National Mining Association (NMA) President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz spoke out in opposition to H.R. 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007, that passed in the US House of Representatives on November 1 by a vote of 244 to 166. “The bill approved today by the House falls far short of the reforms we have worked hard to achieve to provide a fair return to the taxpayer for the use of federal lands and greater regulatory certainty.  The enormous costs that would be imposed on the hardrock mining industry by the bill and the failure to provide mining companies with greater security when operating on federal lands will only increase the nation’s growing reliance on imported minerals vital to our economy and our national defense.

“Specifically, NMA objects to several key provisions that we believe must be modified to promote a sustainable mineral mining industry in the United States:

• By levying the world’s highest royalty for all mineral mining, the bill goes far beyond providing for a fair economic return to the taxpayers and will jeopardize the industry’s viability and the tens of thousands of jobs it supports
• Levying an arbitrary fee on existing operations that were not designed to bear this cost is of doubtful legality and could threaten their continued existence
• By imposing redundant environmental standards on the U.S. hardrock mining industry, which is already the world’s most strictly regulated, the bill contradicts findings of the National Research Council that concluded current laws effectively protect the environment
• The bill fails to provide the necessary assurances that significant mining investments on public lands will not be placed at risk by arbitrary and capricious restrictions from federal regulators.

“While disappointed by today’s outcome, NMA will continue to advance meaningful and balanced reforms that provide for a fair economic return to the taxpayers and a robust US mining industry.”