BLM to hold public hearings on mining regulations

Sunday, March 21, 1999 | 4:34 a.m.

Bureau of Land Management officials said their proposal is designed to beef up environmental protection of public lands and to strengthen enforcement efforts against violators.

Miners contend the proposed surface management rule changes are an end-run around failed federal legislation and could result in a loss of mining jobs.

"Superimpose our low (gold) price problems on that, we will definitely be looking at a loss of jobs in Nevada communities," said Russ Fields, president of the Nevada Mining Association.

But environmentalists insist the rule changes don't go far enough. They point to thousands of unsightly, abandoned mines across the West - and the patchwork of state regulations that allowed them - as evidence of the need for strong reform.

"Mining operations and exploration activities that impact the environment, regardless of size, must receive adequate regulatory oversight," said Stephen D'Esposito, president of the Mineral Policy Center, a Washington, D.C.-based mining watchdog group.

State regulators said they think the new rules duplicate what Nevada already does.

"For the better part of two years, the BLM hasn't articulated a strong reason as to why they are doing what they are doing," said Leo Drozdoff, chief of Nevada's Bureau of Mining Regulation and Reclamation.

The BLM is holding a series of public hearings across the West on the proposed regulations. The Reno hearings will begin Tuesday at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino.

The BLM rules would require mining companies to:

- Submit detailed plans for all mining operations, not just those on parcels of five acres or more as is now required.

- Produce a financial guarantee so a mine is reclaimed, not abandoned, when mining ends.

- Meet certain performance goals in all phases of mining, including exploration, mining, processing and reclamation.

- Face fines or other penalties if they fail to meet requirements.

Environmentalists said current regulations could result in taxpayers paying reclamation bills for mining companies that fail.

In Nevada, three large mines and 10 smaller mines are now operated by companies with questionable fiscal strength, state officials said.

"The public may end up holding the bag in the end, and it will cost a lot," said Glenn Miller, a University of Nevada, Reno biology professor and board member of the Mineral Policy Center.

But mining officials said tougher regulations could encourage mining companies to shift activity outside the country.

"These stronger regulations are simply tipping the scales in favor of other places," said John Dobra, a University of Nevada, Reno economics professor and director of the Natural Resource Industry Institute.

Nevada has the most at stake in the West in the fight over the rules because it's the nation's leading gold producer. Slumping gold prices led to a loss of more than 1,200 mining jobs in the state last year.