Red Lodge Clearinghouse

In the latest of a series of oversight hearings on hardrock mining on federal lands, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will confer with a mix of federal officials, environmental and business groups to determine how proposed legislation should address those topics.

"The two topics are central to the whole mining law reform discussion," said committee spokesman Bill Wicker.

The current 1872 law collects no royalties on the extraction of metals from federal lands, relying instead on an archaic land rights system called patenting that sold off federal land and its resources for as little as $2.50 per acre.

Last year, the House passed H.R. 2262 that would impose an 8 percent royalty on the gross returns on minerals from new claims and a 4 percent royalty on existing claims filed under the law.

Proponents of reform say part of those royalties should go to clean up abandoned mines. The Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, using data compiled by the Bureau of Mines in 1995, estimate there are approximately 38,500 abandoned mine sites on national forests and 65,000 on BLM lands. Of those, about 10 percent may be releasing toxic heavy metals, acidity and radioactivity into different waterways.

The Congressional Budget Office concluded that the bill would generate a total of $160 million over the 2009-2012 period on existing claims and $310 million over the 2009-2017 period. Two-thirds of these funds would go toward cleaning up the tens of thousands of abandoned mines that will cost between $32 billion and $72 billion to reclaim.

Energy Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and ranking member Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) have both spoken out for the need for reform and are preparing to create a Senate version of the House bill, but debate over what kind of royalty to include has raised questions over how much money will be available for cleaning up abandoned mines.

Rising interest in uranium

The country's renewed interest in nuclear power as a possible alternative to greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels has also renewed speculation for uranium, the nuclear fuel that has seen its price skyrocket in recent months.

While there are environmental evaluations conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on proposed uranium mines, the 1872 law does not distinguish uranium mining from any other kind of hardrock mining, which critics say leaves the government incapable of denying applications for mining permits.

Last month, the Forest Service approved a permit to allow a British mining company to explore for uranium just outside Grand Canyon National Park. Despite objections from environmental groups, forest staff said the agency had little choice but to allow the drilling under the 1872 mining law (Greenwire, Feb. 7).

Part of the House bill would give federal land managers the discretion to reject mining applications if they deem they would threaten other natural resources like park lands and water supplies, but it remains to be seen whether such a provision will appear in the Senate version.

Concerns for American Indian communities that have historically suffered because of the toxic legacy Cold War-era uranium mining left will also be considered.

Last October, members of the Navajo Nation told a House panel that children played freely in dangerous mining tailings and family members died for years of unexplainable illnesses.

Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, March 12, at 2:15 p.m. in 366 Dirksen.

Witnesses: Robin Nazzaro, Government Accountability Office; Henri Bisson, Bureau of Land Management; Tony Ferguson, Forest Service; Bill Brancard, representing the Interstate Mining Compact Commission; Pat Williams, Western Progress; Debra Struhsacker, Northwest Mining Association; Joe Shirley, president, Navajo Nation; Charles Miller, Nuclear Regulatory Commission; David Geiser, Energy Department; Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water, U.S. EPA; David Ulibarri, New Mexico state senator and Cibola County manager; and Fletcher Newton, National Mining Association.

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