Gibbons to host hearing on federal mining rules

Sandra Chereb

Wednesday, April 18, 2001 | 11:20 a.m.

RENO -- A House subcommittee will hold a hearing Friday in Reno on mining regulations as the Bush administration considers lifting new industry requirements that took effect in the final hours of the Clinton presidency.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said the field hearing by the House Resources mineral resources subcommittee will explore the effects of federal mining fees and policy changes on the industry and on state and local revenues.

"The last thing I want to see is this nation become dependent upon minerals and metals to the same degree it's become dependent on foreign sources of oil," Gibbons said.

New regulations governing hard-rock mining on public lands were issued late last year but were not put into effect until Jan. 20, the day Clinton left the White House and President Bush took office.

Last month the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management announced it would seek to suspend the so-called "3809" regulations that give the federal government new authority to prohibit new mines on federal land.

The new rules also require smaller gold, silver and other metals mines to post bonds for environmental repairs in the event they go bankrupt.

Current rules will remain in place until a new rule is published, expected in July, after additional public comment is received and reviewed, the BLM said.

The mining industry argued the strict regulations would have a chilling effect on mineral development and lead to decreased production and layoffs.

Conservationists said the more restrictive bonding and siting regulations were necessary to guard against potentially billions of dollars of environmental damage.

The Nevada attorney general's office joined the industry in opposing the requirements. In January, it filed a federal lawsuit challenging language in the rules that state officials said gave the BLM too much discretion to deny a mining plan.