Alabama U.S. Sen. Katie Britt pressed Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland last week on a stalled application for Warrior Met Coal in Tuscaloosa County, accusing the Biden Administration of a “bureaucratic stonewall.”

During a Senate subcommittee hearing, Britt asked Haaland why Warrior Met Coal’s application to develop 24 million tons of metallurgical coal on federal lands hasn’t advanced since last May.

Warrior Met is seeking to mine on a federal tract encompassing more than 5,700 acres in Tuscaloosa County. The company first began the application process in 2009 and restarted it in 2014.

According to Britt, the only response the company has received in the almost a year is that the application is in “technical and legal review.”

“They have jumped through every hoop that the Department has asked because they are good stewards of our public lands,” Britt said. “Frustratingly, it has been nearly a year since they have received a substantial update from the Department.”

Haaland told Britt the application was currently under land review with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

“An important part of BLM’s review is ensuring that it’s consistent with any and all court decisions, recent court decisions, and so I know that they were working through all of those issues, as well,” she said.

Haaland said she would update Britt later on the status of the application.

Britt said any delays would benefit China, which also produces met coal, “obviously without the environmental standards that we have in the U.S.,” Britt said.