Walden, Shuster request extension on EPA’s proposed hardrock mining rule

U.S. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Bill Shuster (R-PA) this week requested an extension to the public comment period for a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule that would have a major financial impact on the mining industry.

The proposed hardrock mining rule would have an estimated financial impact of $7.1 billion and would require the mining industry to incur up to $171 million per year in new financial assurance costs, according to an EPA regulatory impact analysis.

Walden, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Shuster, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee were joined by U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, in writing a letter to acting EPA Administrator Catherine McCabe. The lawmakers cited the considerable impact of the proposed rule in requesting that the 60-day public comment period be extended to at least July 10.

“Despite numerous congressional requests during the process of preparing the proposed rule, EPA declined to share critical information about the development of the statistical model with Congress, the states, the regulated industry and other stakeholders,” the letter states. “As such, the statistical model for calculating financial assurance — which is the crux of the rule — was developed by EPA with no input from states, industry experts or stakeholders. The rulemaking docket has quadrupled since the proposed rule. It is obvious that the 60-day comment period set by EPA is wholly inadequate to evaluate the proposal and the voluminous supporting information to prepare meaningful public comments.”

The lawmakers wrote that they understood the importance of financial assurances, but were concerned about the lack of transparency in the process.