Legislation & Regulation

• NEPA comments due
• Update on latest US Supreme Court suction gold dredging appeal
• Washington State tries to restrict suction gold dredging

We’ve heard from miners in Arizona about federal agencies closing off historic roads that provide access for miners, and we need your input.

US uranium mines produced less than 174,000 pounds in 2019, according to the February Energy Information Administration report. That’s down from 4.9 million pounds in 2014.

• Comments needed regarding proposed NEPA improvements
• Efforts underway to fix the ESA

• PLF files petition with US Supreme Court on behalf of Oregon miners
• Land and Water Conservation Fund abuse by Forest Service
• Army asks for REE proposals

• New Deputy Secretary of Interior
• Case against dredger allowed to proceed

In the meantime, we will continue our multi-pronged approach to seek regulatory relief at the federal level while supporting those court cases that are built on a strong legal foundation.

Logging on federal land plummeted—over 84% since the 1980s. And that management tool was replaced with—nothing.

• Oregon miners to petition for US Supreme Court review
• Two executive orders to reign in federal agencies
• Petition for Joshua tree as a threatened species

• WOTUS rule finalized
• Reminder on new claim fees

All 28 groups listed agree that Section 402 of the Clean Water Act does not apply and no dredge miner should be asking a state or federal agency for such a permit.

For now, MSHA is just collecting information. However, the information it collects will shape what comes next.

…the men sought to “inject false and misleading information about the genuine supply and demand for precious metals futures contracts into the markets, and to deceive other participants”…

• ESA changes for the better

Recently, a left-leaning Arizona federal judge, James Soto, who is an Obama appointee, shut down a proposed copper mining project for the flimsiest of reasons. He basically disregarded and rewrote federal mining law.

A two-pronged approach is necessary to restore suction dredging; federal preemption needs to be established as addressed above via petition; and clarification from the EPA is needed to establish that no Section 402 permit is necessary when there is no “addition” of a pollutant.

• Key appointment at BLM
• Current administration not waiting for Congress
• BLM relocating
• Kansas exempts bullion from sales tax

“The evidence is clear—mineral deposits alone are not enough to attract precious commodity investment dollars...”

Please note that new mining claims filed on or after September 1, 2019, will be subject to the new fee schedule.