Mining Industry Lauds Repeal of Regulation
Mining industry leaders cheered the Bush administration’s repeal of Clinton-era regulations as a key step toward reversing declines in hard rock exploration and mine expansions in Nevada and the West.
Conservationists said it reverses gains made in protecting the environment and guarding against mine pollution. They said they would file a lawsuit.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), said environmentalists have made unreasonable demands.
“I’m happy to work with the environmental community on mining reform, but they want all or nothing, so they are getting nothing,” Reid told Associated Press.
The changes eliminate the Interior secretary’s short-lived authority to prohibit new mine sites on federal land where they could harm communities and the environment.
Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton intends to delete such “veto power” in revisions scheduled to go into effect Tuesday.
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