Featured Image: Aerial photo of the Kinross Fort Knox Gold Mine.
The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act (S. 544) will be voted on Wednesday, April 9 in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. If approved, the mining industry would be given more control over public lands—causing devastating impacts to public health, frontline communities, and vital land and water resources. Please join us in calling committee members’ offices, asking them to vote against this legislation (see the bottom of this post for talking points).
We’ve previously shared how this bill (which was also introduced in 2023 and 2024) is harmful to communities, the environment, and public lands, and wrote about the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act, our preferred alternative. Click here to learn more.
We ask that you direct your calls to these committee members in the offices of Senate Energy and Natural Resources:
Lisa Murkowski (AK): (202) 224-6665
Ruben Gallego (AZ): (202) 224-4521
Alex Padilla (CA): (202) 224-3553
John Hickenlooper (CO): (202) 224-5941
Mazie Hirono (HI): (202) 224-6361
Angus King (ME): (202) 224-5344
Martin Heinrich (NM): (202) 224-5521
Ron Wyden (OR): (202) 224-5244
Maria Cantwell (WA): (202) 224-3441
Please consider the talking points below when speaking to a staffer or when leaving a message:
- The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act would further weaken the already permissive and outdated General Mining Law of 1872 by giving the industry more control over public lands—increasing the known negative impacts of mining to public health, nearby communities, and ecosystems.
- This bill would allow mining companies to claim indefinite mill sites at their mining projects, meaning companies could dump waste and construct infrastructure on unlimited acres of public land, damaging the ecosystem and creating conflicts with other potential land uses like recreation, cultural practices, renewable energy projects, and conservation.
- This bill would reduce permitting requirements for infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, and powerlines that support mining projects, regardless of whether that infrastructure is on lease claim land or not.
- Nearly half of all headwaters and 50% of lakes in the U.S. have been contaminated by hardrock mining. Hardrock mining is the largest toxic polluter in Alaska and the U.S., creating billions of dollars in reclamation costs for U.S. taxpayers. This bill does not have any provisions for industry to pay its fair share to Americans for minerals extracted on public lands, nor does it address the backlog of contaminated sites that have yet to be cleaned up by the industry.
- The committee should oppose this bill and instead support true, meaningful mining reform that protects communities, the environment, and the American taxpayer. The Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act addresses these issues in a way that still allows domestic mining while providing common sense social, environmental, and economic protections.
Questions? Email katie@northern.org
