Resolution 1008 – Reform the 1872 Mining Law

WHEREAS the 1872 Mining Law that governs U.S. hardrock mining is outdated; it allows mining companies, including foreign corporations, to buy public lands held in trust for all Americans at 1872 prices, to extract valuable ore, to pollute the land and watersheds, to keep all profits private without paying royalties, and to leave taxpayers to pay for the cleanup; and

WHEREAS the Environmental Protection Agency says hardrock mining for minerals and metals — such as gold, silver, platinum and copper — is the #1 source of toxic pollution, affecting 40 percent of U.S. western watershed headwaters; and

WHEREAS the 1872 Mining Law establishes mining as the “highest and best use” of public lands, and federal land management agencies argue they cannot deny hardrock mining proposals despite the 1976 Federal Land Policy Management Act that mandates competing values and uses for public land, such as recreation, grazing, hunting, renewable energy, or environmental sensitivity: and

WHEREAS hardrock mining companies are unique in the mining sector for paying no royalties for the precious materials extracted from public land, unlike the coal, oil and natural gas companies that typically pay 8–12.5 percent royalties; and

WHEREAS mining companies actively are exploring in Washington State to develop large mines, while the Buckhorn Mine near Chesaw already has polluted the land and water, and Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the Okanogan Highlands Alliance are suing Kinross Gold/Crown Resources for violating the Clean Water Act more than 3,000 times at the Buckhorn Mine; and.

WHEREAS corporations should no longer can be allowed to purchase for $5/acre any public lands held in trust for the American people and remove them from the public commons.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Washington State Democratic Central Committee ask Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and the Congressional Delegation to sponsor legislation, such as the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Acts of 2022, that establishes meaningful tribal consultation and indigenous resource protections, protects special places, strengthens environmental standards, includes provisions for enforcement and inspection, includes bonding and financial guarantees to protect taxpayers, includes reforms that end patenting, and establishes royalties based on the value of the mineral extracted.

Submitted by 32nd Legislative District Democrats to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee for consideration at its May 6, 2023 meeting in Seattle. (Date Submitted 4/5/2023).