First Regular Session
Sixty-second General Assembly
LLS NO. R990900.01 Julie
Hoerner
STATE OF COLORADO
BY REPRESENTATIVES Miller, Alexander, and Smith;
also SENATOR Chlouber.
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-1023
CONCERNING THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT'S PROPOSED
REVISIONS TO THE REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE CONDUCT OF HARDROCK
MINING ACTIVITIES ON PUBLIC LANDS.
WHEREAS, The mining industry is vital to the economy
of Colorado, with direct and indirect contributions to the state's
economy that exceed $7.7 billion annually; and
WHEREAS, Hardrock miners are the highest paid industrial
workers in Colorado, earning average annual wages of approximately
$60,000; and
WHEREAS, The producers of gold, silver, lead, zinc,
molybdenum, gypsum, and other minerals located under the general
mining laws provide a source of high paying jobs in rural areas
of Colorado whose economies are highly dependent upon resource
extraction; and
WHEREAS, Lower mineral commodity prices and other
economic factors continue to challenge this industry making it
important that state and local governments fashion regulatory
programs that are cost effective and yet sufficient to regulate
the environmental impacts of hardrock mining activities on public
and private lands; and
WHEREAS, The "Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976" requires that mineral activities on federal
lands protect the environment and prohibits any mining activity
that would result in unnecessary and undue degradation of these
areas; and
WHEREAS, The Bureau of Land Management within the
United States Department of the Interior implements the mandate
of federal law through regulations codified at 43 C.F.R. subpart
3809, and these laws and regulations are among the many laws that
require mineral producers to protect air, water, cultural, historic,
fish, wildlife, and other resources; and
WHEREAS, The division of minerals and geology in
the Colorado department of natural resources, through a cooperative
agreement with the Bureau of Land Management, is the lead agency
responsible for regulating mining activity on both public and
private lands; and
WHEREAS, Colorado effectively regulates mining operations
pursuant to the "Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act",
part 1 of article 32 of title 34, Colorado Revised Statutes, that
sets forth very comprehensive permitting, bonding, environmental
management, monitoring, and reclamation requirements for hardrock
mining activities on both public and private lands; and
WHEREAS, The Colorado General Assembly strengthened
this law in 1993 requiring that mining operators using certain
toxic chemicals in mineral extraction meet more stringent standards
before receiving authorization to mine; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of the Interior,
through the Bureau of Land Management, has announced its intention
to propose revisions to 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809, that would preempt,
conflict with, and duplicate the very effective state program
now in place, and replace it with a plenary federal program that
may well lessen the environmental protections available under
state law; and
WHEREAS, In 1998, the United States Congress enacted
legislation directing the National Academy of Sciences to perform
a study of the adequacy of state and federal laws governing hardrock
mining on public lands and submit its findings and recommendations
before the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management
may finalize changes to regulations under 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809;
and
WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the express mandate of Congress,
the Bureau of Land Management proposed revisions to the regulations
promulgated under 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809, in February, 1999, before
the National Academy of Sciences has concluded, much less submitted,
its study and recommendations, and the Bureau of Land Management
has failed to consider the National Academy of Sciences' findings
or process in fashioning the various regulatory revisions currently
awaiting public comment; and
WHEREAS, Any changes to the regulations promulgated
under 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809 must be based upon sound science
and compelling policy reasons, and must take into account the
findings and recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences'
study before the Bureau of Land Management submits its proposal
for public comment, yet the comment period on the proposed rules
is set to expire on May 10, 1999, before the National Academy
of Sciences completes its study of existing laws; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives
of the Sixtysecond General Assembly of the State of Colorado,
the Senate concurring herein:
1. That the General Assembly calls upon
the United States Department of the Interior and the Bureau of
Land Management to withdraw the current proposal to amend the
federal regulations, 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809 and published at 64
F.R. 6422 on February 9, 1999, governing hardrock mining activity.
2. That the General Assembly calls upon
the Bureau of Land Management to await completion of the study
currently underway by the National Academy of Sciences of the
adequacy of hardrock mining regulations, which must be completed
prior to July 31, 1999, and that the Bureau of Land Management
refrain from publishing any further changes to the existing rules
before it has fully considered the results of the study.
3. That the General Assembly calls upon
the Bureau of Land Management, if it decides that further revisions
to 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809 are necessary, to fully explain in the
preamble to the new regulations how it fashioned its proposals
in response to the anticipated findings and conclusions of the
National Academy of Sciences' study and give the public at least
90 days to comment on the proposed changes.
4. That the General Assembly opposes changes
to 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809 that would preempt the existing Colorado
regulatory program or that would duplicate permitting and other
requirements.
5. That the General Assembly calls upon
the United States Department of the Interior to consider that
the mining industry is one of the most heavily regulated industries
in the United States and that unreasonable delays in obtaining
permits are a significant disincentive to the location of new
mines or expansion of existing mines in the United States.
6. That the General Assembly opposes the
concept developed as a result of 43 C.F.R. subpart 3809 of using
the "Most Appropriate Technology and Practices" which
allows the Bureau of Land Management to dictate what type of equipment
and technologies are employed by mining operators. Using the
"Most Appropriate Technology and Practices" would replace
the existing regulatory scheme that requires mining operators
meet performance standards, but allows the individual operators
to decide how the individual operator will meet environmental
standards.
7. That the General Assembly specifically
calls upon the Bureau of Land Management to consider the economic
impact on mining and the communities dependent upon mining in
Colorado and other states.
8. That the Bureau of Land Management
specifically consider the conclusions in the Fraser Report
that found that Colorado and many other states were ranked low
in investment attractiveness due, in part, to the burden that
government regulation imposes on the industry. Colorado received
a score of only 24 out of a possible 100 in the Fraser Report.
9. That the General Assembly further calls
upon the Congress of the United States to impose a moratorium
on any appropriations for the continuation or completion of the
current rulemaking until the Department of the Interior withdraws
the current rulemaking and agrees to fully consider the findings
and recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences' study.
Be it further resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the President of the United States, the Vicepresident of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, and each member of the Colorado Congressional delegation.