Ranking Member Grijalva Introduces Mining Reform Bill, Rep. Tonko Rolls Out GAO Report on Cost of Abandoned Site Cleanups
Washington, D.C. – In an effort to address the nation’s backlog of abandoned mine cleanups and ensure taxpayers get a fair share from public lands mining, House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced the Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act of 2015 (formally listed as H.R. 963) with 16 cosponsors at a press event in front of the U.S. Capitol this morning. Federal estimates of the cost to clean up abandoned mines are as high as $54 billion.
The text of Grijalva’s bill is available at http://1.usa.gov/1KTnkUH. Background information is available below.
Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), both original cosponsors of the bill, spoke at this morning’s press conference introducing the bill. Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), who also cosponsors the bill, introduced a GAO report he requested on the costs to clean up abandoned mines and other federal hazardous waste sites, an issue that helped prompt Grijalva’s legislation.
Mining companies pay no royalties for hardrock minerals they take from publicly owned federal land – a class that includes gold, copper, silver and many other valuable metals. Some mining interests have previously indicated a willingness to pay fair royalties. Grijalva released a Government Accountability Office report in 2012 highlighting the high cost of allowing corporations to mine public lands without paying a royalty.
The newly introduced bill would:
· Establish an 8 percent royalty on new mines and a 4 percent royalty on existing mines to bring a fair return to American taxpayers
· Use those royalties and money raised by newly established pollution fees to clean up abandoned hardrock mine lands across the country
· End the antiquated patenting system that allows companies to purchase mineral-containing public land for as little as $2.50 per acre
· Establish strong reclamation standards and bonding requirements to make sure taxpayers don’t pay for cleanups if a company skips town or goes bankrupt
· Provide clear authority to federal land managers to reject a proposed mine if it would unduly degrade public lands or resources
· Protect wilderness study areas, roadless areas, and wild and scenic rivers from mining
· Empower state, local, and tribal governments to petition federal authorities to withdraw certain areas from mining in order to protect drinking water, wildlife habitat, cultural and historic resources, or other important values
The bill is supported by The Wilderness Society, National Wildlife Federation, Earthworks, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, the Western Organization of Resource Councils and other groups. Bentley Johnson at the National Wildlife Federation (734 476 0151) and Aaron Mintzes with Earthworks (919 302 6393) were at this morning’s press conference introducing the bill and are available for comment.
Rep. Tonko’s GAO report finds that the Bureau of Land Management alone is aware of more than 45,000 abandoned mines nationwide, of which 4,660 “have or likely have environmental contamination.” The report is at http://1.usa.gov/1vIluEK.
The full list of cosponsors is below.
1. Rep. DeFazio
2. Rep. Lowenthal
3. Rep. Beyer
4. Rep. Tsongas
5. Rep. Cartwright
6. Rep. Huffman
7. Rep. Tonko
8. Rep. Blumenauer
9. Rep. Clark (MA)
10. Rep. Lee
11. Rep. Levin
12. Rep. McCollum
13. Rep. McDermott
14. Rep. Quigley
15. Rep. Schiff
16. Rep. Takai
Supporting Information
Number of hardrock abandoned mine lands (AMLs) that will require cleanup: 7,700 – 31,000
Cost of cleaning up all hardrock AMLs: $20B – $54B
Source: EPA, “Cleaning Up the Nation’s Waste Sites: Markets and Technology Trends”, 2004, available at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/accomp/news/30years.htm. Page 11-12 [pdf page 228] has the value.
GAO reported that the federal government spent $2.6 billion to cleanup abandoned hardrock mine sites from 1998-2007, and the problem is still extensive.
[HARDROCK MINING: Information on Abandoned Mines and Value and Coverage of Financial Assurances on BLM Land, GAO-08-574T, March 2008]
Number of known AML physical safety [not environmental] sites on BLM land: 22,104
Cost to remediate those sites: $402.6 million
Number of AML features on National Park Service lands requiring treatment: 3,814
Cost to remediate remaining AML features on NPS lands: $141 million
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