Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41) Comments

Earthjustice, Earthworks, and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) submit these comments on the proposal to add mining as a covered sector under Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), Pub. L. No. 114-94, § 41001(6)(A) (Dec. 4, 2015) (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 4370m(6)(A)). The Council should reject this proposal. There are good reasons Congress chose not to include mining in FAST-41. Mining has more harmful impacts than any of the covered sectors. Mining produces vast quantities of waste, including toxic waste, that must be managed in perpetuity. Even with modern mining technology, chronic seepage and sudden accidental releases to the environment are the norm, and are likely to increase as mining companies develop increasingly lower grade deposits. Every mine and mine location is unique, posing technical challenges that can sometimes take a very long time to analyze, through no fault of a permitting agency. All of this suggests that we need more rigorous and flexible permitting to reduce the damage and public costs imposed by mining, not a law like FAST-41 that is designed to make permitting quicker and the environmental review more focused on an alternative identified as preferred before analysis is complete.