Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Vice Chair Mark Amodei (NV-02) released the following statements following passage of H.R. 2925, the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act. This bill corrects a harmful court decision known as the “Rosemont Decision” which threatens America’s mining system and creates more red tape by which American mining operators must work under. The legislation passed by a bipartisan vote of 216 - 195.

“The American West is blessed with an abundance of resources right under our feet, yet extreme environmentalists and activist judges are making it more difficult to access the minerals needed for our 21^st Century economy,” said Chairman Newhouse. “We must make it easier to mine in the United States to end our reliance on foreign adversaries, including the Chinese Communist Party. The ‘Rosemont Decision’ by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals irresponsibly revoked a mine plan by misinterpreting the regulations that have governed mining operations for over a hundred years. I was proud to support the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act to reverse the court’s decision and I applaud Vice Chair Amodei’s leadership on this legislation to unleash America’s mineral potential.”

“Securing our domestic mineral supply chain is not only critical to our nation’s economic success, but to our national security,” said Vice Chair Amodei. “Now more than ever, we must ensure we are doing all that we can to increase domestic mineral production and protect the ability to conduct responsible mining activities on federal lands. H.R. 2925 will reinstate much-needed clarity to allow vital mining projects to move forward.”

Background:

The “Rosemont Decision” was handed down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in May 2022. The decision reinterprets key details of the Mining Law of 1872 which has governed mining operations in the United States for decades. Aside from revoking an approved mine plan for the Rosemont Copper Mine Project in Pima County, Arizona, the decision also requires discovery and determination of valid mineral deposits before operations over a specific mining claim can receive approval. The added step of mandating operators to prove the existence of a commercially developable deposit on a claim is unnecessary. If the court’s decision is maintained, hardrock mining projects across mineral-rich states such as Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Montana, and Idaho among others will be threatened.