In October 2001, the Bush administration weakened environmental and land use protections for hard-rock mining (that includes gold, silver, copper, and other minerals, but not coal), which were issued shortly before President Clinton left office. This stripped the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of authority to block proposed mines on federal land that could result in “substantial irreparable harm,” locking in a sweetheart arrangement for mining interests, which urged the rollback.
The Mineral Policy Center, along with two other organizations, challenged the rule change, arguing that it runs counter to the BLM’s statutory duty to prevent unnecessary or undue degradation of public lands.
Judge Henry H. Kennedy of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia agreed with the plaintiffs that the rules “prioritize the interests of miners,” and “may well constitute unwise and unsustainable policy.” But he concluded that in writing the rules, the Interior Department did not violate the law.
Kennedy found, however, that the department operated under an “erroneous assumption that it did not need to attempt to obtain fair market value for mining operations conducted on unclaimed land.” Consequently, he ordered Interior to re-evaluate the standards with respect to compensation for the use of public lands.
“We lost the procedural battle, but we may have won the greater legal war,”
said Steve D’Esposito of the Mineral Policy Center. “This ruling sends a strong message that mines that threaten community health and clean water can be rejected. And we think they should be.”