As we get back into the swing of things, a new piece for E&E News previews the anticipated 2019 mining and mineral resource policy agenda in Washington, DC. Here are some of the highlights:

• With a shift of power in the House of Representatives, hard rock leasing and reclamation issues are expected to come up in May, which marks the 147th anniversary of the 1872 General Mining Act, with mining critics pushing for restrictions on mining on public lands and royalties imposed on mining companies.
• Rep. Mark Amodei’s (R-Nev.) bill to streamline the mining permitting process, provisions of which were initially included in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, but got stripped out in conference, is also likely to make a comeback this year.
• On the Senate side, E&E expects Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to work to further her efforts on permitting reform and reducing the United States’ reliance on critical minerals, which she has previously incorporated into her broader energy reform package.
• Meanwhile, with DoI’s Critical Minerals List released, stakeholders and policy makers alike are still awaiting the Department of Commerce’s report on how how to deal with DoI’s findings and how to reduce American mineral resource dependencies, as required by Executive Order 13817, issued in December of 2017.
• As E&E reports, the Forest Service has already undertaken its own efforts to reduce mine permitting delays by issuing a “notice of proposed rule-making to update its review process for mines, known as Part 228” with a draft rule to update the locatable minerals regulations expected later this year.

However, that is not all. To see what other issues can be expected to dominate the mining and resource policy agenda this year, refer to the full piece here.

It’s going to be a busy year, and as we’ve outlined in our recent “2019 New Year’s Resolutions for Mineral Resource Policy Reform” post, other broader policy areas, such as trade, are becoming increasingly intertwined with resource policy, broadening the scope and implications of policy decisions. With the United States’ competitiveness and national security at stake, rest assured that ARPN will keep tabs on all these issues in the months to come, so if you haven’t bookmarked our site or aren’t following us via social media, now is the time.