NRC supports mining law reforms advocated by ... - ACS Publications

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NRC supports mining law reforms advocated by Interior Secretary Babbitt The failure of mining laws to require regulation of small hardrock operations and to clearly spell oul when a mine is closed leaves federal lands vulnerable to environmental damage that includes polluted streams and scarred landscapes, according to a National Research Council (NRC) report released September 29. The report's conclusion that reform is necessary was welcomed by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, "as an endorsement" of his 1997 proposal to reform mining regulations. The controversial reforms, which include measures similar to those recommended by the NRC report, were praised by environmental groups, which have long advocated comprehensive reform of the General Mining Law of 1872. Mining companies opposed Babbitt's proposed reforms on the grounds that existing federal and state regulations are enough to protect the environment. Congress did not enact the reforms and instead required this report. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) manage and regu-

Hardrock mining operations at remote mountain sites have the potential to cause significant environmental damage if not properly managed.

late mining over more man onethird of the total area of the nation's 12 western states, including Alaska. Most of this land is available for mining gold, silver, copper, and other hardrock minerals. Such mining can ruin water quality, devastate wetlands, and destroy landscapes. The most significant loopholes concern small mines and the lack of provisions that cover mine closures. BLM does not require companies to provide financial assur-

ENERGY Ford opens first U.S. hydrogen fueling station The first hydrogen fueling station in North America officially opened in August with the fueling of a hydrogen-powered Ford P2000 HFS (hydrogen fuel cell) sedan. Located on Ford Motor Company research grounds in Dearborn, Mich., the station is primarily intended to aid research on fuel cell development and evaluation of liquid and gaseous hydrogen refueling. The new station will also augment development of a hydrogen-powered IC (internal combustion) engine. "Our end vision is zero emissions and a mobile society that uses a hydrogen infrastructure, but a nearer-term goal, and one with wide production ability, is the use of the hydrogen IC engine," said Bill Stockhausen, a staff technical specialist at Ford who oversees research on the hydrogen IC engine. "With a prototype vehicle, the P2000, we are demonstrating both technologies—the fuel cell and the IC engine—in a lightweight aluminum intensive vehicle." From a choice of two liquid and two gaseous hydrogen pumps, a cable connected to the vehicle along with the refueling nozzle monitors hydrogen levels and opens and closes valves as the tank is filled. Ford plans low-volume production of fuel cell vehicles by 2004 despite significant hurdles to their practical use and the difficulty of developing a hydrogen infrastructure. Peter Hoffmann, editor and publisher of the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Letter, thinks this is a realistic target: "All the outward, publicly available signs seem to indicate that at least the design for a small-volume commercial fuel cell will be ready to go in the general time frame that Ford has indicated." —PATRICIA E. DEMPSEY

4 8 8 A • DECEMBER 1, 1999 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS

ances that they can pay to reclaim mining land, if the mining operation affects less than five acres in any one year. The report recommends that companies provide financial assurances for any activities in which earthmoving equipment is taken off existing roads. The report also recommends that BLM require operators of mines five acres or less to submit a plan to assess environmental disturbance from mine development and operation. Such plans, which are not currently required, should include steps to minimize environmental degradation as a result of the mining. Another regulatory loophole concerns mine closures. Some mining companies avoid cleanup and remediation by claiming a mine is "temporarily closed" when it is really shut. This is possible because USFS and BLM do not delineate when temporary closures become permanent. Several states have set time limits that define when a mine is closed. The two federal agencies should develop a common approach to the issue, the report states. "What is needed now," according to Perry Hagenstein, independent consultant and chair of the committee that prepared the report, "is explicit action to ensure that the current regulations work as they are supposed to and that any regulatory gaps are filled." —REBECCA RENNER