Chair Grijalva, Lowenthal To Host Press Conference in Advance of Committee Mining Law Action

Washington D.C. – House Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Subcommittee Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) will host a press conference at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, Oct. 23, ahead of a 10:00 a.m. Committee markup of Grijalva’s Hardrock Leasing and Reclamation Act. The bill updates the nation’s antiquated Mining Law of 1872, which Republican congressional majorities and presidential administrations have refused to update substantively for nearly 150 years.

The subsequent markup will include two other bills protecting miner pensions and health benefits.

Regulation of hardrock mineral extraction in the United States has remained virtually unchanged since President Ulysses S. Grant signed the General Mining Act of 1872. Communities across the country are feeling the impact of this antiquated law – both economically and environmentally – and are calling for it to be updated.

Grijalva’s bill and a similar measure from Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) would replace today’s obsolete law with a modern leasing system designed to protect American taxpayers and American public lands.

Event Details:

When: 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Where: House Triangle outside the U.S. Capitol

Speakers: 

• Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.)
• Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), Subcommittee Chair, Energy and Mineral Resources
• Lauren Pagel, Policy Director, Earthworks
• Martin Hayden, Vice President, Policy & Legislation, Earthjustice
• Collin O’Mara, President & CEO, National Wildlife Federation

Press Contact

Monica Sanchez

(202) 225-6065

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