North Dakota lignite coal continues to provide low-cost, reliable energy to over 2 million consumers and businesses in the Upper Midwest. This production even comes at a time when federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are attempting to take coal completely out of the mix by creating and implementing radical regulatory rules and processes. BNI Coal, which owns and operates the Center Mine in Center, ND, recently overcame one of these arduous regulatory processes by receiving approval of a federal coal lease application, something worth celebrating.
BNI Coal received this most recent federal coal lease in June of 2024 when its application was officially approved. The approval allows BNI to mine a new coal track in the Center Mine. According to Rylan Sundsbak, Environmental Manager at BNI Coal, the application process is a long, arduous procedure that can take many years and sees very few successful application approvals. In fact, only three approvals have been granted in the last four years in the United States, and BNI has received two of those three, Sundsbak commented.
The process of getting approval to mine coal in the ‘Land of the Free’ is much more complicated than one might realize. It begins by identifying where the coal is and who to request for the right to mine the minerals. Often, that ends up being the United States Government. “The United States of America owns mineral rights, including coal, on tracks throughout the country. These tracks of federally owned minerals are randomly dispersed throughout the state of North Dakota among privately owned mineral tracks,” said Sundsbak. “A coal lease from the federal government,” he continued, “is required to severe coal owned by the United States, therefore a coal mining company must apply for a federal coal lease to secure the rights to mine said coal.”
Approval actions do not just stop there. “The approval of the federal coal lease requires the mining company to have the land permitted to mine with the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC),” explained Sundsbak. “Once the federal coal lease is approved, the Office of Surface Mining reviews and ultimately approves the federal mine plan,” he clarified. Both the Public Service Commission and Office of Surface Mining have permitted and approved mining in this new federal coal track. To celebrate the occasion of completing the whole approval process, BNI had a lunch for all its nearly 200 employees.
Sundsbak pointed out that this is a very positive step forward for the North Dakota lignite industry. “The approval of BNI’s application is a testament to the success and necessity of the lignite coal industry in North Dakota. It provides certainty not only for our mine plan but also for our surface owners.” Local landowners receive royalty payments when BNI mines coal on their property, and ultimately reclaims the property to equal or better quality when it was first leased.
Once a mining company has finished removing coal from the ground in a certain area at the mine, they must complete what is called the land reclamation process. The land reclamation process returns mined land back to its original condition. North Dakota law requires mining companies to restore mined land used for agriculture and grazing to productivity levels equal to or better than its pre-mining productivity.
BNI currently has 7,000 acres of land reclaimed, according to Sundsbak. The company removes SPGM on and reclaims about 275 acres of land each year. Multiple industry experts have pointed out that North Dakota’s mining companies do such a good job of reclamation that when individuals not familiar with the area drive through coal country and are asked to identify a plot of land that has been fully reclaimed versus one that has not been disturbed by mining, they cannot tell which is which!
Overall, BNI Coal’s recent federal coal lease application approval points to the organization’s commitment of developing North Dakota’s abundant lignite energy resource, while also working diligently to reclaim land to conditions equal to or better than they found it. Sundsbak pointed out that BNI could potentially apply for more federal coal leasing in the future – if they need to: “As of right now, BNI Coal does not have any future federal coal lease applications planned, but if BNI’s mine plan extends, there is federally owned coal in expansion areas, so more applications may be required.”