A coalition of 13 states is resisting an attempt by environmentalists to implement a rejected Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal that would cost the American mining industry millions every year.
The states intervened in the environmentalists’ lawsuit Friday, defending a December 2017 EPA decision to reject an amendment to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Montana’s Billings Gazette reported.
The amendment would preempt regulations already in place in each state, burdening local hard rock mining industries and the individual states with costly, redundant federal regulations, the states argued in court documents.
“The EPA rightly deferred to the states to implement strong environmental protections for hard rock mining — just as Montana has done,” Montana Attorney General Tim Fox, a Republican, said in a Monday statement. “Montana has strong environmental protections regulating hard rock mining operations in the state and further regulation is unnecessary. The plaintiffs’ position is counterproductive and ignores the lawful role of the states in implementing environmental regulations.”
The amendment, proposed by the EPA under former President Barack Obama, would have cost American businesses and the mining industry $171 million annually, the EPA found. Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming joined together to resist environmentalists’ attempts to resurrect the rule. (RELATED: Scott Pruitt Hails EPA Progress Under Trump Administration)
Environmental groups including Earthjustice, Earthworks and the Sierra Club argue that more regulations are needed to hold mining companies responsible for cleaning up mine sites after companies go out of businesses. After companies declare bankruptcy, taxpayers must fund the clean-up of the abandoned mine, CNBC reported.
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