Legislation & Regulation
Legislative and Regulatory Update
February 2019 by Scott Harn
• Oregon miners petition US Supreme Court in Bohmker v. Oregon
“Multiple states now assert the right to ban mining as a use of specified federal lands categorically, rather than provide a permit-based process for imposing reasonable environmental standards on federal mining operations,” says attorney James Buchal in his Petition for Writ of Certiorari filed with the United States Supreme Court submitted on January 21, 2019.
In Joshua Caleb Bohmker v. State of Oregon, the Miners argue the State of Oregon is thumbing its collective nose at federal preemption under the Property Clause and the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, Articles IV and VI, respectively.
This case differs from Rinehart v. State of California in that Rinehart was cited for suction dredging without a permit, while Bohmker sued the State of Oregon for passing legislation that outlawed the use of motorized equipment on federal mining claims. The legislation permanently prevents a miner from developing his mining claim on federal lands.
It should be noted that the Galice Mining District intervened in this case and is asserting their rights under the 1872 Mining Act. The 1872 Mining Act includes “...and according to the local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts...”
We had hoped Mr. Buchal would incorporate Mining District rights, as defined in the 1872 Mining Act, into the Rinehart case, but for whatever reason that did not happen. With Bohmker v. Oregon, this may be an opportunity to see if the US Supreme Court will honor this relevant statue in this case and if the new makeup of Supreme Court justices are ready to take a hard look at federal preemption.
You’ll find a link to this Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the online version of this article.
• Wheeler receives hearing as EPA Administrator
Andrew Wheeler has been the acting director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) since July 2018. He was promoted to acting administrator from his deputy administrator position following the resignation of Scott Pruitt. President Trump nominated Wheeler to take over as the agency head in November 2018. He received a Senate confirmation hearing on January 16, 2018.
Wheeler has prior experience as chief counsel to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and for Senator James Inhofe who is the current chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
With the current makeup of the Senate, Wheeler is expected to be confirmed shortly.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Partial win for miners
• California suction dredging
• Feds continue to push for more public lands
• Idaho suction dredging
Oregon Dredge Permit Litigation Update
In other words, just like those that move next to an airport and then complain about the noise, Mr. Riskedahl deliberately went out of his way to “witness and document the effects of suction dredge mining,” and when he found some, he was annoyed by it!
MMAC Update
One caller wondered why he should be required to join MMAC, asked why MMAC was not a non-profit, and compared it to some kind of extortion attempt. If he had questions like these, I assume there are others with similar questions and I will address them here.
Government Takes Land for Open Space
Rather than using the practice of government seizure of private property to promote economic development, the county is using it to preserve open space.
Multiple Use Lands, Symbiotic Relations and Conflict Resolution
The automatic discrimination and exclusion of man from nature, like his access and use of the land, presupposes man as a destructive force for change, absent a relative hard look at the natural forces of change. Setting aside lands for non-use does not encourage wise use symbiotic tenets, which man has traditionally formed in his coexistence with nature.
Feds Order Closure of Idaho Mine
Federal safety inspectors have ordered one of the nation’s deepest underground mines closed in northern Idaho following an investigation prompted by a series of accidents that killed two miners over the last year.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Not so happy birthday
• Even more support for the PLP
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