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

Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 134

Filed 01/19/2007

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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 134

Filed 01/19/2007

Page 2 of 3

On November 21, 2006, the plaintiffs in the Hobet Mining case sent the government 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's trial attorney forwarded the file to an attorney in the Office of Review, who is waiting for transcripts from the Internal Revenue Service. Once the Office of Review attorney receives the transcripts he will review the revised offer, which, if accepted, will result in the filing of a stipulation of liability and an appealable judgment. In Consolidation Coal, the Court held a status conference on January 10, 2007, and directed the plaintiffs to file a motion to enter judgment for one test plaintiff, Jim Walter Resources, Inc., under RCFC 54(b) no later than January 24, 2007. Both parties will complete briefing by February 14, 2007. The parties anticipate that the Court will enter judgment in favor of Jim Walter, and that the Government will appeal the judgment to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The remaining test plaintiffs are working with the Government to agree on the amount of damages.

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Case 1:00-cv-00761-FMA

Document 134

Filed 01/19/2007

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 January 19, 2007

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