Planning Luncheon for Kentucky Mineral Law Conference
A reminder that the planning luncheon for the October 28-30 Mineral Law Conference will be Tuesday, June 2 in Lexington. If you would like to attend, please contact EMLF and we will notify you of the time and location so we can finalize attendance for lunch.

We will be accepting topic and speaker proposals through June 1, so please send us your ideas for the program via email. This year the oil and gas track will be Wednesday afternoon, October 28; the general session topics will be all day Thursday, the coal track will be Friday morning with members of the Kentucky Coal Association attending, and the Friday morning breakout session will be a renewable energy track. We know it seems early to be working on the October program, but all topics and speakers must be confirmed and the brochure completed by the end of July.

The 34th Mineral Law Conference will be held at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington, and will be co-sited with the annual meeting of the Kentucky Coal Association. Marco Rajkovich, Rajkovich, Williams, Kilpatrick & True, PLLC, Lexington, will serve as Program Chairman for the 34th Kentucky Mineral Law Conference. Ben Sullivan, EQT Corporation, Charleston, will serve as Oil & Gas Chair, and Brandy Anderson, Alliance Coal, LLC, Lexington, will serve as Coal Chair.

EMLF Board of Trustees Meeting – Election Results
C. David Morrison, Member of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC in its Charleston, WV office, became President of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation on May 18 at the 30th Annual Institute. David is chair of the firm’s labor department and has practiced labor and employment law for 25 years. He’s been very active in the EMLF, participating in the Energy Careers programs at law schools, serving on the Board of Trustees, Executive Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, and as Secretary and Vice President. A Georgetown, KY, native, David received a B.A. from Transylvania University and a J.D. from the University of Kentucky.

Kirsten L. Nathanson, partner in Crowell & Moring’s Environment & Natural Resources Group, Washington, DC, was elected Vice-President and President-Elect of the EMLF. Her practice primarily involves environmental litigation, enforcement defense, risk assessment, and regulatory counseling under all major federal environmental and public lands statutes, with particular focus on the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, NEPA, SMCRA, and CERCLA. Kirsten is a member of the Board of Trustees, was Chair of the Coal Track for the 30th Annual Institute, served on the EMLF Executive Committee, and has been a frequent speaker at EMLF educational programs and the EMLF Energy Careers programs at law schools. Kirsten graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, B.A., 1992 – cum laude and George Washington University Law School, J.D., 1998 – with high honors, and was elected to The Order of the Coif.

John T. Boyd II, President and CEO of the John T. Boyd Company, Pittsburgh, PA, was re-elected Treasurer of the EMLF. Mark E. Heath, Spilman, Thomas & Battle PLLC, Charleston, WV, was re-elected as Secretary of the EMLF. Timothy M. Miller, Robinson & McElwee, Charleston, WV, was elected as Assistant Treasurer. At-large Members of the Executive Committee are Stephen G. Allen, Stites & Harbison, PLLC, Lexington, KY; Anna M. Dailey, Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP, Charleston, WV; Blair M. Gardner, Jackson Kelly PLLC, Charleston, WV; Kenneth E. McDonough, American Electric Power, Columbus, OH; Benjamin M. Sullivan, EQT Corporation, Charleston, WV; and G. Brian Wells, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP, Lexington, KY.

Edward P. Clair, recently-retired Associate Solicitor for Mine Safety & Health, U.S. Department of Labor, was elected as an Honorary Trustee of the EMLF, in recognition of his cooperative efforts in the development of the Mine Safety & Health Law Special Institutes, co-sponsored by EMLF and USDOL in Washington, DC.

Newly-elected first-term members of the Board of Trustees are Matthew F. Burger, Chair, Energy & Natural Resources Group, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, Pittsburgh, PA; Richard A. Farmer, NiSource Corporate Services Co., Charleston, WV; Judith P. Knapp, Vice President and General Counsel, Chevron Mining Inc., Englewood, CO; W. Henry Lawrence, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Clarksburg, WV; Suzan E. Moore, Associate General Counsel, Alpha Natural Resources, Abingdon, VA; Robert D. Pollitt, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, Charleston, WV; Joseph E. Reinhart, Chair, Natural Resources Development Group, Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir, Pittsburgh, PA; John E. Rhine, Rhine Ernest LLP, Evansville, IN; Arnold L. Schulberg, Attorney at Law, Hurricane, WV; and Allyn G. Turner, Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC, Charleston, WV.

Law Student Scholarship Awards
The recipients of the 2009-2010 EMLF Scholarship Awards were announced at the 30th Annual Institute, who collectively received $33,500 in scholarship money. A complete listing and article on the scholarship program can be viewed at www.emlf.org.

The John L. McClaugherty Award(s)
The Foundation’s most prestigious award for service to the EMLF and to the legal profession was given to Edward M. Green, Counsel in the Washington office of Crowell & Moring where he specializes in regulatory and legislative matters affecting the mining and natural resources industries.

Ed’s practice focuses on safety and health matters arising out of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. He is especially expert on complex occupational health issues relating to respirable dust, diesel particulate matter, silica, other airborne contaminants, occupational noise exposure, and the approval and certification of respirators.

Before joining Crowell & Moring in 1993, Ed had been an attorney at the U.S. Department of the Interior specializing in mining issues, and drafted many of the mine safety and health regulations still in force today. He served as a special counsel to the Secretary of the Interior, charged with focusing on legal issues relating to the controversial bills being considered by the Congress that were ultimately enacted as the Surface Mining and Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

Ed left government service in 1977 to join the American Mining Congress (a predecessor organization to the National Mining Association) where he served as general counsel and secretary. Ed is a past president of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation, and continues as a trustee and frequent speaker on mine safety issues. He received both his B.A. degree and his J.D. degree from Boston University.

In a break with tradition, the McClaugherty Award selection committee (comprised of past recipients Neal Pierce, Tim Means, Tom Lane, Russ Schetroma and Joe Zaluski) surprised everyone with a second presentation of the McClaugherty Award to Executive Director Sharon Daniels, in recognition of her service to the Foundation on the occasion of the 30th Annual Institute.

Before joining the EMLF in 1985, Sharon worked in Pittsburgh for Sam Douglass, the first president of the EMLF, where she noticed his presidential plaque and inquired about the organization. The EMLF was searching for a new Executive Director, and when her contract work for Sam was completed, she was hired as the new director of the EMLF with its offices then at the WVU College of Law.

Sharon attended Mount St. Scholastica College (Atchison, KS), the University of Salzburg (Austria), received a B.A. from Fort Hays State University (KS), and a J.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma, after which she practiced oil and gas law in Oklahoma City before moving to Pittsburgh.

She’s admitted to practice in Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, a member of the ABA – Section of Energy and Resource Law, Center for American and International Law, and the American Society of Association Executives.

Upcoming Events

• Coal Law Short Course – August 2-6, 2009, Morgantown, WV
• Kentucky Mineral Law Conference – October 28-30, Lexington, KY
• Winter Workshops on Energy Law – February 4-6, 2010, Captiva Island, FL
• 31st EMLF Annual Institute – May 9-11, 2010, Amelia Island Plantation, FL