Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass'n V. de Benedictis - Cause of Action

Cause of Action

In 1982, the four Coal companies forming the Keystone Light Bituminous Coal Association brought an action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. They sought to enjoin the DER from enforcing the Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act (Subsidence Act) and its implementing regulations. Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass'n v. DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470, 474, 478 (1987).

Relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922) (PA Coal), the petitioners’ primary argument was that Sections 4 and 6 of the Subsidence Act violated the Takings Clause of the Constitution's Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments by taking their property without providing just compensation. Id. at 474, 479. They also argued that Section 6 violated the Constitution's Contracts Clause. Id. at 474.