Sidney Coal Company, Inc. v. Social Security Administration, (04-6286), Michael H. Holland, Intervenors (04-6291)

OPINION

MARBLEY, District Judge.

In 1992, Congress enacted the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act, 26 U.S.C. §§ 9701-9722, 30 U.S.C. § 1232(h) (the “Coal Act”), which ensured that retired miners received their promised benefits by assigning each retiree to the coal company most responsible for that retiree’s employee benefits. In 1998, the Supreme Court, in Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel, 524 U.S. 498, 118 S.Ct. 2131, 141 L.Ed.2d 451 (1998), declared part of the Coal Act unconstitutional insofar as it imposed liability on coal operators that had never signed an agreement promising to…