A federal judge has dealt a blow to the Obama administration’s attempts to regulate the controversial practice of mountaintop removal coal mining. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled the Environmental Protection Agency had exceeded its powers and infringed on the authority of state regulators when it strengthened guidelines for the industry’s practice of dumping mining waste into Appalachian waterways. The decision came after a coal mining industry coalition, along with West Virginia and Kentucky, sued the EPA.