The National Mining Association and the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group intervened on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency last week in a lawsuit in which environmental advocates are seeking a firm deadline for the agency to issue final coal ash regulations. The agency asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia June 15 to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that the environmental groups and coal ash recyclers failed to establish subject matter jurisdiction; four days later, the court granted a motion to consolidate a lawsuit from a coalition of environmental groups and two separate lawsuits from coal ash recyclers. The agency offered a proposed rule in May 2010.