Mining
OVERVIEW (courtesy of
www.epa.gov )
There are 3 general categories of mining activities that are
regulated by EPA:
hardrock mining,
non-metals mining and
coal mining.
Regulation of the mining sector involves every major EPA
program. Mining operations generate tailings and waste rock that
must be disposed of, and create wastewater discharges and air
emissions. As a result, mining can affect surface and ground
water quality, drinking water supplies and air quality. Impacts
from operating and abandoned mines can also cause extensive
losses of aquatic and terrestrial habitat.
Throughout the western United States there are thousands of
miles of mining impacted streams and rivers caused by active and
historic mining of metallic ores (e.g., iron, copper, lead,
zinc, molybdenum, tungsten) and precious metals (gold, platinum
and silver). Similarly, large scale coal mining in the eastern
half of the United States has been underway for the past 150
years and the impacts to watersheds from active as well as
abandoned coal mines require regulatory oversight to protect
these valuable environmental resources. These situations,
combined with an increasing population, has made mining issues a
priority. The growth in population has intensified the use of
aquatic and riparian ecosystems for recreation, and has
increased the demand on aquifers for domestic water supply.
The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires all point source
discharges from mining operations be authorized under an NPDES
permit, as described in Section 402 of the CWA. The construction
of impoundments to serve as repositories for tailings and
treatment of waste from mining and mineral processing operations
are regulated by Section 404 of the CWA, as well as, Section 402
in the case of discharges from these impoundments into any
waters of the United States.
EPA Regional offices have used statutory authority granted by
the Clean Water Act (CWA) to regulate all mining activities
(i.e., coal, hardrock and non-metals) through the NPDES permits
program since the 1970's. Although mining permits are issued by
various State agencies, the Office of Water (OW) may review State
issued permits to ensure compliance with water quality criteria
and ensure that effluent guidelines for ore/coal mining and
processing are properly applied to wastewater discharges from
these activities.
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/indpermitting/mining.cfm
- U.S. EPA's Hardrock Mining Framework
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