Bush Administration Opposes Changes To 1872 Mining Law

Well, there's a shocker. :eyes:

The Bush administration on Thursday came out against a proposed revision of a 135-year-old hard-rock mining law that would impose the first-ever royalty fees and environmental restrictions for mining on public land.

Bush’s opposition is significant. If Congress were to pass revisions to the 1872 mining law and the president signed them, opponents say it would help them stop development of the Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains east of Green Valley. Augusta Resource Corp. which submitted plans for mining in the Santa Ritas to the U.S. Forest Service two weeks ago, was unavailable for comment Thursday. But the Canadian company stands to benefit from Bush’s opposition to reform. It hopes to begin operations in 2010.

Congressional plans to revise the mining law would let the government assess royalty fees for the first time on the extracted minerals. And it would give more power to environmentalists who think the mining industry has despoiled the environment for too long.

The U.S, Bureau of Land Management says the proposed new regulations could hurt the mining industry, the economy and U.S. security.

EDIT

http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2007/07/26/news/news02.txt

Don't unload your clip too early, guys.

Ex-Cheney Aide Named US Minerals Management Service Director

July 23, 2007: 03:33 PM EST
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200707231533DOWJONESDJONLINE000550_FORTUNE5.htm

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. interior secretary Monday appointed former Wyoming House Speaker Randall Luthi as the new director of the beleaguered Minerals Management Service.

Luthi, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney when he was a member of the House of Representative, replaces Johnnie Burton, who retired in May following intense criticism of her agency's administration of oil and gas royalties.

The new director's appointment comes as Congress seeks to recover an estimated $10 billion in federal revenue from offshore oil and gas royalties that government accountants say could be lost due to an omission of price thresholds in lease contracts signed in 1998-99.

Industry and government watchdogs - including the Government Accountability Office and the Interior Department's own Inspector General - strongly criticized Burton and the MMS for mismanaging royalties in general as well as failing to address the lease omission when it was first brought to her attention several years ago.

The MMS has been accused of having too close ties to the oil and gas industry, and Luthi's appointment may draw similar criticism, given his contacts with Cheney, the former chief executive of the oil services firm Halliburton Co. ( HAL).

Beth Daily at the Project on Government Oversight said Burton was a family friend of the Cheney's.

"There certainly seems to be a pattern here of connections to the Cheney family," said Daily, who added: "It may expose them to criticism and it raises a lot of questions in my mind."

Luthi comes fresh from a five-month stint as deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He is a former speaker of the Wyoming legislature and has previously served as an Interior Department attorney.

As a legislative assistant to former Sen. Alan Simpson, R-Wy., he focused on legal and legislative issues including oil and gas taxation, the Interior Department said in a press release.

The department said that based on his work in the Wyoming legislature, "Luthi developed an understanding of the importance of royalties paid to the federal government by companies producing energy on our public lands and waters."

Much of Wyoming's budget is dependent on oil, gas and mining royalties and taxes paid by energy companies developing federal leases.

"This experience, combined with his leadership skills, will enable the MMS to continue to substantially contribute to our goal of reducing America's dependence on foreign sources of energy through safe and environmentally responsible offshore production while also ensuring that the American public receives a fair share of the value of resources extracted from our public lands and waters," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said in the statement.

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200707231533DOWJONESDJONLINE000550_FORTUNE5.htm

:eyes:

huge profits by friendly parties at expense of the public. Land prices and values not updated in last 135 years.
Pure pork barrel to friends of the Administration who in turn give them large political contributions.