In another attack on the environment, President Bush is hoping to revoke hard rock mining rules that went into effect earlier this year. Bush is proposing to revert to the inadequate previous rules and is allowing the public only 45 days to comment on his proposal.
Mining has serious environmental impacts.
It requires enormous amounts of water, in turn resulting in dangerous reductions in the water level of rivers and streams. These rules created performance standards that protect ground and surface water, force the mining industry to clean up its own environmental messes, and require land managers to deny proposals for mines that would cause substantial irreparable harm to environmental or cultural resources. However, Bush is proposing to rollback these important guidelines. The nearly five-year rule making process that led to the new rules was more than adequate. It entailed thousands of public comments, dozens of public hearings around the West, and an extensive environmental impact analysis.