental Quality's Water Permitting Division; JUSTIN WILLIAMS, in his
official capacity as Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's
Division of Land Protection and Revitalization,

Defendants.

---------------------------------------
THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INSTITUTE,

Amicus Curiae,

ROANOKE RIVER BASIN ASSOCIATION; DAN RIVER BASIN

ASSOCIATION,

Amici Supporting Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at
Danville. Jackson L. Kiser, Senior District Judge. (4:15cv00031JLKRSB)

Argued: October 28, 2016 Decided: February 17, 2017

Before TRAXLER, DIAZ, and HARRIS, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Diaz wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge
Harris joined. Judge Traxler wrote a dissenting opinion.

ARGUED: Charles J. Cooper, COOPER & KIRK, PLLC, Washington, D.C., for
Appellants. Stuart Alan Raphael, OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF
VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Michael W. Kirk, John D.
Ohlendorf, COOPER & KIRK, PLLC, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Mark R.
Herring, Attorney General of Virginia, Rhodes B. Ritenour, Deputy Attorney General,
Jonathan Duncan Pitchford, Assistant Attorney General, Matthew R. McGuire, Assistant
Attorney General, Trevor S. Cox, Deputy Solicitor General, OFFICE OF THE
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VIRGINIA, Richmond, Virginia, for Appellees. William
C. Cleveland, Caleb A. Jaffe, SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER,
Charlottesville, Virginia, for Amici Roanoke River Basin Association and Dan River
Basin Association. Peter C. Meier, PAUL HASTINGS LLP, San Francisco, California;
Ellen C. Ginsberg, Jonathan M. Rund, Anne W. Cottingham, NUCLEAR ENERGY
INSTITUTE, Washington, D.C., for Amicus Nuclear Energy Institute.

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