On April 8, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order ("EO") titled "Reinvigorating America's Beautiful Clean Coal Industry." This order aims to enhance the United States' "economic prosperity and national security, lower the cost of living, and provide for increases in electrical demand from emerging technologies" by increasing domestic energy production via coal. The order emphasizes coal's role in lowering electricity costs, stabilizing the grid, creating high-paying jobs, and supporting burgeoning industries.
Key Provisions
- Designation of Coal as a
"Mineral":
- The order designates coal as a "mineral" under EO 14241, entitling it to all benefits of a mineral, including (i) regulatory relief through expedited permitting processes; (ii) prioritization of coal mining in federal lands with coal deposits; (iii) access to federal support, including loans, loan guarantees, grants, and equity investments; (iv) and expedited permits and/or approval of coal projects. This designation can lead to further support and prioritization in federal policies.1
- Assessment of Coal Resources on Federal
Lands:
- Within 60 days of the order, the Secretaries of the Interior, Agriculture, and Energy are required to submit a consolidated report identifying coal resources on federal lands, assessing impediments to mining, and proposing policies to address such impediments and enable mining.
- Lifting Barriers to Coal
Mining:
- The Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture are directed to prioritize coal leasing and related activities as the primary land use for public lands identified in the consolidated report. They are to expedite coal leasing and provide for expedited environmental reviews to facilitate coal production.
- 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) is required to acknowledge the end of the Jewell Moratorium by publishing 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 as quickly as legally possible.
- Support for American Coal as an Energy
Source:
- Within 30 days of the order, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretaries of Transportation, Interior, Energy, Labor, and Treasury must identify policies that seek to transition away from coal production and electricity generation.
- Within 60 days, they must consider revising or rescinding such policies.
- Agencies that are empowered to make loans, grants, equity investments, or to conclude offtake agreements, shall take steps to rescind any policies or regulations seeking to 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.
- Within 30 days, the Secretaries of State, Agriculture, Commerce, and 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 or advocate for financing of energy projects shall review their policies and agreements to ensure that such materials do not discourage the agency from financing coal mining projects and electricity generation projects. Where appropriate, any identified preferences against coal use shall immediately be eliminated except as explicitly provided for in statute.
- Promotion of Coal Exports:
- The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other relevant agencies, is tasked to identify and promote export opportunities for coal and coal technologies and facilitate international offtake agreements for U.S. coal.
- Expansion of Categorical Exclusions for
Coal:
- Within 30 days of the order, each agency must identify existing and potential categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act to further coal production and export.
- Steel Dominance:
- The Secretary of Energy shall determine whether coal used in the production of steel meets the definition of a "critical material" under the Energy Act of 2020 and, if so, shall take steps to place it on the Department of Energy Critical Materials List.
- The Secretary of the Interior must 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.
- Powering Artificial Intelligence Data
Centers:
- Within 60 days, the Secretaries of the Interior, Commerce, and Energy must identify regions with preexisting coal-powered infrastructure suitable for AI data centers, assess the potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to meet AI and high-performance computing electricity needs, and submit a consolidated summary report with their findings and proposals to the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto.
- Acceleration of Coal
Technology:
- The Secretary of Energy is directed to accelerate the development and commercialization of coal technologies, including 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. The Secretary must submit a detailed action plan within 90 days of the date of the order.
Key Takeaways
- Companies involved in coal production can benefit from expedited permitting processes and streamlined environmental reviews.
- Opportunities for loans, grants, and investments to advance coal production projects, coal-fired electricity generation, and coal-powered AI data centers are expected to increase.
- There may be new opportunities for coal businesses to explore international markets for coal and coal technologies.
Footnote
1. Executive Order 14241, Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production, White House (Apr. 8, 2025) https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/immediate-measures-to-increase-american-mineral-production/.
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