The Essential Minerals Association (EMA) applauded the efforts of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for passing the \u201cGood Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act,\u201d which would create a pilot permitting program under the Environmental Protection Agency to allow cleanup projects on federal lands to move forward more easily in an effort to improve water quality in and around these sites.
\u201cUnfortunately, there are more than 100,000 abandoned hardrock mines in the United States that were closed before current regulations required cleanup and remediation efforts,\u201d said Chris Greissing, EMA president. \u201cOur industry has the responsibility to clean up our history, and I am pleased to see bipartisan support for this commonsense legislation. This program is a much-needed tool to allow for clean-up of these sites without placing undue liability on agencies and organizations taking the right steps to improve the environment.\u201d
There are more than 140,000 remnants of abandoned hardrock mines on federal land with at least 22,500 that pose health and environmental risks. This legislation would make it easier for \u201cGood Samaritans,\u201d including state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up and improve water quality in and around abandoned hardrock mines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would also ensure these groups have the skills and resources needed for the projects undertaken. This program is designed for low-risk projects that will improve water or soil quality or otherwise protect human health and the environment.
The bill was introduced into the committee by Rep. Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Ark.) alongside Reps. John Curtis (R-Utah), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), Susie Lee (D-Nev.), and Jim Costa (D-Calif.)\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A companion piece of legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho). In the wake of approval by the committee, EMA urges the full House and Senate to pass this bill into law immediately to address this long-standing issue. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Essential Minerals Association (EMA) applauded the efforts of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for passing the \u201cGood Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act,\u201d which would create a pilot permitting program under the Environmental Protection Agency to allow cleanup projects on federal lands to move forward more easily in an effort to improve water quality in and around…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[495],"tags":[3262,1447,2457,3261],"coauthors":[1644],"class_list":["post-8392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news","tag-abandoned-hardrock-mines","tag-environmental-protection-agency","tag-essential-minerals-association","tag-hardrock-mines"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t