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Hardrock mining companies have never paid royalties on the public resources that they extract. This year, there was a chance to make a step towards reforming the system and avoid ripping off taxpayers by establishing royalties and using the funding to help clean up abandoned hardrock mines. However, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto says that she has pushed the proposed royalties out of the reconciliation bill.
The bipartisan infrastructure deal does include additional funding for abandoned mine cleanup—but wouldn't help taxpayers foot the bill to restore former mines under the program, leaving the public to still pay for many environmental messes left by private companies.
Hardrock mining is the only type of public lands extraction that does not pay royalties for operating on public lands, ever since it was authorized by Congress in 1872. Now, 150 years later, companies are still taking advantage of the antiquated regulations. “At the very minimum, I would hope that the senators that are protecting hardrock mining realize that at the very minimum they should pay some royalty, so we can clean up the messes that they leave,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva.
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I can’t imagine a lawmaker coming home and saying they got money to clean up a Superfund site would not get applause. It should be something to celebrate for these communities, because they really got screwed.”
