Letter to Deb Haaland, Secretary of U.S. Department of the Interior - Congressman Horsford and Senator Cortez Masto Fight for Miners in the Silver State

Letter

Dear Secretary Haaland,

The Interagency Working Group (IWG) on reforming hardrock mining laws, regulations and permitting policies announced in February, allows stakeholders and interested individuals throughout the country to respond and contribute to new recommendations from this administration. The pandemic and geopolitical instability have provided Americans with sobering examples of the value of strengthening supply chains including for minerals key to new technologies, infrastructure, energy production, manufacturing, and national defense, among other priorities.

As the IWG considers a variety of views, recommendations, and policies to formulate its own recommendations, we would suggest that the IWG consider the following principles in proposing new policies and recommendations:

Promote the development of domestic mineral resources in a timely, safe and environmentally sustainable manner pursuant to U.S. world-class standards.
Recognize the urgency of securing American production of minerals to reduce our reliance on China and other undependable foreign supply chains for minerals and materials critical to our economic and national security.
Ensure valid concerns about environmental protection are fully considered and addressed while preventing permitting process delays which unnecessarily increase the cost of a mining project and can trap mining projects in a limbo of duplicative, unpredictable and endless review without a decision point.
Acknowledge the important role of western mining states and other states with major mining projects in partnering with the federal government in the development of minerals policy.
Increase coordination and reduce duplication between federal and state agencies and regulations.
Encourage greater mapping of U.S. minerals resources.
Steer clear of changes to U.S. Mining Law that make new and existing projects unworkable by undermining the regulatory certainty needed to attract the large capital investments required to bring mining projects into operation.
Propose an all-encompassing strategy that includes coordination with allied nations sharing U.S. values, investments in human capital, minerals recycling, and innovative mining processes to boost efficiencies.

We believe the IWG has the opportunity to propose positive, forward-leaning recommendations that meaningfully support new U.S. production and processing of needed minerals to meet the current and coming demand for increased mineral use and reach and maintain essential U.S. competitive advantages all while ensuring U.S. labor, environmental, and safety standards. We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the IWG process.

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