We all kinda-sorta knew this.
...Right now, it takes more than seven years to secure a permit for mining something other than coal or gravel on public land.
A formidable panoply of federal agencies and regulations awaits any new mining effort. While the overarching legislation is ancient – the General Mining Law of 1872 – modern times require an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Review Act (NEPA). That generally takes three to five years to complete.
Following that, would-be miners must navigate the Endangered Species Act, consultations with Native American tribes, water rights and discharge permits through the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, and finally, a public comment period.
Running the entire regulatory gauntlet takes, on average, seven to 10 years unless the project faces litigation, in which case the process takes more than a decade and carries the corresponding lawyers’ bills.
“The green groups have been using NEPA for more than a decade to get uncertainty and make it expensive if you apply,” said H. Sterling Burnett of the Heartland Institute, a group that favors traditional sources of energy production. “They can always come back and say, ‘You didn’t look at X,’ or ‘You didn’t do Y,’ or cite ‘ancillary impacts’ of climate change.”...
What's the big deal?
Your car's electric windows. Your computer's chips. Certain medicines.
And the computers in your car and, let's not forget, a whole lot of the US military's toys.
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