Monday, Sept. 25, 2006 | 7:15 a.m.
WASHINGTON - It's not every day that a staunch conservative congressman calls for bigger government - especially in the middle of a campaign for governor.
But that's what Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., says is needed as he throws his support behind a mining industry-backed bill that would bolster the size and prominence of an embattled government agency that tracks mineral inventories.
The bill calls for creating a new agency within the Interior Department and arming it with a $30 million annual budget, a 300-member staff and greater autonomy to produce its reports. The new Mineral Commodity Information Administration would be more than one-third bigger in staff and budget than the existing Minerals Information Team it would replace.
Gibbons, a leading mining industry advocate, ushered the bill through his Resources subcommittee on Wednesday, less than a week after it was introduced by a fellow Republican representative. It is being fast-tracked for a full committee hearing next week, days before Congress is scheduled to adjourn to campaign for the Nov. 7 elections.
He and other supporters seek to counter attempts by the Bush administration, and the Clinton administration before it, to whittle away at the traditional assistance that the government has provided to the mining industry - and the other public and private sector entities that rely on the team's work. Instead of curtailing that role, Gibbons and other backers of the bill want the government to provide more assistance.
Environmentalists were startled to see the bill emerge and move so quickly on the House calendar.
Their main worry is that the new agency would give the industry data it could use to make the case for more mining. The bill also establishes an advisory committee made up of 15 representatives from the mining and manufacturing industries and small business.
"It would depend on what kind of reports they would produce," said Lauren Pagel, policy director at Earthworks, an environmental group that focuses on mining and has not yet taken a position on the bill.
"If they produce a report that says we're only mining X number of tons of minerals and that's not enough and we need to mine X tons more - from our perspective we need to be recycling more and mining more responsibly."
Mining industry analyst Elyssa Rosen, a founder of the Reno-based Great Basin Mine Watch, which seeks to protect communities from the adverse affects of mining in the West, worries the bill could be another case where "taxpayers are funding resources that serve the mining industry and may not do the public interest as a whole enough justice."
"We need some balance," she said.
For Gibbons, long a champion of the mining industry on Capitol Hill, the bill could be one of his final efforts on the Resources panel before leaving Washington at the end of the year, possibly to become governor.
The bill, authored by Rep. Thelma D. Drake, R-Va., took root earlier this year after the Bush administration threatened to slash the budget of the existing Minerals Information Team, which is housed under the U.S. Geological Survey within the Interior Department.
The team produces reports that track the world market of about 100 minerals across the globe. The data is used to spot supply shortages, price fluctuations or other trends that could have an impact on the industry and government. The reports are a must-read for anyone concerned about the range of mining issues, from the price of copper for plumbing pipes to political unrest that could shut down access to mines. They have been produced by government for 100 years.
For the past four years, the Bush administration has tried to cut the program, while Congress has successfully pushed back to retain funding.
What emerged in many ways is a battle between Republican ideologies: administration officials who believe the work should be done by the private sector or at university research institutions, and a Congress that believes it should stay in the purview of the federal government.
It's also a showdown within the Interior Department, which houses the often competing agendas of parks, science and industry interests.
Barbara Wainman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey, said she doesn't believe carving out a new agency is the best use of resources.
"You get more. I'm not sure you're getting something better," she said.
But mining industry officials see the potential for new kinds of reports that could provide even more information.
Supporters see the bill as re-establishing the team to its rightful place, similar to its position a decade ago when it was housed in the Bureau of Mines. The bureau got dismantled by the Clinton administration and the Republican Congress, and the team was moved to its current home in the U.S. Geological Survey.
Gibbons believes "budgetary assaults" are likely to continue unless the committee takes action to create the new agency.
"It's not a battle over how big an agency to have, it's where they put their priorities," Gibbons said. "It's one thing to study the sex life of a tsetse fly. It's another thing to study the mineral supply of this country."
Gibbons, a geologist whose district includes most of Nevada's gold and copper mines - the state is one of the world's top producers of gold - said it was imperative for the bill to be addressed before the end of the year because of the value a bolstered agency would bring to the nation.
Americans are dependent on minerals. Experts say each person annually requires 25,000 pounds of mineral materials - used in cars, household items and buildings, just to name a few - to maintain current living standards.
"What we're talking about here is: Do we have enough minerals to meet the needs of the country?" Gibbons said. "When the needs arise, whether it's economic needs or national security needs, we need to know whether or not those minerals are available and can be produced in the U.S."
But with Congress wrapping up next week, the bill seems unlikely to win approval in the remaining days. Some believe the fast-track schedule is simply a way to send a signal to the administration as it prepares its 2008 budget: Congress intends to fight any proposed budget cuts in this area.
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