LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The US Environmental Protection Agency is not required to estimate the number of mining job losses that may be caused by air pollution regulations, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
Despite the decision, the agency said that under President Trump it would consider the impact of its policies on jobs.
‘‘President Trump’s EPA will take the economic and job impacts of its proposed regulations into account . . . regardless of the outcome of this particular case,’’ EPA spokeswoman Amy Graham said in a statement.
Trump has repeatedly called for a resurgence of coal, which has been in a steep decline over the last several years. Last month, he removed the US from the Paris climate accord, which seeks to deal globally with carbon emissions. He declared in a speech Thursday that his administration had ended the war on coal.
The ruling from the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit reverses a West Virginia judge’s decision that sided with coal companies. The EPA under the Obama administration had appealed that ruling.
ASSOCIATED PRESS