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Inslee listens to a constituent.

Montage of Wing Point in Bainbridge Island and the Edmonds Ferry.

Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District

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Inslee-Horn Mining Amendment Passes House, 216-194

June 21, 2001

[ See newspaper article on this vote ]

U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Steve Horn (R-CA) offered the Inslee/Horn amendment to protect public lands and local communities, by ensuring that the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) hardrock mining rules are kept in their entirety. The amendment will block funds from being used to revise or rescind the 3809 regulations.

Said Inslee, "I can see no reason to go back to the days when mining operations were allowed to dump cyanide and arsenic into our ground water. Since the administration has refused to support these regulations, I feel it is necessary to send a strong message from Congress-- We like our water clean and safe. We don't even want the administration making efforts to roll back our environmental protections, and we will not allow our tax dollars to be used against us in this way." The Inslee-Horn amendment would prevent the use of any staff time or office resources from being used to weaken our current environmental regulations.

Purpose of the Inslee-Horn Amendment:

The Inslee-Horn amendment is designed to keep the ENTIRE 3809 RULES IN PLACE. We should keep the 3809 rules in place for three primary reasons:

  1. The rules require mining companies to pay for the full cost of environmental clean-ups, rather than shifting clean-up costs to taxpayers. Right now, because of the old mining rules, taxpayers are on the hook for $1 billion in cleanup costs at currently operating mines.
  2. The rules put strong environmental standards in place to protect ground and surface water from mining-specific pollution. Modern mines use chemicals like cyanide and sulfuric acid to leach minerals from literally tons of ore, and these chemicals too often leak into groundwater and streams. The EPA estimates that 40% of western watersheds have been polluted by mines. The EPA's Toxics Release Inventory has also identified the mining industry as the nation's top toxic polluter, releasing nearly half of all the toxic chemicals in the nation, including such chemicals as mercury and arsenic.
  3. The rules give the federal government the ability to deny the most destructive and irresponsible mines. Under the 1872 Mining Law, mining companies get to mine on public land anytime they stake a claim and find a valuable mineral deposit, without regard to local communities, archeological areas or natural resources. The mining rules allow mines to be denied where they would cause "substantial, irreparable harm" to cultural or natural resources. Contrary to mining industry claims, this standard is not a "veto" authority, but rather a chance for the government to consider other uses of land besides mining, and to treat the mining industry as all other industries are treated.

Background:

The Interior Department proposed on March 23, 2001 to suspend the 3809 regulations and replace with them with old, outdated rules that were written before modern mining practices were widespread. During a 45-day public comment period that closed on May 10, 2001, more than 35,000 citizens sent comments in support of keeping the entire 3809 rules in place. On June 15, 2001, the Bureau of Land Management announced that they intend to keep the taxpayer protections part of the rule (also known as bonding), while giving mining companies more time to comply. That is not enough - the BLM announcement ignored portions of the rule that govern environmental standards and the right to deny a mine, indicating that they are still considering repealing those portions.