Nw Mine Industry Attacks Bond Rule For Small Operations Blm Launches Review Of Hard Rock Mining Regulations

Uncle Sam wants help in rewriting mining regulations, but miners are complaining that the request came too late.

As the Bureau of Land Management launches a series of public meetings today to review hard rock mining rules, the Northwest Mining Association is suing the agency over its newest mining regulation.

The rule, issued in February, calls for mining operations on up to five acres of land to acquire a bond and show proof that they can cover the costs of reclamation and cleanup.

“We recognize the BLM’s right to require bonding, and we support bonding to assure the public that the land will be reclaimed and cleaned up,” said Laura Skaer, executive director of the association. But “it appears excessive, and it’s the process we’re complaining about.”

The bonding requirement came more than five years after the regulation originally was proposed.

The association filed a lawsuit against Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and the BLM on Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C.

The lawsuit contends the final rule is vastly different from the original proposal that the mining industry commented on back in 1991.

The association is being represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a public interest legal center co-founded by former Interior Secretary James Watt.

In January, Babbitt directed the BLM to form a task force to review the current regulations, focusing on these issues:

The use of best available technologies to prevent unnecessary degradation of public lands.

Performance standards for mining operations.

Alternatives to the current rules governing small mining operations.

Improving coordination between the BLM and other regulatory agencies.

“We’re at a loss as to why they’re doing this,” Skaer said. “We’re of the mind that the existing regulations … are doing an adequate job.”

Conservation groups, such as the Mineral Policy Center, see the review as an opportunity to strengthen environmental rules that govern mining.

BLM employees involved with the review said the new bonding regulations will be part of the review, as well.

“If there’s problems with those bonding regulations, we will also take those under consideration,” said Scott Haight, a BLM mineral resource adviser.

The task force kicks off a series of public meetings today in Spokane from 2 to 4 p.m. and again from 7 to 9 p.m. at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park, 303 N. River Drive.

Comments also can be sent to Paul McNutt, 3809/EIS Team Leader, BLM, Nevada State Office, 850 Harvard Way, Reno, Nev. 89502-2055.

, DataTimes