SME’s GPAC Committee: Bringing the science of the mineral industry to policymakers and the public

In 2011, the SME Board of Directors recognized the need for the mining industry to develop a conduit of accurate and factual information about our mining industry, its importance to society, and the issues facing it. This factual information is targeted externally at policymakers and the public to contribute to common-sense regulatory regimes and decisions at all levels of government as well as to address public concerns about mining. As a result, the SME Board created the Public Affairs and Government Relations Committee to address the gap between the extractive industry, the government and the communities in which the industry operates. The committee includes in its mission to “prepare and communicate appropriate, accurate, timely, fact-based technical information, both proactively and reactively to ensure that the public and policymakers are well informed on important matters related to the mining community/ profession.” John Hayden (then director of Public Affairs and Government Relations at SME) wrote an article in the April 2011 issue of the Mining Engineering magazine. Today, this committee is known as the Government & Public Affairs Committee (GPAC). The GPAC plays a major role on behalf of SME in providing up-to-date technical information during various policy-making processes and educating lawmakers and other stakeholders. Volunteer SME members with different technical experiences and expertise are members of the GPAC. As a 501(c)(3) organization, SME is not in the advocacy arena, only in the education arena. The GPAC may carefully contribute with other organizations and trade groups on policy initiatives. As an initiative to provide key technical information on various issues in simple language and a nonpartisan manner, the GPAC publishes technical briefing papers which can be accessed by lawmakers, educators and the public. These technical briefing papers are written by technical experts and go through a rigorous review and editing process. The information published in these technical briefing papers are used by lawmakers and regulators at federal and state levels to develop sound mineral and energy policies. These technical briefing papers can be accessed at the SME website https://www.smenet.org/what-we-do/technical-briefings. This site currently has 27 updated articles on many key issues. SME has been actively engaged in submitting comments to numerous federal requests for comments and rulemaking on several major issues that affect our industry directly. The GPAC has participated in several of these. Here are some examples: In 2017, the GPAC provided a technical evaluation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to establish “Financial Responsibility Requirements for the Hardrock Mining Industry.” This rule would directly impact the mineral industry in the United States. EPA subsequently withdrew the proposed rule citing, among other reasons, the technical evaluation submitted by SME. In 2020, SME filed comments supporting the adoption of a proposed rule to add mining as a sector eligible for coverage under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST–41), which resulted in the adoption of the rule by the federal agency in January 2021. Most recently, the GPAC authored a paper entitled “Maintaining the Viability of U.S. Mining Education,” which addresses the decline in mining school enrollment and graduation rates. This study raised concerns about the need to fund U.S. mining schools, resulting in the introduction of “The Mining Schools Act of 2023,” which was passed in the U.S. Senate (S. 912) unanimously. As of the end of August 2024, the House has not passed the bill (H.R. 2685). While our industry cannot control the outcome of the legislative processes, the GPAC of the SME plays a key role in ensuring that lawmakers and the public receive trustworthy technical information on the complex issues that directly affect the mining industry. Since its inception, members of this committee have dedicated their time to ensuring SME plays a major role in key issues impacting our industry and leading the way when needed.

SME’s GPAC Committee: Bringing the science of the mineral industry to policymakers and the public

Authored by: Abani R. Samal, Past Chair, and Andrea K. Martin, Chair, Government & Public Affairs Committee (GPAC)

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

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

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