Rayle Coal Co. v. Chief, Division of Water Resources, State Department of Natural Resources

McHUGH, Justice:

This appeal by the Chief of the Division of Water Resources of the State Department of Natural Resources challenges a ruling of the Circuit Court of Ohio County, West Virginia.1 The circuit court’s ruling reversed a final order of the State Water Resources Board requiring the appellee here, Rayle Coal Company, to apply for a water pollution control permit. We conclude that the circuit court applied an erroneous standard of judicial review to the factual findings of the administrative agency and erred as a matter of substantive law. Accordingly, we reverse the ruling of the…