NMA President and CEO to testify on mining permitting before Congress

At 3 p.m. today, I will testify before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources in support of the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2012 (H.R. 4402), legislation introduced by Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada to address the length, complexity and uncertainty of the mining permitting process—the primary reasons investors give for not investing in U.S. minerals mining.

As global competition for mineral resources is increasingly fierce, permitting delays have rendered the United States unable to compete for investments with other countries, such as Australia and Canada, that have already modernized their permitting regimes to ensure access to critical minerals. America can no longer afford to neglect a permitting process that stalls investment, threatens raw material shortages and jeopardizes downstream economic activity.

We need assertive measures, such as those provided by H.R. 4402, to reverse a 30-year trend of increasing import reliance for materials we have here at home and lend a much-needed hand to the industries that will put Americans back to work.

Visit the House Natural Resources Committee website at 3 p.m. to watch the hearing live, and visit our blog for updates as H.R. 4402 makes its way through Congress.

Hal Quinn, president and CEO, National Mining Association