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Last updated: 04/04/03

Contacts: Larry Finfer, 202/208-6913 Bob Anderson, 202/208-4201 For Release: February 9, 1999

Click on icon above to visit BLM's main 3809 homepage. Click here to view a fact sheet on the proposed mining rule.

BLM's Proposed Mining Rule Would Update "3809" Regulations, Enhance Protection of Public Lands

In an effort to update 18-year-old mining regulations while ensuring better protection of the public lands, the Bureau of Land Management today published a proposed rule that would revise the agency's "3809" surface mining regulations. "In drafting this proposed rule, the BLM has engaged in an extraordinary outreach effort to solicit the views of all interested parties," said BLM Acting Director Tom Fry. "We will continue to seek maximum public input as we work on drafting a final rule."

The proposed rule is intended to prevent "unnecessary or undue degradation" of public land resources by mining operations. The proposal would also improve the clarity and organization of the BLM's existing 3809 surface mining regulations, found in subpart 3809 of the BLM's mineral rules, which govern the exploration and development of hardrock minerals considered "locatable" under the General Mining Law of 1872. (These types of minerals include gold, silver, and copper.) The proposed rule would also incorporate mining policies that the BLM has developed since 1980, the last time the Bureau issued surface mining regulations.

In drafting the proposed rule, the BLM's "3809" task force met three times with the Western Governors Association and state agency representatives. The BLM also posted two separate draft proposals on the Internet for public viewing and gathered more than 3,000 comments during its Environmental Impact Statement "scoping" process. (This process determined the scope of the Bureau's analysis of the proposed rule's environmental impacts.) After the BLM publishes a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the proposed rule, expected later this month, the agency will hold a series of public hearings throughout the West and in Washington, D.C., to gather comments on the proposed rule and the draft EIS. The proposed rule and the draft EIS are accessible through the BLM's Internet Home Page (www.blm.gov).

In updating and revising the existing 3809 regulations, the proposed rule would:

• use plain language to help readers find key information and make that information easier to understand;
• expand the number of situations where a plan of operation is required (a plan-level mining operation is one that, in general, disturbs five or more surface acres);
• allow the BLM to defer to a state government in administering a mining regulatory program;
• establish a plan for terminating inactive notice- and plan-level operations (a notice-level mining operation is one that disturbs less than five acres);
• require all notice- and plan-level operators to provide a financial guarantee that covers the estimated cost of reclamation (rather than a guarantee based on a minimum per-acre amount);
• provide an opportunity for public comment on these financial guarantee amounts;
• clarify certain issues that have arisen since 1981, including whether parent entities of operators can be liable for an operation (the answer being yes, in some circumstances);
• require mining operators to meet certain outcome-based performance standards relating to all aspects of operations, including exploration, mining, processing, and reclamation;
• incorporate the BLM's existing cyanide leaching and acid mine drainage policies into its surface mining regulations;
• authorize the agency to allow, at its discretion, members of the public to accompany BLM inspectors at mine sites; and
• strengthen the BLM's administrative mechanisms and penalties for enforcing its surface mining regulations.

The proposed rule also requests public comment on whether the BLM should continue its three-tier system of classifying mining operations according to their potential impacts on public land resources.

The public hearings on the proposed rule are slated as follows:

The BLM encourages all interested parties to comment on the proposed rule. Comments, which must be submitted in writing, should be sent no later than May 10, 1999, to the following address: Bureau of Land Management, Administrative Record, Nevada State Office, P.O. Box 12000, Reno, Nevada 89520-0006. Comments may also be sent electronically via Internet (WOComment@wo.blm.gov). Those submitting comments electronically should include "attn: AD-22" in their message, along with the sender's name and address.

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