National Academies Report Released: Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries: A Call to Action

Recently, the National Academies Press (NAP) released a report produced by the Committee on Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries; Committee on Earth Resources; Board on Earth Sciences and Resources; Division on Earth and Life Studies; Board on Higher Education and Workforce; Policy and Global Affairs; and the National Research Council titled,  Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries: A Call to Action (2013). The 390-page pre-publication report (available here free with a one-time registration) discusses how,

[e]nergy and mineral resources are essential for the nation's fundamental functions, its economy, and security. Nonfuel minerals are essential for the existence and operations of products that are used by people every day and are provided by various sectors of the mining industry. Energy in the United States is provided from a variety of resources including fossil fuels, and renewable and nuclear energy, all with established commercial industry bases. The United States is the largest electric power producer in the world. The overall value added to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011 by major industries that consumed processed nonfuel mineral materials was $2.2 trillion.

[r]ecognizing the importance of understanding the state of the energy and mining workforce in the United States to assure a trained and skilled workforce of sufficient size for the future, the Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Energy technology Laboratory (NETL) contracted with the National Research Council (NRC) to perform a study of the emerging workforce trends in the U.S. energy and mining industries. Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S. Energy and Mining Industries: A Call to Action summarizes the findings of this study.

Pace Environmental Law Students Take on Big Coal

Student interns at the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic, under the supervision of law professors Karl S. Coplan, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Daniel Estrin, took the first step today in bringing a lawsuit against three mining companies in Kentucky for violations of the Clean Water Act.

Representing a coalition of environmental and social justice organizations and private citizens, including Appalachian Voices, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Riverkeeper, and Waterkeeper Alliance, they filed a sixty-day notice letter alleging that the companies ICG Knott County, ICG Hazard, and Frasure Creek Mining, a subsidiary of Trinity Coal, exceeded pollution discharge limits in their permits, consistently failed to conduct the required monitoring of their discharges and, in many cases, submitted false monitoring data to the state agencies charged with protecting the public. Joining in the lawsuit were several local residents impacted by the dumping of mining waste into Kentucky’s waterways.

Hardrock Mining: Information on State Royalties and the Number of Abandon Mine Sites and Hazards

This Government Accountability Office testimony (GAO-09-854T) dated July 14, 2009 reports that the royalties the states assess often differ depending on land ownership and the mineral being extracted with the actual amount assessed for a particular mine depending not only on the type of royalty, its rate, and exclusions, but also on other factors, such as the mine’s location relative to markets.

Using a definition of abandoned that the GAO provided, states reported that there are at least 161,000 abandoned hardrock mine sites in their states, and these sites have at least 332,000 features that may pose physical safety hazards and at least 33,000 sites that have degraded the environment.

Identification of Priority Classes of Facilities for Development of CERCLA Section 108(b) Financial Responsibility Requirements.

This notice by the EPA under 40 CFR Part 320 [EPA-HQ-SFUND-2009-0265; FRL-8931-7]identifies hard rock mining as a regulatory priority. "EPA is by this notice identifying classes of facilities within the hardrock mining industry for which the Agency will first develop financial responsibility requirements under CERCLA Section 108(b). For purposes of this notice, hardrock mining facilities include those which extract, beneficiate or process metals (e.g., copper, gold, iron, lead, magnesium, molybdenum, silver, uranium, and zinc) and non-metallic, non-fuel minerals (e.g., asbestos, gypsum, phosphate rock, and sulfur)."

World Investment Report: Transnational Corporations, Extractive Industries and Development

This Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development recognises the importance of extractive industries to the development of many nations but seeks to ensure that the vast mineral resources located in some of the world’s poorest countries become a force for sustainable development. The challenge is to develop frameworks that create incentives for local and foreign firms to produce efficiently while at the same time respecting environmental and social requirements of local communities and society at large. "A win-win situation can result if various minerals are produced efficiently and if host countries, with the support of various other stakeholders, can make the revenues generated work more effectively for sustainable development and poverty alleviation.