Energy Permitting Reform Act Threatens to reverse the 2022 Rosemont Decision

Adapted from this Earth Works article:

 This week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024. Under the guise of “permitting reform,” this legislation will roll back important protections for communities affected by extraction, promote oil and gas drilling and infrastructure, limit local communities’ ability to seek justice in the courts against illegal project development, and grant mining companies unfettered access to public lands.

Senator Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) have introduced similar “permitting reform” bills in the past. Like its predecessors, the Energy Permitting Reform Act puts polluters over people. At a time when the climate crisis demands immediate and decisive action, this bill takes us in the wrong direction.

In addition to fast tracking fossil fuel exports, the bill proposes to reverse long-standing precedents governing mining operations on public lands. The Energy Permitting Reform Act introduces a provision that permits mining companies to claim an unlimited number of mill sites, which will allow mining companies to claim vast tracts of public lands for waste dumping and infrastructure development. This reverses the 2022 Rosemont decision, in which a federal appeals court substantially restricted the amount of US Forest Service and other federal land that mining companies can claim for dumping mine waste under the 1872 Mining Law.

CURRENT STATUS

The bill passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in a 15-4 vote on July 31, 2024. More than 360 climate and environment-focused organizations wrote a letter opposing the bill.

We are urging everyone to contact your representatives in Congress to urge them to vote NO on this bill when it comes up for vote.

You can quickly and easily contact the members of congress in your area by using this Fast Action form organized by EarthJustice.