New Mexico Dems propose uranium mining reform

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

Uranium mining law reform proposed.

Law would require companies to bid on leases and pay royalties

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Uranium mining companies would have to pay 12.5 percent royalties and bid competitively for leases under legislative changes proposed by two New Mexico Democrats.

Because of an increased interest in nuclear power and speculation that new nuclear power plants will come online in the U.S.and elsewhere has resulted in a sixfold increase in the price of uranium.

All other fuels — coal, oil and gas — are governed by leasing systems, which allow the government to better protect the public’s economic and environmental interests. Under the 1872 mining law, uranium-mining companies pay no royalty for the minerals they take from public lands. Historic uranium development in the West has polluted surface and ground water and left a toxic legacy in some communities that has yet to be addressed. The 1872 law even allows sites sacred to Native American communities to be mined and gives tribes little recourse to stop the destruction. (more…)

Filed under: energy, Environment | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Salazar wants fundamental mining law reform

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Bob Berwyn

The Obama administration is releasing a draft plan that would protect much of the Grand Canyon from uranium mining. PHOTO BY LEIGH WADDEN.

Interior Department proposes withdrawal of lands near Grand Canyon, puts 1872 mining law on the chopping block and suggests an annual $200 million reclamation fee

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — President Obama’s Interior Department, under the leadership of Coloradan Ken Salazar, is seeking fundamental reform of outdated hardrock mining regulations that have resulted in some of the most long-lasting environmental impacts in the West.

Acid mine drainage has polluted thousands of stream miles around the region, killing fish and requiring costly cleanups.

Along with moving to block uranium mining in watersheds near the Grand Canyon, Salazar in the past few days has proposed to removed hardrock mining from the jurisdiction of the antiquated 1872 mining law and put it under control of the Mineral Leasing Act, which enables the  federal government to charge a royalty on oil and gas production on public lands. Click here to get all the info and links for the Grand Canyon draft plan.

It also gives land managers more discretion over where extraction can occur and not occur via lease sales. Placing mining under the Mineral Leasing Act would give land managers like those who administer the forests around the Grand Canyon the same authority over mines.

“The Grand Canyon is our most iconic national treasure, and it’s critical that the Canyon and important ecological areas around it be protected from uranium mining,” said Lauren Pagel, policy director for EARTHWORKS, an international mining reform group. “There are many other special places and Western waterways that need protection from the devastation of uranium mining, but the Grand Canyon is a no-brainer,” she said. (more…)

Filed under: BLM, Colorado, Environment, national parks, public lands | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

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