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The Environmental Protection Agency was ordered Friday to begin issuing long-overdue rules aimed at stopping mining companies from declaring bankruptcy to avoid pollution cleanups, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the EPA must begin the rulemaking process for the hard-rock mining industry before the end of this year. The EPA agreed to take the actions listed in the order after it was sued in 2014 by six environmental groups.

The leading U.S. regulator for the coal industry on Friday said that it suspects Wyoming officials have wrongly allowed mining companies to forego cleanup insurance, Reuters reported. The notice begins a formal federal review by the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement. If federal officials find wrongdoing or an abuse under the law, they could assume oversight of the industry in Wyoming. Specifically, federal regulators want to know whether two now-bankrupt mining companies, Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources, have the wherewithal to cover several hundred million of dollars in future cleanup costs. At issue is a practice known as self-bonding, allowed under a decades-old mining program, in which some of the country's biggest coal companies forego insurance on a portion of future mine cleanup costs. Officials estimate that roughly $3.6 billion in self-bond liabilities could fall to taxpayers and "it is a big issue," Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell told Congress in December.

The hopes of people involved in hundreds of lawsuits against General Motors Co. over a defective ignition switch were dealt a setback Thursday when a federal judge advised a group of lawyers to drop the first such suit amid revelations about alleged fraud involving the plaintiff, the Wall Street Journal reported today. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman said the case of Robert Scheuer, a mail carrier who alleges a faulty ignition switch disabled his air bag in a 2014 crash, was “worthless as a settlement tool,” and that the lawyers should “think about whether it’s worth continuing on.” Scheuer’s lawsuit is the first of six so-called bellwether cases set for trial this year. Plaintiffs lawyers representing alleged victims had hoped to use the cases to negotiate a broader settlement with GM. The automaker recalled 2.6 million cars because of the ignition-switch defect, paid out billions in settlements and admitted that it failed to disclose the defect to regulators and misled consumers about the safety problem.

Arch Coal Inc.’s chapter 11 filing on Monday has left some citizens groups concerned about the company’s ability to clean up pollution at its Wyoming mines, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Coal miners such as Arch must, under state and federal law, post reclamation bonds to show their ability to clean up the land and treat the water at their mining sites. Some states allow what is called self-bonding, in which the bonds aren’t backed by any insurance. While self-bonds can save companies money, questions arise about their ability to fulfill the bonds when they run into financial trouble. If a company can’t pay for cleaning up the polluted land and water at a mine, the bill could be passed on to taxpayers. In Arch’s case, its lenders have agreed to cover up to $75 million in cleanup and other regulatory obligations in connection with a proposed $275 million bankruptcy loan. But that falls short of the $485 million in self bonds that court papers show Arch has posted for its Wyoming mining operations.

While acknowledging its role in failing to report a deadly defect for more than a decade, General Motors yesterday forcefully questioned the story of a man who was injured in a May 2014 crash and is suing the company, the New York Times reported today. The automaker is facing a civil trial in the first of six so-called bellwether cases over deadly defective ignition switches in its vehicles. In February 2014, G.M. began recalling what eventually numbered 2.6 million Chevrolet Cobalts, Ions and other small cars for a defect in the ignition switch. If jostled, the switch could unexpectedly shut off, cutting power to the engine and disabling airbags, power steering and power brakes. At least 124 deaths have been acknowledged by GM, through its compensation program, to be tied to the defect.

Arch Coal Inc., the second-largest U.S. coal producer, asked a bankruptcy judge to put aside $75 million to backstop future cleanup costs — far less than the roughly $450 million that regulators foresee needing, Reuters reported yesterday. Arch made the proposal to a Missouri court after filing for bankruptcy protection yesterday, seeking to shed $4.5 billion in debt in the face of weak demand for coal and increasing pressure from creditors. Arch has used cash, bonds and other financing to assure mine cleanup. But Arch's use of a federal program called self-bonding to cover a large share of cleanup costs raises the possibility that taxpayers be saddled with much of the bill. Securities filings show that Arch Coal has not qualified for self-bonding since 2012. In those years Arch Coal accessed self-bonding through a subsidiary, Arch Western Resources, according to regulatory paperwork.

General Motors Co. heads to trial today over a defective ignition switch linked to 124 deaths, continuing a legal battle over a safety lapse still dogging the automaker despite a raft of previous settlements, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The ignition-switch case, part of consolidated litigation in a New York federal court, will dredge up for a jury past safety lapses the auto maker has worked to put behind it for the better part of two years. The trial is a reminder that GM still faces potential financial penalties over the faulty switch even after reaching settlements with the U.S. Justice Department, shareholders and thousands of consumers totaling more than $2 billion. Remaining lawsuits and additional government probes loom.

James F. Lomma, the owner of a New York City crane that collapsed in 2008 and killed two people, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy along with his companies in the wake of a $96 million jury award to the victims’ families last year, the Wall Street Journal reported today. In May 2008, a crane owned by Mr. Lomma’s New York Crane & Equipment Corp. collapsed on East 91st Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The incident killed two men: crane operator Donald Leo and another worker, Ramadan Kurtaj. The following year, the families of Leo and Mr. Kurtaj each brought civil wrongful-death cases against Lomma. Criminal charges were also brought, but Lomma was acquitted. Lomma said in court papers that he decided to file for bankruptcy to try to preserve his businesses while he appeals the verdict. Adding that the decision to file for bankruptcy “is certainly not an easy one,” Lomma said the verdict “left the debtors no viable alternative.” The filing will halt attempts by creditors, including the families, to collect money while the companies and Lomma are in bankruptcy. Court papers say Lomma will ask for court permission to continue his appeal during the case.

A bankruptcy court judge approved the first major sale of real estate belonging to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis yesterday, and the church’s three remaining properties are expected to be sold in the months ahead to pay creditors, the Milwaukee Star Tribune reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Kressel approved the $4.5 million sale of the Monsignor Hayden Center, which now houses most archdiocese offices, to its neighbor the Minnesota Historical Society. The archdiocese also asked the court yesterday to approve a purchase agreement for the archbishop’s residence and the chancery building, across from the St. Paul Cathedral. The agreement — for a price identified only as somewhere between $2.5 million and $3.5 million — is with United Properties Development and is already generating criticism. The sales come about a year after the archdiocese declared bankruptcy following a flood of clergy abuse claims. The buildings and property are its chief assets, with a combined value of at least $10 million. Those assets will be tapped to compensate more than 400 individuals who have filed abuse claims against the church in the past year.

Bankrupt San Bernardino, Calif., says that it can’t afford to pay more than 100 people who have sued San Bernardino for injuries and deaths allegedly caused by its police officers and employees, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Under the city’s bankruptcy plan, the city would spend $56.5 million in the next five years to hire more officers and buy new vehicles. The plan, however, would inflict some of the deepest cuts on people who have sued over incidents of alleged police brutality or excessive force. San Bernardino’s bankruptcy plan proposes a 1 percent payment rate, though city officials promised to negotiate each lawsuit separately. Some might get insurance money, the city said, though it hasn’t provided details. San Bernardino faced 109 lawsuits seeking a total of $19 million in “personal injury and bodily injury” claims against the city and its employees as of Nov. 25. Bankruptcy Judge Meredith Jury is scheduled to review objections to the city’s bankruptcy-exit summary at a March 9 hearing. If she approves the plan, it would go to creditors for a vote.