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MiningWeek Online
July 16, 2004 Volume 10, Issue 28
This Week's Issue:
Pete Dye Golf Tournament gets underway in WV
The Pete Dye West Virginia Classic golf tournament, for which NMA is serving as a presenting sponsor, got underway this week near Bridgeport, WV. The 250-acre course with a coal mine theme is constructed on reclaimed mine land.
NMA is the primary paid advertiser of the PGA-sanctioned tournament, and the association’s ads are being carried on the Golf Channel throughout the July 15-18 tournament. The ads feature reclamation at coal and hardrock mines across the country. Mining Week will feature photos from the tournament next week.
President Bush sent congratulations to Pete Dye, noting “The PGA’s selection of your golf course as the site for this weekend’s tournament pays tribute to your hard work and dedication.” NMA President and CEO Jack N. Gerard read the letter from Bush at a dinner tribute to Pete Dye on Wednesday evening.
NMA’s Carol Raulston, senior vice president-communications who attended the tournament, said the association is “proud to be associated with this important sporting event, and excited about the positive image of coal mining that holding the tournament on reclaimed mined land conveys. We believe the course reinforces the integral role of reclamation in modern mining and the economic opportunities reclaimed mine lands are providing throughout West Virginia.”
Aside from its outstanding reclamation, the Pete Dye is a unique course and reflects a true integration of the game and the environment. The tee markers are from the coal railroad. After finishing hole #6, golfers take a trip through a 140-foot underground coal mine, to hole #7’s tee box. Hole #10 has coal-filled hopper cars down the left side of its fairway. Additional mining equipment is used throughout its design, and waterfalls originate from deep mining activity of days gone by.
“Golf Digest” rated Pete Dye as the 3rd “Best New Private Course” in America for 1995, and ranked it as #1 “Best in State” for 1997-98. “GOLFWEEK” chose it 2nd in the category of “America’s 100 Best Modern Courses” for 1998 and 1999, and 4th in 1997. “GOLF Magazine” chose the course 76th among the “Top 100 Courses in the U.S.” for 1997 and 73rd in 1999.
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Forest Service proposes replacing 2001 Roadless Rule with petitioning process
A new proposal by the U.S. Forest Service would replace the Jan. 12, 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule with a petitioning process that would allow governors an opportunity to seek establishment of management requirements for National Forest System inventoried roadless areas within their states.
The proposed rule establishes a process for governors to work with the Forest Service to develop locally supported rules for conserving roadless areas in their states. “While there are 39 states that have ‘inventoried’ roadless areas on National Forest System lands within their boundaries, just 12 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) contain 56.6 million acres, or 97 percent of all roadless areas in the country,” Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman said.
The new proposal would offer the governors the opportunity to work with USDA on collaborative state-specific rulemakings for the conservation and management of roadless areas. Under the proposal, state petitions would have to include specific information and management recommendations for individual inventoried roadless areas. In addition, states would be required to file all petitions within 18 months of the effective date of the final rule. Once petitions for each state are accepted and evaluated, subsequent rulemaking would be conducted.
Separately, Veneman also proposed establishing a national advisory committee to provide expert consultation for implementing the state-specific petition rulemaking process. Members of the committee would include experts in fish and wildlife biology, fish and wildlife management, forest management, outdoor recreation and other relevant disciplines.
The new rule would replace one issued a few days before President Clinton left office in January 2001. That rule has been the target of litigation in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, Wyoming and the District of Columbia. In June 2003, a federal court struck down the 2001 roadless rule, concluding it violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act.
The proposed roadless rule, for which there is a 60-day public comment period, is available at www.fs.fed.us.
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Final Historic Preservation rule modifies and improves existing NHPA §106 regulations
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (Council) last week published its final rule modifying its existing regulations implementing §106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
The rule is the result of two successful lawsuits brought by NMA against the Council. In the first decision, NMA v. Slater, the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit held that two of the Council’s regulations illegally imposed substantive requirements on federal agency decision-makers, and therefore must be altered. In the second decision, NMA v. Fowler, the D.C. Circuit held that §106 of the NHPA does not apply to undertakings that are merely subject to state or local regulation administered pursuant to delegation or approval by a federal agency.
In response to this litigation, the offending regulations were set aside and remanded to the Council. This rulemaking by the Council modifies the regulations so that they are consistent with the court decisions. The two most important changes are as follows:
- The regulations now provide that the Council may not veto the decision of a federal agency regarding a finding of “No Historic Properties Affected” or “No Adverse Effect.” Under the new rules, the federal agency must still provide its decision and documentation to the Council, and the Council may provide its opinion during a review period. The Council has given itself an extra 15 days (for a total of 30 days) to review the decision, but the Council may not overturn a federal agency decision that it disagrees with.
- The definition of “undertaking” is amended so that it will no longer include undertakings that are merely subject to State or local regulation administered pursuant to delegation or approval by a federal agency. For example, under the revised rule, State-issued permits in SMCRA primacy States will no longer be subject to § 106.
NMA believes the § 106 rule changes should result in a significant improvement in the permitting process by empowering federal and state agencies to review and approve mining permits in a more expeditious manner, while at the same time protecting historic properties. NMA members seeking additional information should contact Bradford Frisby at bfrisby@nma.org or (202) 463-2643.
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Project uses microbes for mining
A three-phase project designed to increase understanding of the microbial, chemical and physical processes underlying heap bioleaching is drawing praise from researchers as it begins its second phase.
AMIRA International’s project P768 proposes to address current limitations with heap bioleaching by investigating the fundamental aspects of the process. The research strategy involves a combination of laboratory and pilot scale test work, modeling and practical demonstration of the approach at full scale.
The first stage of the project was launched in May 2003 and was sponsored by seven companies located in Australia, North and South America and South Africa. The second phase began in March 2004 – among the sponsors of this phase are Rio Tinto, Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Phelps Dodge and WMC Resources. It will run over two years and at a cost of $2 million.
Heap bioleaching is a mine site technology that uses selected bacteria to assist in the dissolution of valuable metals from sulfide mineral ores. The technology is currently most commonly used in copper recovery, but there are applications across many other metals, including gold, zinc and nickel. More information is available at www.amira.com.au.
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NMA: FWS decision on sage-grouse status premature prior to completion of ongoing state, federal plans
Any decisions regarding the status of the sage-grouse are “premature prior to the completion of conservation plans being undertaken by many states and the federal government,” as well as the rangewide conservation framework, NMA said in comments filed with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). After the comments were filed, the comment deadline was extended for a second time, until July 30.
As a general matter, NMA objected to the listing of the sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). “Rushing toward a listing in advance of a rangewide, strategic plan could be detrimental to the conservation efforts currently taking place on private lands,” NMA said.
NMA’s comments focused on the two areas where the FWS found there was substantial information to indicate that listing the greater sage-grouse may be warranted under two ESA factors: destruction, modification, or curtailment of habitat or range; and inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms. NMA noted that if the Forest Service determines that listing of the greater sage-grouse is appropriate due to habitat destruction, it will be required to designate critical habitat for the sage-grouse.
Under the ESA, prior to designation of critical habitat, FWS must take into consideration the economic impact, and any other relevant impact, of specifying any particular area as critical habitat. Despite the fact that overall only a small percentage of sage-grouse habitat is impacted by hardrock or coal mining activities, NMA noted, the designation of critical habitat for the sage-grouse could have significant economic impacts. The Western states where sage-grouse are found are mineral rich areas that supply and will continue to supply much of the coal critical to our nation’s growing energy needs. These states also supply minerals vital for our national and economic security including the materials that go into the computers, fighter jets, homes, automobiles and communications satellites.
Regarding whether the listing is warranted due to inadequate regulatory mechanisms, NMA noted that most of the states where the greater sage-grouse occur do have legislation or regulations that authorize protection and conservation of wildlife resources such as sage-grouse and their habitat. In addition, as these states move forward with their conservation plans, these mechanisms will be fleshed out further.
In response to concerns regarding the adequacy of funding mechanisms, NMA pointed to the large variety of existing funding sources and submitted an attachment to the comments that provided examples of how many states have already availed themselves of these sources of funding, found other sources or funded efforts themselves.
Finally, the comments concluded that given the efforts of the states, the federal agencies and other interested parties, even if FWS determines the listing of the sage-grouse is warranted, the listing should be precluded by higher priority listing actions. It would be a waste of so many resources to list the sage-grouse without giving these numerous, credible conservation plans time to be implemented. “There must be other species that are being considered for listing that do not have such resources devoted to them,” NMA concluded.
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Study: Coal-based methanol ‘least expensive’ option
Methanol produced from coal “is likely to be the least expensive” option for providing hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles, according to a new study produced for the Georgetown University Fuel Cell Bus Program.
The study, “An Investigation of the Feasibility of Coal-Based Methanol for Application in Transportation Fuel Cell Systems,” was completed by the University of Florida, and estimated the relative overall future on-board hydrogen costs for fuel options, including off-board-produced hydrogen and on-board reformation of selected hydrocarbon fuels. The approximate relative costs were projected to the year 2020 based on models that included factors such as supply and demand of feedstocks, production methods, transportation, storage and taxes.
The study estimated the cost per gasoline equivalent in the year 2020 (in 1996 dollars) for hydrogen feedstock as $3.44-$4.32 for natural gas; $1.77 for methanol from coal on-board reforming; and $3.18 from coal gasification. Among the study’s major conclusions:
- The amount of petroleum imported into the United States is greater than during the energy crisis of the 1970s and is increasing. “Reducing this dependency on foreign petroleum is in the best long-term interests of the U.S.”
- Natural gas and coal are the only energy sources currently available in quantities comparable to petroleum for transportation.
- The cost of natural gas is likely to increase if demand increases as expected. Also, more natural gas will have to be imported into the U.S. to meet this increased demand. “Thus, natural gas may not be an appropriate feedstock for future alternative fuels if the goal is to reduce dependence on foreign energy sources.”
- Recoverable reserves of coal will last at least five times as long as technically recoverable natural gas or petroleum in the U.S.
- Methanol is the most desirable liquid hydrocarbon fuel for fuel cells and can be effectively utilized in internal combustion engines using existing technologies.
- While all alternative fuels are expected to be more expensive to the consumer than present-day gasoline, “methanol produced from coal is likely to be the least expensive of the fuels considered, if natural gas prices increase as projected.”
The complete report is available at http://fuelcellbus.georgetown.edu.
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House passes Science Committee bills
The House recently passed H.R. 3890, “Reauthorization of the Steel and Aluminum Energy Conservation and Technology Competitiveness Act of 1988,” and H.R. 3598, the “Manufacturing Technology Competitiveness Act of 2003,” by voice votes.
H.R. 3890 was introduced by Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA) and was amended in the Science Committee to reaffirm congressional support for the metals program now part of the Industry of the Future Program administered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). During committee consideration, Rep. John Larson (D-CT) spoke in favor of the entire Industry of the Future program, which includes mining, and offered an amendment to reauthorize Industries of the Future, which was defeated by a vote of 14-16.
H.R. 3890 authorizes the amounts appropriated in Fiscal Year 2004 ($13.3 million) for FY 2005 and $20 million for each of fiscal years 2006-09 for the Steel Initiative Research Plan. The bill also requires a report and management plan to be submitted to Congress on the Steel Initiative to focus its research efforts on technologies which reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The bill has been sent to the Senate and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, but it is unclear whether action will occur.
H.R. 3598 was introduced by Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) and directs the President to establish: (1) an Interagency Committee (IC) to plan and coordinate federal efforts in manufacturing research and development; and (2) an Advisory Committee to provide advice and information to the IC from the non-federal manufacturing research and development community.
The bill also amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 by renaming the following Department of Commerce entities: (1) Manufacturing and Technology Administration; (2) Office of Manufacturing and Technology Policy; and, (3) Under Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Technology. The bill also establishes the post of Assistant Secretary of Manufacturing and reauthorizes the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program and sets up within MEP a manufacturing extension center competitive grant program to develop projects to solve new or emerging manufacturing problems.
The bill authorizes $40 million in research and development grants in Fiscal Year 2005, which increases $4 million per year to $52 million in Fiscal Year 2008.
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