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

Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 136

Filed 05/24/2007

Page 1 of 3

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 136

Filed 05/24/2007

Page 2 of 3

On November 21, 2006, the plaintiffs in the Hobet Mining case sent the Government's attorney a revised settlement offer for quarters that fall outside the three-year administrative statute of limitations, but are within the six-year statute of limitations applicable to the plaintiffs' claims under the Export Clause brought pursuant to the Tucker Act. The Government has accepted the offer. The parties expect to file a stipulation of liability that will result in the entry of an appealable judgment. In Consolidation Coal, the Court entered judgment for one test plaintiff, Jim Walter Resources, Inc., on February 22, 2007. The Government appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 19, and the appeal was docketed on April 24. Barring extensions, the Government's opening brief will be due on June 23. The remaining test plaintiffs are working with the Government to agree on the amount of damages, and discovery continues. The parties anticipate that the Court may require some evidentiary hearings before entering judgment for the other plaintiffs. (Hobet Mining is not one of the test plaintiffs in Consolidation Coal.)

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Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 136

Filed 05/24/2007

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 EILEEN J. O'CONNOR Assistant Attorney General DAVID GUSTAFSON Chief, Court of Federal Claims Section s/ David Gustafson Of Counsel May 24, 2007

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