SME GPAC provides comment on recent Interagency Working Group report

The mission of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is to manage activities such as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development and energy production, and does so by conserving natural, cultural and other resources on public lands. On Sept. 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), in its capacity as the agency leading the Biden administration’s Interagency Working Group (IWG) on Mining Laws, Regulations and Permitting published the long-overdue report on “Recommendations to Improve Mining on Public Lands.” The IWG was charged with gathering information and developing recommendations for improving federal hard-rock mining regulations, laws and permitting processes. In March 2022, it published a request for information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking public input on these topics. In response to the RFI, SME’s Government and Public Affairs Committee (GPAC) submitted detailed comments in August 2022 that highlighted the following issues: America’s dangerous reliance on imported minerals.The problematic lengthy permitting process for mining projects.The problems associated with changing the U.S. Mining Law to eliminate mining claims and substitute a leasing system.Why the federal royalty programs applicable to oil, gas and coal are not suitable for hard-rock mineral production.The need to increase domestic uranium production.Why copper should be listed as a critical mineral. Part of the IWG’s orders come from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which is also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Section 40206 of the BIL states that the federal permitting process is “an impediment to mineral production and the mineral security of the United States.” It tells the secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture “to improve the quality and timeliness of Federal permitting and review processes with respect to critical mineral production on Federal land,” and directs the secretaries to “complete the Federal permitting and review processes with maximum efficiency and effectiveness, while supporting vital economic growth...” The 169-page IWG report is a mixed bag of 65 recommendations pertaining to permitting, changing the 1872 Mining Law, improving community and tribal engagement, cleaning up abandoned legacy mines, and increasing agency staffing and mining expertise. Although some of the recommendations could improve the permitting process, the report’s Mining Law recommendations, which would severely impede mining, largely nullify the suggested measures to improve permitting. The most troubling aspect of the IWG report is its recommendations that Congress should amend the U.S. Mining Law to establish a minerals leasing program that phases out and replaces mining claims, and to charge a 4 to 8 percent net production royalty plus a $0.07 per ton fee for each ton of ore, waste rock and tailings moved during mining and mineral processing. These recommendations mirror previously considered bills in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to overhaul the U.S. Mining Law. The IWG report admits that transitioning from the current claims system to a minerals leasing program would take time and would “be complex administratively and complicate new exploration and development efforts [that] may, in turn, cause short-term delays in efforts to meet clean energy and climate goals.” SME’s 2022 request for information and comments emphasized that the existing federal leasing program for hard-rock minerals on acquired lands in Midwestern states has failed to produce meaningful quantities of minerals or generate significant royalty payments. SME cited a May 2020 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that shows in fiscal year 2018, the hardrock minerals leasing program generated an inconsequential $8.7 million in federal royalty payments from seven mines. According to a 2021 U.S. Department of the Interior report, the Bureau of Land Management manages about 245 million acres of public land, primarily located in 12 western states, including Alaska. In conjunction with the proposed minerals leasing program, the IWG report recommends that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service conduct land-use planning exercises to preidentify lands that are suitable and unsuitable for mining based on their mineralization potential and the absence of known conflicts with other resources like wildlife habitat, cultural sites and scenic values. This suggestion, which is modeled after previous land-use planning programs to designate suitable and unsuitable solar and wind energy development zones, fails to recognize the substantial differences between identifying sunny or windy areas that may be suitable for solar and wind energy projects versus knowing where buried valuable mineral deposits are located. Presumably, the results of this planning effort would be used to delineate areas that would be offered for mineral leasing. Many of the permit streamlining recommendations focus on ways to minimize conflict based on the premise that fewer conflicts would result in faster permitting. The report recommends formalizing processes for early engagement with communities and tribal nations that begin before the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process starts, while a project is still being planned, and that indigenous knowledge into a project’s baseline studies is incorporated. It suggests companies should negotiate durable benefit agreements with communities and tribes, and that companies should strive to obtain tribes’ endorsement for projects, mirroring the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples’ principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). The report identifies legislation that Congress should enact to provide tribes with resources to participate in mine permitting and to strengthen federal agencies’ tribal consultation requirements. Another recommendation focuses on increasing the agency’s cadre of mining experts charged with reviewing proposed mining plans of operation. This recommendation includes reconstituting the U.S. Bureau of Mines or a similar federal agency charged with providing mining expertise to the federal government. The IWG report’s recommendations will likely influence future mine permitting efforts. Therefore, companies seeking mineral exploration and mine development permits will need strategies for responding to the report’s recommendations. Because many of the IWG report’s recommendations will require congressional action, it is also possible that Congress will start to consider elements of this report in future legislative proposals.

SME GPAC provides comment on recent Interagency Working Group report

Authored by:
Public Affairs Committee, SME Government

To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

Mobile crowdsourcing framework and application in mining evacuation

Upscaled mining talent with advanced analytics

Related Articles

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

Copper stockpiling, transformation capacity and industrial synchronization in the US

Critical minerals: Technical and policy considerations

Historic day in Washington DC for mining education

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

Critical minerals management on the federal seabed

Use Single Sign On