Free Joint Status Report - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 143

Filed 09/03/2008

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IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS ______________ No. 00-761 T (Judge Allegra) MINGO LOGAN COAL CO., Plaintiff, v. THE UNITED STATES, Defendant. ______________ JOINT STATUS REPORT ______________ The parties hereby file a joint status report indicating the status of Hobet Mining, Inc. v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 00-218 T, and Consolidation Coal Co. v. United States, Fed. Cl. No. 01-254 C. This document will be filed electronically. This case involves the plaintiff's claims for refunds of (1) Black Lung Excise Taxes ("BLET") imposed on the plaintiff's export sales of coal pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 4121 and (2) Reclamation Fees imposed on the plaintiff's export sales of coal pursuant to 30 U.S.C. § 1232. Both the BLET and the Reclamation Fees were held to be unconstitutional as applied to export sales of coal. See Ranger Fuel Corp. v. United States, 33 F. Supp. 2d 466 (E.D. Va. 1998) (holding that the BLET violated the Export Clause); IRS Notice 2000-28, 2000-1 C.B. 1116 (acquiescing in Ranger Fuel); Consolidation Coal Co. v. United States, 64 Fed. Cl. 718 (2005) (holding that the Reclamation Fees violated the Export Clause). The plaintiff sought refunds of the BLET it paid in certain quarters in Hobet Mining and sought refunds of the Reclamation Fees it paid in certain quarters in Consolidation Coal.

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Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 143

Filed 09/03/2008

Page 2 of 3

In the Hobet Mining case, the parties filed a stipulation concerning the amount of damages on June 1, 2007, and the clerk entered judgment on July 24. On August 3, 2007, the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal because the judgment was entered as payable without interest. On August 8, the defendant filed a notice of cross-appeal contending that the court lacked jurisdiction to consider a demand for an amount paid as a tax because the plaintiffs filed no timely claims for refund. On September 17, 2007, the parties asked the Federal Circuit to stay the appellate proceedings pending resolution of the Clintwood Elkhorn case described in the next paragraph. The court granted the stay on October 9. On April 15, 2008, the Supreme Court decided that a court lacks jurisdiction of a claim for refund of BLET for any period for which the taxpayer has failed to file a timely refund claim. See United States v. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Co., 128 S. Ct. 1511 (2008). The decision in Clintwood Elkhorn is now final and has decided all the unresolved issues in the present case in respect of BLET. As to the claim for a refund of the Reclamation Fees: On July 11, 2008, the Federal Circuit held that the applicable statute, properly interpreted, does not violate the Export Clause. Accordingly, it reversed the grant of summary judgment to the plaintiff and remanded for entry of a judgment consistent with the decision. See Consolidation Coal Co. v. United States, 528 F.3d 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2008). On September 3, 2008, Consolidation Coal filed a post-remand motion for summary judgment. It is anticipated that a final decision in Consolidation Coal will also resolve all Reclamation Fees claims in the present case.

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Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 143

Filed 09/03/2008

Page 3 of 3

Counsel for the plaintiff has reviewed this report and has authorized the defendant's counsel to file it on behalf of both parties. Respectfully submitted, s/ Robert Stoddart ROBERT STODDART Attorney of Record U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division Court of Federal Claims Section Post Office Box 26 Ben Franklin Station Washington, D.C. 20044 TEL: (202) 307-6445 FAX: (202) 514-9440 NATHAN J. HOCHMAN Assistant Attorney General STEVEN I. FRAHM Acting Chief, Court of Federal Claims Section s/ Steven I. Frahm Of Counsel September 3, 2008

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