Trump’s EPA backs off Pebble Mine obstruction

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has backing away from a decision the agency made last May to rescind President Barack Obama’s decision to preempt development of Pebble, a large copper, gold and molybdenum prospect in the Bristol Bay region.

Pruitt said he made the decision after reading public comments made to his agency after the earlier decision.

Pebble Partnership, the company working to develop Pebble, filed applications for federal permits with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers late last year and brought in a new partner based on Pruitt’s actions.

In a statement, Pruitt said he has no intention of stopping Pebble’s application, which is before the Corps of Engineers, but would do addition investigations to ensure Bristol Bay fisheries are not impaired because of the mine.

The implications of the new EPA action on Pebble’s application are unclear. The agency’s announcement said it would leave proposed limitations made for Pebble under the Obama administration in place, meaning as an internal agency proposal.

Those limitations include restrictions on the miles of streams affected by mining, an acreage limitation on wetlands impaired and the use of water. When the Obama restrictions were announced in 2014 Pebble sued the EPA over the unusual nature of the preemption, made before permit applications were filed, and the internal process within the agency stopped.

The proposed policy is still technically within EPA’s Region 10 in Seattle and have not yet been endorsed at the agency’s headquarters level.

A key difference now is that the permits have been filed, the Army corps has deemed them complete, and that agency is now starting the federal Environmental Impact Statement process.

EPA now has its traditional role of participating in the EIS as well as a role in the corps’ final decision on Pebble’s permit at the end of the process, which is expected to take several years.

Through the normal corps of engineers process the EPA may still be able to impose its 2014 limitations if it chooses to do so. Previously, before Pebble filed its permits, its authority was murky.

In its Jan. 26 announcement, EPA said in a statement that it is, “suspending its process to withdraw those proposed restrictions (the 2014 proposals), leaving them in place (as a proposal) while the agency receives more information on the potential mine’s impact on the region’s world-class fisheries and natural resources.”

Pruitt said in the statement that after reviewing comments, “It is my judgment at this time that any mining projects in the region likely pose a risk to the abundant natural resources that exist there. Until we know the full extent of that risk, those natural resources and world-class fisheries deserve the utmost protection. Today’s action allows EPA to get the information needed to determine what specific impacts the proposed mining project will have on those critical resources.”

“EPA intends to solicit additional public comment on the impact of the mining application on the existing proposed determination to better inform that analysis,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, Pebble will be allowed to proceed with its permit application. “This decision neither deters nor derails the application process of Pebble Limited Partnership’s proposed project. The project proponents continue to enjoy the protection of due process and the right to proceed. However, their permit application must clear a high bar, because EPA believes the risk to Bristol Bay may be unacceptable,” EPA said in the statement.

Responding to EPA, Pebble Partnership CEO Tom Collier said, “We believe we can demonstrate that we can responsibly construct and operate a mine at the Pebble deposit that meets Alaska’s high environmental standards.”

“We will also demonstrate that we can successfully operate a mine without compromising the fish and water resources around the project. We look forward to having all of our detailed technical information fairly reviewed by the Corps of Engineers and other participating regulatory agencies through the longstanding, lawful permitting process,” Collier said in his statement.

Gov. Bill Walker applauded the EPA reversal of its position.

"I have spoken to Administrator Pruitt about the Pebble Mine project many times in the past year, and I have shared with him my belief that in the Bristol Bay region we should prioritize the resource (salmon) that has sustained generations and must continue to do so in perpetuity," Walker said in his statement.

Pebble is southwest of Anchorage, near Iliamna Lake. It was originally proposed as a very large mine but a revision of its plan announced in 2017 would have the mine developed as a smaller project with enhanced protections against discharges.

If it were built Pebble would also be a major, year-around employer in the Bristol Bay region, with several hundred workers engaged in production operations. Mining jobs in Alaska pay, on average, about $100,000 a year.

The Bristol Bay economy is now dominated by seasonal salmon fishing and processing with most of the more valuable salmon-fishing permits held by nonresidents who come to Alaska to fish each summer.

Tim Bradner is editor of the Alaska Legislative Digest and is the Atwood Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Alaska Anchorage this spring.