According to the Government Accountability Office, the U.S. has over 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features, of which 22,500 pose environmental hazards. Organizations that have no legal or financial responsibility to an abandoned mine – true Good Samaritans – want to volunteer to remediate these sites. Unfortunately, liability rules would leave these Good Samaritans legally responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine, even though they had no involvement with the mine before cleaning it up.
Please join ConservAmerica on Wednesday, September 18 at noon EST for a webinar on S.2781, "Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024," which recently passed the U.S. Senate. The bipartisan legislation would make it easier for Good Samaritans such as state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up and improve water quality in and around abandoned hardrock mines.
The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act creates a pilot permitting program to enable not-for-profit cleanup efforts to move forward while ensuring Good Samaritans have the skills and resources to comply with federal oversight. This pilot program is designed for lower-risk projects, which will improve water and soil quality or otherwise protect human health.
Moderator:
Brent Fewell, ConservAmerica
Panelists:
Justin Prosser, National Mining Association
Justin Prosser serves as the Vice President of Government and Political Affairs at the National Mining Association focusing primarily on working with – and educating – Members of Congress and administration officials on industry priorities related to hardrock mining issues. Prior to joining the NMA, Justin worked as a congressional staffer in both the U.S. Senate, with Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), and in the U.S. House of Representatives, with Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Doc Hastings (R-Wash.). An Eastern Washington native, Justin graduated from Creighton University and the U.S. Naval War College.
Corey Fisher, Trout Unlimited
Corey Fisher lives and works in Missoula, MT where he is the Public Land Policy Director for Trout Unlimited. His portfolio includes engaging Congress and Trout Unlimited’s nationwide grassroots network to advance conservation-focused legislation, as well as administrative policies that provide for healthy fish and wildlife habitat and resilient public lands. This work includes mining and abandoned mine land polices that support responsible land use and restoration initiatives. He is a graduate of Northland College with BA in writing and outdoor education and spends his free time in the mountains and on the water recreating with his wife, Cheryl.
Jonathan Wood, Property and Environmental Research Center
Jonathan Wood is vice president of law and policy at PERC. An attorney, Jonathan has litigated environmental and property-rights cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, federal and state appellate courts, and trial courts across the country. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, National Review, Reason, and other outlets. And his research has been published in journals such as Environmental Law Reporter, Yale Journal on Regulation Notice & Comment, Pace Environmental Law Review, and California Western Law Review.
