Published: May 19, 2025 |

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Congress has tucked an 800-acre expansion of an underground Montana coal mine into a budget reconciliation bill that cleared its first committee vote last week.

A two-page provision of the Natural Resources Committee’s bill authorizes Signal Peak Energy to access federally owned coal beneath central Montana’s Bull Mountains in accordance with an expansion plan the company submitted to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement in 2020.

The House Committee on Natural Resources voted in the early morning hours of May 7 to advance the nearly 100-page bill, with Republicans in favor and all Democrats except Rep. Adam Gray of California opposed. The bill is part of a larger budget reconciliation package that representatives are expected to debate in the coming weeks in the House Budget Committee and on the House floor.

In addition to directing the Interior Department to authorize an expansion of the Bull Mountain Mine, the bill allows for noncompetitive leases of federally owned fossil fuels, creates a pathway for companies to pay for expedited review — and guaranteed approval — of environmental impact statements, reduces royalty rates for coal, oil and gas, and reverses the Biden administration’s moratorium on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin of southern Montana and northern Wyoming. 

Committee Republicans estimated the bill will generate $18 billion in new revenue and savings. Democratic members of the committee argued that Republicans are forwarding a flawed fiscal argument and said the measure would increase the country’s deficit.

All four of Montana’s elected federal officials have supported efforts to expand the Bull Mountain Mine. In 2023, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke wrote in a letter to then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland that more than $100 million in revenues and royalties are riding on the expansion, and saying the U.S. government has a national security dog in the fight.

The vast majority of coal pulled from beneath the Bull Mountains is bound for Asia via a shipping terminal in Canada. Signal Peak’s access to international markets appears to have made it less vulnerable to the demand decline that’s squeezing mines more reliant on domestic markets, according to Hernandez.

Signal Peak and the Montana Coal Council did not respond to MTFP’s requests for comment.

The budget bill comes amid Signal Peak’s frustration with the pace of the Interior Department’s production of a court-mandated environmental impact statement on the mine.

In 2023, a federal district court judge in Missoula ordered federal regulators to prepare an environmental impact statement to examine how a 7,100-acre expansion would impact climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions and local water supplies. Signal Peak has been impatient with the time the EIS is taking, telling the Yellowstone County Commission last year that the company will run out of coal to mine sometime this year if the expansion is further delayed, and that 262 jobs are at stake.

If the plan is approved, Signal Peak could garner access to an additional 175 million tons of coal, bolstering its position as one of the country’s largest underground coal mines.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, has set a goal of passing the budget package out of his chamber by Memorial Day to comply with Trump’s request that Congress present him with a “big, beautiful bill” to sign by July 4.

Source: Montana Free Press

Signal Peak Energy is a large coal mine located near Roundup, Montana. As the only underground mining operation in Montana, they’re committed to reimagining the industry through top-quality safety procedures and cutting-edge production methods. Their mission is to create an environment where employees can thrive — complete with a comprehensive benefits package and an industry-leading safety record. The company has been recognized nationally for industry leading safety and production.

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