Environment
Ernest Scheyder
(Reuters) – Outgoing US President Donald Trump’s government is set to release green light mining and new mineral projects before he leaves this month, with successor Joe Biden unable to reverse the changes.
Administration officials tell Reuters they plan to publish on January 15 a series of decisions that will expand miners’ access to federal lands, give final approval to the Lithium Americas Corp. Lithium mine in Nevada and a land exchange for a Rio Tinto Ltd Arizona copper mining project will be approved. , among other steps.
Biden will be able to reverse some of Trump’s changes, especially proposed rules under regulatory review. Some of Trump’s steps will either be irreversible, or that Biden will have to start the rule-making process again, a years-long effort that is environmentally conscious.
“The Trump administration’s midnight dance to aggressively apply these proposed rules follows four years of already weakened community and environmental oversight of the hard rock mining industry,” said Lauren Pagel of Earthworks, an environmental advocacy group.
Trump administration officials are finalizing a rule change that will add mining to a list of industries that can receive quick permits, part of a law signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015, according to government records here.
The law, known as FAST-41, was intended to streamline the permit for electricity projects, such as power transmission lines.
“Congress never intended FAST-41 to cover the mining sector,” Arizona House Representative Raul Grijalva, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote to regulators late last month, trying to stop the change.
Officials could also allow the storage of mine waste, known as scrap, on federal land. The proposed change would codify an existing practice in a jurisdiction that is environmentally vague.
The Bureau of Land Management, the federal agency considering the new rule, did not respond to a request for comment.
Several U.S. lawmakers have called for Trump to be removed immediately after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. It is not clear whether Vice President Mike Pence will continue Trump’s regulatory steps.
Trump can exercise his power under the Administrative Procedure Act, which sets out how regulations are drafted and enforced, to finalize both proposals before he leaves office, a step that requires him to have a “good reason” for the faster than normal must find approval.
The National Mining Association, an industry group for industries, says it supports the streamlining of regulation, particularly the FAST-41 changes.
“U.S. mining is the key to the successful recovery of our country’s infrastructure,” said Rich Nolan, NMA president.
The Biden transition team said its incoming government would begin a swift and bold action in the federal government on January 20 to return harmful Trump administration policies, including those affecting climate and environmental policies, to Trump’s harmful midnight regulations to stop or delay.
Trump officials are also on the verge of approving several mining projects, or significantly advancing their regulatory process.
One of them, the Lithium Americas Thacker Pass project in Nevada, is expected to be approved on January 15, according to an official from the Bureau of Land Management.
‘It was a good process of co-operation with state and federal authorities. We look forward to the decision, ”said Jon Evans, CEO of Lithium Americas, which has been developing the project for more than a decade. Lithium is an important component of electric vehicle batteries.
At least ten other projects are considered important enough for the US economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic so that it could get quick approval, according to an executive order signed by the president last June.
Several gold and phosphate fertilizer projects in Nevada and Idaho, respectively, were also recently approved by Trump or major progress has been seen with the licensing process.
In Utah, developers of the Twin Bridges Bowknot Helium project have received approval to drill seven wells, build roads and install pipelines to produce helium in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness. This is according to a project that environmentalists quickly followed before Biden’s inauguration.
A judge issued a temporary order to the project in late December, pending a full review.
In South Dakota, the Dewey-Burdock uranium mine received several major permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in November, though it needs other permits before it can open. The mine, like Rio’s Arizona project, is strongly opposed by Native American tribes who say it will pollute their water reservoirs.
In Arizona, Trump’s plans to approve the land swap needed for Rio to build a copper mine have met with fierce opposition from Indians who consider the country sacred. Rio fired its chief executive last year after overseeing the destruction of indigenous sites in Australia.
The new CEO has vowed to restore “confidence” in Native American groups, though Native Americans say the company is ready to make the same mistake in Arizona as in Australia.