IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

To illustrate this point, the agency cited the ESA-listing of numerous species since the implementation of the 1996 BiOp—including the 2016 listings of the Guyandotte River crayfish and Big Sandy crayfish—as evidence that the previous regulatory regime had failed to protect species and their habitat from coal mining-induced extinction pressures. [...] The actions of Defendants not only harm the procedural interests of Plaintiffs and their members, but also have harmed and threaten future harm to the concrete interests that Plaintiffs and their members have in the fish, wildlife, and ecosystems of the United States that are being destroyed by coal mining activities. [...] The failure to comply with the requirements of the ESA and SMCRA delays, avoids, and undermines protections that are necessary to secure Plaintiffs’ interests in the existence of listed species and their critical habitat. [...] Defendant OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND ENFORCEMENT is the United States federal agency that has the primary oversight and enforcement responsibility to ensure that the requirements of the ESA and other applicable laws are followed with respect to the implementation of SMCRA and state-delegated SMCRA programs. [...] The ESA assigns responsibility to implement the statute to the Secretaries of Commerce and Interior, which in turn have delegated responsibility to the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.