Legislation & Regulation
Legislative and Regulatory Update
March 2019 by Scott Harn
• Massive 660-page lands bill passed in the Senate
Senate Bill 47 (S47), the Natural Resources Management Act, introduced by Senator Murkowski (R-Alaska), was chock full of land conveyances, mineral withdrawals, park boundary adjustments, and gifts to various Senators to get their support. Our biggest concern is that it included permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), which is the primary vehicle used by the federal government to place more public lands off-limits to mining.
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced an amendment in an attempt to limit authorization of the LWCF to a period of four years.
In support of the LWCF limits, Senator Lee stated, “...the program has regrettably drifted far from its original intent and has become rife with abuse.
“Indeed, the Land and Water Conservation Fund—or LWCF, as it is often described—has instead been used as a primary tool for more Federal land acquisition rather than to actually help people access or to help the government care for the land we already manage.”
Senator Lee also noted the federal government currently administers 640 million acres and there is an $18.5 billion maintenance backlog on federal lands.
Senator Lee’s amendment was defeated by a vote of 68 to 30.
S47 received a full, recorded vote on February 12, and it passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 92-8. The eight Senators who voted against the bill were Cruz (R-TX), Inhofe (R-OK), Johnson (R-WI), Lankford (R-OK), Lee (R-UT), Paul (R-KY), Sasse (R-NE), and Toomey (R-PA).
The bill now awaits consideration in the House.
Colorado Mining Association Appeals Roadless Ruling
The Colorado Mining Association is asking the US Supreme Court to review a 2001 rule that largely barred new roads on 58 million acres of roadless areas in national forests.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Settlement hearings
• Fighting back
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• California suction dredging regulations
• Draft Coho recovery plan for Southern Oregon, Northern California
• Sage-grouse
Legislative and Regulatory Update
- Budd-Falen in line to become next director at BLM
- Ten national monuments slated for changes or reductions
- California adds another fee
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Forest Service to revisit 228 regulations
• WOTUS Executive Order suspended
Legislative and Regulatory Update
- Some mining claim fees increase
- Oregon miners file appeal
- US Fish & Wildlife law enforcement policing powers restrained
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• EPA investigated for environmental ties
• Hundreds of miners show up to rally at Oregon State Capitol
• DOI nominee would be bad for miners
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