in effect
This is a presidential Executive Order (EO 14261), signed April 8, 2025, directing federal agencies to promote and expand the U.S. coal industry. It also makes a small technical amendment to an earlier order, EO 14241, on mineral production. As policy, it declares coal “essential to national and economic security” and instructs agencies to remove regulatory barriers, boost coal use and exports, and stop treating coal less favorably than other energy sources.
Coal is now officially classified as a “mineral” under EO 14241, giving it that order’s benefits, and a typo in that order is corrected (“4332” to “4532”). Agencies face specific deadlines: within 30 days, several departments must list any rules/programs that push the country away from coal, and within 60 days consider revising or rescinding them; within 60 days, Interior, Agriculture, and Energy must report on coal resources on federal land and its effect on electricity costs; within 90 days, Energy must submit a coal-technology action plan. Interior is directed to formally end the “Jewell Moratorium” on federal coal leasing (by publishing a Federal Register notice), prioritize and expedite coal leasing on identified public lands, and speed up royalty-rate-reduction requests from coal lessees. Other directives cover determining whether coal used in steelmaking counts as a “critical material/mineral,” identifying where coal power could supply AI data centers (60-day report), and promoting coal exports. The order states it must be carried out “consistent with applicable law” and creates no new legally enforceable rights.
Coal mining companies and existing federal coal lessees are the most directly affected, gaining faster leasing, expedited environmental reviews, and possible reduced royalty rates. Federal agencies—including Interior, Agriculture, Energy, EPA, Transportation, Labor, Treasury, Commerce, and State, plus finance bodies like the Export-Import Bank and the International Development Finance Corporation—must review their rules and take action within the stated deadlines. Secondary parties include steelmakers, operators of AI and high-performance-computing data centers seeking power, and foreign buyers/allies targeted as coal export markets.