Newmont Mining applauds halt to Clinton environmental regs
NEW YORK, March 21 (Reuters) - Chalking up a victory for beleaguered U.S. metal producers, leading North American gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) on Wednesday cheered the proposed suspension of tougher environmental regulations for hard rock mining imposed during the final days of the Clinton presidency.
Stoking anger at the Bush administration by environmental activists and Democrats, the Bureau of Land Management said Wednesday it would publish a proposal Friday to suspend recently adopted 3809 surface mining regulations that were the first broad attempt to revise a law on mining federal lands in place since 1878.
"We're pleased that BLM has decided to take another look at these," Newmont spokesman Doug Hock told Reuters. "We feel that the regulations that were being imposed put a significant and unnecessary regulatory burden on Newmont and other hard rock miners."
Hard rock mining refers to mining for gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, uranium and molybdenum but excludes coal and oil.
Newmont, North America's largest gold miner and number two world-wide, said it had sued to stop enforcement of the new rules, which would have made it more difficult to undertake new projects.
"We have the most extensive operations of any company on BLM lands and we've always complied with the state and Federal regs, including 3809, but felt that these were rules that were unnecessarily burdensome and unnecessary," Hock said.
The Clinton regulations included steps to force more hard rock miners in the West to post financial bonds guaranteeing they would clean up water and other environmental damage.
The announcement by the BLM, an agency of the Interior Department, came one day after the Environmental Protection Agency said it would rescind Clinton-era rules to remove arsenic from drinking water that also rankled the mining industry.
In addition to filing its lawsuit, Newmont said it had worked closely with Western governors -- specifically the governor of Nevada, where it has most its major operations -- to have the regulations overturned.
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