"A federal judge let stand a Bush administration rule that makes it easier for companies involved in mountaintop coal mining to dump debris near streams. In January, the National Parks Conservation Association sued Interior Secretary Ken Salazar seeking to have the rule overturned. The Obama administration in effect agreed, asking a federal court to void the rule until it could be redrawn with stiffer water-quality protections. The judge, Henry H. Kennedy Jr. of Federal District Court in the District of Columbia, said taking such a step would bypass federal procedures for overturning regulations."

Cornelia Dean reports for the New York Times August 12, 2009. [2]