{"id":11806,"date":"2019-07-18t18:53:21","date_gmt":"2019-07-18t18:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/house-panel-oks-bills-to-rein-in-mining-around-grand-canyon\/"},"modified":"2023-02-28t18:36:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28t18:36:59","slug":"mining-grand-canyon-house-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/mining-grand-canyon-house-bills\/","title":{"rendered":"house panel oks bills to rein in mining around grand canyon"},"content":{"rendered":"
by miranda faulkner washington \u2013 democratic lawmakers beat back a series of republican amendments wednesday before advancing bills to restrict mining around the grand canyon and on tribal lands in arizona and new mexico.<\/p>\n in a sometimes emotional meeting, the house natural resources committee gave preliminary approval to bills banning mining on 1 million acres around the grand canyon, taking uranium off the list of \u201ccritical minerals\u201d and setting a 10-mile mining buffer<\/a> around chaco canyon.<\/p>\n the approval came after three hours of attempted amendments by republicans, who said the bills in their current form are doomed in the senate.<\/p>\n \u201cthe three bills we are marking up today are going nowhere,\u201d rep. rob bishop, r-utah, said at the opening of the hearing. \u201cthey\u2019re not going to be considered in the senate. they\u2019re not going to be signed by the president. we are simply spinning our wheels once again.\u201d<\/p>\n republicans said the mining bills will hurt the local economy while standing in the way of national and economic security for the u.s. as a whole.<\/p>\n but rep. deb haaland, d-new mexico, pointed to the cultural and sacred sites that would be protected by the bills, noting that tourism and outdoor recreation offer greater economic potential for the region than mining would.<\/p>\n \u201cgrand canyon national park was responsible for $667 million in consumer spending around the park and supports over 7,000 local jobs,\u201d she said during the hearing<\/a>, adding that a bureau of land management report found that mining would only support about 295 jobs in the region.<\/p>\n more importantly, haaland said, the measures will protect the health of area residents after decades of mining on the navajo nation left a \u201ctoxic burden\u201d that shows up in higher risks of cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cwe cannot allow people to suffer from these preventable impacts simply to do the bidding of the mining industry,\u201d she said in a statement released wednesday.<\/p>\n the bills passed out of committee on mostly party-line votes, that followed mostly party-line rejections of 14 amendments, the majority of which were proposed by rep. paul gosar, r-prescott.<\/p>\n
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