Section 3 Government Role and Influence in Mining
J AN M. M UTMANSKY , ASSOCIATE E DITOR
T HOMAS V. F ALKIE , SECTION C OORDINATOR
3.0 Introduction .......................................................
3.1 Social-Legal-Political-Economic Impacts.. .....
3.1.1 Introduction .............................................
3.1.2 Structure of Government ......................
3.1.3 Creation and Implementation of
Policy .......................................................
3.1.4 Specific Areas of Government
Involvement ............................................
3.1.5 In Conclusion: Government and the
Engineer ..................................................
3.2 Mining Law ........................................................
3.2.1 Preliminary Land-status Check.. ...........
3.2.2 Federal Lands ........................................
3.2.3 State Lands ............................................
3.2.4 Private Lands ..........................................
3.3 Health and Safety Standards ..........................
3.3.1 Introduction .............................................
Chapter 3.0
INTRODUCTION
T HOMAS V. F ALKIE
In bygone days, the mineral engineer spent most of his/
her time on the technical aspects of designing, building, and
managing mineral operations. In the last few decades, mostly
since the 1960s, increasing amounts of engineering manpower
and time are spent dealing with federal, state, and local govern-
ment agencies, laws, and regulations. It is not possible to plan,
design, build, or operate mines, mills, smelters, or even office
buildings without detailed consideration of government regula-
tions and permitting requirements dealing with environment,
worker health and safety, etc.
The four chapters of this section provide an overview of
the social, legal, political, environmental, and health and safety
aspects of mineral enterprise. The section sets the stage for the
working engineer/geologist in industry, government, consulting,
or academe and points the direction for more detailed study in
each of these areas.
Chapter 3.1, Social-Legal-Political-Economic Impacts, de-
scribes how government works in a general way and how it
applies to mining. It also discusses the socioeconomic and politi-
cal aspects of mineral policy and how and why there are many
constituencies to be considered, not only in mineral policy but
in the actual process of planning mines.
Government plays a strong role in every facet of mineral
development from exploration through mining, processing, and
123 3.3.2 Background of Health and Safety
125 Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
3.3.3 Health and Safety Organizations/
125
Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
125
3.3.4 Economics of Health and Safety
Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
129 3.3.5 Aspects of Health and Safety
Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
132 3.3.6 Control of Hazards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
3.3.7 First-aid and Mine-rescue Standards . . 172
137 3.3.8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
140 3 . 4 Environmental Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
140 3.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
141 3.4. 2 Major Federal Environmental Laws
155 and Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
3.4.3 Major Federal Environmental Laws
156
and Regulations (cont.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
162
3.4.4 State and Local Government
162 Environmental Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
consumption. While there is no coherent US mineral policy
and probably never will be, the mineral industry is profoundly
affected by laws, regulations, and other government actions on
land use, worker health and safety, environment, taxes, fiscal
policy, and many other policy areas.
The chapter also discusses the importance of mining to our
country’s well-being and to our standard of living. Virtually
everything we eat, every metallic object, most of our building
materials, the cars we drive are all made from minerals or use
metallic or nonmetallic or energy minerals in some way. This is
taken for granted by large segments of the public. Even worse,
some people believe that mineral production can be curtailed
without affecting our standard of living.
The practicing engineer must deal with government and the
public in every facet of his or her career. Not only must the
engineer understand how government functions, but he or she
should also get involved in the legislative and policy process.
Chapter 3.2, Mining Law, describes in detail provisions of
the Mining Law of 1872 and other statutes and regulations
dealing with mining on the public lands. The odds are very high
that the mineral professional will be involved with the public
lands sometime in his/her career because about one-third of the
area of the United States (about 730 X l012 acres) is owned or
controlled by the federal government. In addition, the states and
123
124 MINING ENGINE ERING HANDBOOK
Indian tribes control large amounts of land and mineral rights.
Significant amounts of minerals are produced from the public
lands, and these lands include much of the most geologically
promising areas of our country. It is also true that increasing
amounts of public lands are becoming “off-limits” to mineral
exploration and development by various land-withdrawal actions
of government. Perhaps two-thirds or more of the public lands
is unavailable or severely restricted. About one-quarter is slightly
to moderately restricted. The land withdrawal problem is not
discussed in this chapter but is mentioned in Chapter 3.1.
Chapter 3.3, Health and Safety Standards, shows why and
how mine health and safety laws and regulations were developed,
how they are structured, and how the enforcement system works.
The discussion is general, and the reader will find specifics in
other chapters dealing with design and engineering. Over the
past century, no subject has brought more negative attention and
more controversy to the mining industry. The health and safety
record of the industry has improved, but there is need for even
more diligence. In fact, health and safety considerations affect
virtually every design or operating decision connected with min-
ing. Every step of the mining process, whether it be materials
handling, ventilation, equipment operation, roof control, or
other activity, is regulated by very detailed federal and state
laws, and these laws are enforced by equally detailed procedures.
This chapter provides an introduction to these standards.
Chapter 3.4, Environmental Consequences, introduces the
reader to some of the major federal environmental laws dealing
with clean air, clean water, land reclamation, waste disposal,
preservation of animal species and antiquities, and other aspects
of environmental protection. Every environmental law has some
effect on mining, although the Surface Mining Control and Rec-
lamation Act of 1977 was the first major federal regulatory law
aimed specifically at mining. That law, incidentally, applies to
underground and surface mining. Every one of these laws has
spawned many regulations and requires extensive engineering
efforts in order to obtain permits from various governmental
agencies. Once again, details on many of these will be found
throughout the design and engineering chapters of this
Handbook.
The status of these laws and regulations is under constant
change. Therefore, the reader should use this chapter as a guide
and should always refer to the Federal Register for updated
information.
This section will help mineral professionals at all levels and
furthermore should be required study material for university
students in all mineral-related fields.