This book, the result of a congressionally mandated study, examines the adequacy of the regulatory framework for mining of hardrock mineralsâ€"such as gold, silver, copper, and uraniumâ€"on over 350 million acres of federal lands in the western United States. These lands are managed by two agenciesâ€"the Bureau of Land Management in the Department of the Interior, and the Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture. The committee concludes that the complex network of state and federal laws that regulate hardrock mining on federal lands is generally effective in providing environmental protection, but improvements are needed in the way the laws are implemented and some regulatory gaps need to be addressed. The book makes specific recommendations for improvement, including: The development of an enhanced information management system and a more efficient process to review new mining proposals and issue permits. Changes to regulations that would require all mining operations, other than "casual use" activities that negligibly disturb the environment, to provide financial assurances for eventual site cleanup. Changes to regulations that would require all mining and milling operations (other than casual use) to submit operating plans in advance.

This book focuses on the reclamation of waste storage areas, which constitute the main source of pollution during and after mine operations, especially issues with acid mine drainage and neutral contaminated drainage. It prioritizes the chemical stability of mine wastes over their physical stability.

Mining is a critically important economic activity in the United States. But despite its importance, the legal framework within which mining occurs is unfamiliar to most environmental lawyers, citizens, and policymakers. In large part, this is because regulation of hard rock mining is driven by state--rather than federal--laws. Hard Rock Mining: State Approaches to Environmental Protection examines environmental regulation of hard rock (metallic and industrial mineral) mining in seven, key western states. This "case-study" approach provides the reader with a clear picture of the state of the art in environmental regulation of mining.

Federal policy toward hardrock mining remains largely unchanged since the passage of the General Mining Law of 1872. That legislation was originally intended to promote settlement and economic development of the American West. A century and a quarter later, the region no longer requires congressional coddling, yet more than half a million mines and mill sites remain abandoned throughout the western states. These sites have created 180,000 acres of polluted lakes and reservoirs and 12,000 miles of contaminated streams and rivers. Montana?s Blackfoot River, made famous by Norman Maclean?s A River Runs through It, is one such battered body of water. Not only did the 1872 law essentially give the land and minerals to miners and mining companies?and it continues to do so today?the law also required no mine reclamation or water quality protection. State mining laws likewise required little or no reclamation. Wounding the West traces the role of hardrock mining and its relationship with the American West by following the environmental history of one Montana mine, the Mike Horse, from its 1898 discovery, through its heyday in the 1940s, subsequent abandonment, and eventual cleanup under the coercion of a state law that many would consider ill-suited for abandoned mines. David Stiller argues that taxpayers should treat mining companies like the for-profit enterprises they are and insist that the hardrock mining industry pay a fair royalty for extracted minerals and then put this funding to work correcting the industry?s worst historical abuses.