In a move that won notable appreciation from environment groups, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Friday that federal regulators will strictly scrutinize the 79 surface coal-mining permits proposed across four Appalachian states - West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio.

The decision by the Obama administration, to review the permit applications that the US Army Corps of Engineers had proposed to endorse, has come in the wake of concerns these permits for the so-called 'mountaintop removal' mining will illegally ruin the environment, particularly the quality of water.

Though the EPA acknowledged that an initial review had concluded that all the proposed 79 mines would likely affect water quality and, thus, require additional study, the agency has now reiterated that it wants to ensure that the mines do not violate the Clean Water Act.

With 49 of the contentious permits in Kentucky, 23 in West Virginia, six in Ohio and one in Tennessee, the EPA has stalled nearly 60 square miles of permits, which post- review may either be allowed to go ahead, require revisions or be denied.

Meanwhile, the environmentalists expect the EPA to bring to an end a more than decade-long scuffle about mountaintop removal by banning it altogether. Commenting on the recent EPA decision, Lauren McGrath, a Kentucky Sierra Club official, said: "We see it as a small victory and as a step one!"