In yet another decision deemed yucky by environmentalists, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is proposing to suspend mining regulations approved by former President Clinton to protect the environment. The rules give the BLM more flexibility to deny mining permits that seem likely to lead to lots of pollution and they require companies that mine on federal land to post a bond guaranteeing that they will clean up after themselves if they cause a mess. Sounds reasonable, right? Apparently not to the Bush-era BLM. It wants to open a 45-day comment period on the rules, after which point it could reinstate the former rules that give much more latitude to mining companies or adopt a combination of the new and old rules.
