Stop The Distortion:
A Response to the Mineral Policy Center's "Stop the Rollbacks" Web Page

Anti-mining organizations are using dated, past images of mining and incorrect statements about regulatory requirements for mining to provoke public concerns about mining in order to foment opposition to the U.S. Dept. of the Interior's/Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) proposed suspension of the 43 CFR §3809 regulations governing surface management of hardrock mines on BLM-administered lands. The new 3809 rules became effective just hours before President Bush took the oath of office, and are among the several onerous and misguided regulations rushed through during the waning days of the Clinton Administration. One such organization, the Washington, D.C.-based Mineral Policy Center (MPC), has launched an Internet-based letter-writing campaign called "Stop the Rollbacks" that relies on selective distortion, mischaracterization, and misinformation through omission to assert that modern mines are as likely to cause environmental problems as mines developed decades ago.

In their quest to build support for the unworkable and the new, legally-flawed 3809 regulations, it is not at all surprising that anti-mining interests find it necessary to resort to scare tactics to persuade the public that the Clinton-Babbitt 3809 rules are needed to protect the environment. Rather than engaging in a productive dialogue about today's comprehensive regulatory requirements, modern mining practices, and the environmental protection technology that is used at operating mines, mining opponents choose to present an anachronistic picture of mining.

Fortunately, there is a reliable and unbiased source of information the public and policy makers can turn to in assessing whether new regulations for mining are necessary. In October 1999, the National Research Council (NRC) published a 249-page report entitled "Hardrock Mining on Federal Land" in response to a Congressional directive to conduct a study with the following objectives:

* Identify environmental protection statutes/regulations applicable to federal lands regarding mining;
* Consider the adequacy of statutes/regulations to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of the federal lands; and
* Make recommendations for the coordination of federal and state regulations to ensure environmental protection, increase efficiency, avoid duplication and delay, and identify the most cost-effective manner for implementation.

In order to conduct this study, the NRC appointed 13 individuals with a broad range of expertise and view points, relevant to mining, to the Committee on Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands. NRC's Scientific Findings:

* Although they are unevenly, and sometimes inexpertly applied, the existing array of federal/state laws regulating mining is generally effective in environmental protection;
* Better implementation of existing laws and regulations presents the greatest opportunity for improving environmental protection/regulatory efficiency; and
* Specific issues/gaps in the existing regulations should be filled. ..."in spite of these issues or gaps, and based on numerous discussions and meetings with federal and state regulators, mining industry representatives, and the public, the Committee finds that the existing regulations are generally well-coordinated and effective." (NRC report, page 63)

NRC's recommendations to improve implementation and close regulatory gaps are:

* Review the adequacy of BLM and Forest Service staff and resources devoted to regulating mineral exploration and mining operations;
* Update technical and policy-guidance documents on a regular basis;
* Increase/improve agency and stakeholder participation in the NEPA process from its earliest stages;
* Expedite the review of permit applications for exploration projects affecting fewer than five acres of Forest Service-managed lands;
* Require financial assurance for all mining and exploration activities that are not classified as casual use;
* Mandate Plans of Operation for any mining or milling operation regardless of size;
* Develop criteria/procedures for modifying Plans of Operation;
* Adopt regulations that define temporary closure and require interim management plans;
* Plan for and assure long-term, post-closure management of closed and reclaimed mines;
* Provide authority to issue administrative penalties and develop clear guidelines for involving other state or federal enforcement authorities;
* Modify existing environmental laws and regulations to allow and promote industry cleanup of abandoned mines and remove institutional and legal barriers currently thwarting such cleanup; and
* Secure Congressional funding for aggressive and coordinated research programs on the environmental impacts of hardrock mines.

NRC report recommendations and findings are accurate, useful, and balanced and should guide future public policy discussions about environmental regulations for mining. Report conclusions do not support the wholesale revision of 3809 regulations implicit in new 3809 regs. Moreover, many of the prescriptive performance standards mandated in the new 3809 regs are inconsistent with the NRC's findings that mining regulations should be based on site-specific, performance-based standards. This does not comply with the FY 2000 Interior Appropriations bill which limited the Secretary's authority to promulgate final revisions to the 3809 rules except for changes, "which are not inconsistent with the recommendations contained in the National Research Council report entitled Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands." BLM could comply with this Congressional directive, developing regulations consistent with the NRC report by suspending the new regulations excepting those provisions necessary to implement the NRC's recommendations.

It is indeed regrettable that MPC and other anti-mining groups ignore the findings of the unbiased group of experts who developed the NRC report, relying instead on misinformation and distortion to generate and sustain public opposition to mining. Their alarmist message about environmental problems at old mines and their incorrect assertions regarding the adequacy of the previous 3809 rules can only cause confusion and controversy. One such inaccuracy is their claim that BLM's proposal will repeal bonding requirements and allow mining companies to walk away from their reclamation responsibilities, leaving federal and state taxpayers to pay reclamation costs. That is not true. Bonding to assure that mined lands are reclaimed is required under the prior BLM rules and under state laws. Suspending the new 3809 rule will not change this requirement. However, the NRC report recommends expanding this bonding requirement to all surface-disturbing activities, including small exploration projects. Nearly everyone in the mining industry supports this change. This augmented bonding requirement will enhance regulations that are described in the NRC report as "generally effective in protecting the environment."

The truth about the modern industry can be found by reading the NRC report, by visiting operating mines to observe the many environmental safeguards and pollution prevention techniques used at these sites, and by talking to state and federal mine regulators about the environmental track record of today's mines. In making public policy decisions about mining, it is imperative that both decision makers and the public have access to accurate, relevant, and factual information to enable them to discriminate between fact and fiction. The MPC's materials fall far short of this goal.

Points for Comments on the Babbitt 3809 Regulations

On Mar. 23, 2001, the U.S. Interior Dept. proposed suspension of the new 43 CFR Subpart 3809 surface management regulations governing hardrock mining regulations (Babbitt regs). Babbitt regs were issued on Nov. 21, 2000, effective on Jan. 20, 2001. These complex regulations exceed the Secretary's authority, severely burdening domestic hardrock mining without commensurate environmental benefits.

Interior Dept. has proposed suspending the Babbitt regs and reinstating the pre-existing 3809 rules issued in 1980. Northwest Mining Assn. and other mining organizations strongly support Interior's proposed suspension. Following were themes to emphasize in individual comments. People were encouraged to emphasize these points in their own words, based on personal experiences. Key comment points were:

* NRC Report Supports 3809 Suspension: In 1998, the U.S. Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NRC) to fully evaluate whether existing federal/state regulations governing mining were adequate to prevent "unnecessary or undue degradation" of the public lands. NRC's October 1999 report, "Hardrock Mining on Federal Land," concluded that the existing federal/state regulations were "generally effective," and that "improvements in the implementation of existing regulations present the greatest opportunity for improving environmental protection/efficiency of the regulatory process."
* The FY 2000 Interior Appropriations bill prohibited the promulgation of any new regs, except for changes "not inconsistent" with the recommendations in the NRC report. BLM can comply with this Congressional directive and develop regulations consistent with the NRC report by suspending all of the provisions of the Babbitt regs, except for those provisions that implement the recommendations of the NRC report. Alt. 5, "NRC Recommendations," of BLM's Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), issued in October 2000, does just that. BLM should be urged to suspend all of the existing regulations (Alt. 3 in FEIS), except those provisions that implement the recommendations of the NRC report as described in Alt. 5.
* This is not a rollback of environmental standards or bonding requirements. Mining on federal land is subject to more than 36 federal environmental laws and regulations, including the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, the Endangered Species Act, and many others. Reclamation and bonding laws of every mining state mandate that companies reclaim mining sites when their operations end. The mining industry fully supports these comprehensive regulatory programs.
* Babbitt regs are extremely burdensome, complex, counter-productive, and in some cases, illegal. They contradict and are inconsistent with the recommendations in the NRC report. They go far beyond filling the narrow "regulatory gaps" identified by the NRC report and are deterring mineral exploration/mining activity in the western U.S.
* Permitting delays for new mineral exploration and mines were already a major problem; Babbitt regs will make such delays intolerable.
* Permitting costs to obtain approvals from the BLM and other federal and state agencies are already extremely high, but the Babbitt regs push the regulatory cost burdens higher, without compensating environmental benefits - when mineral commodity prices are depressed.
* New, illegal "mine-veto" authority of Babbitt regs is destroying all remaining incentives to pursue grassroots mineral exploration in the western U.S. Companies will not invest the millions required to discover/develop a mineral deposit without some reasonable assurance that it can be commercialized.
* One-size-fits-all performance standards and expanded liabilities in the Babbitt regs will greatly disrupt the pre-existing coordination of BLM and western states on mining environmental regulation.
* BLM's own FEIS estimates show 6,000 jobs and $877M/yr mining-industry output will be lost due to the Babbitt regs - 70% of this impact will be felt in Nevada. Adverse economic impacts are being felt. Rural communities and county tax revenues for schools, police, and other functions are threatened.
* The proposed suspension recognizes that environmental protection and responsible development of our nation's mineral resources are compatible. Grassroots U.S. mineral exploration is extremely depressed due, in large part, to Babbitt's regs and related anti-mining actions. U.S. hardrock mining needs regulatory relief now; good-paying mining jobs are being driven out of our country by ill-advised government policy.