Mining in Utah as we once knew it might be on the way back, due to a Trump administration change in regulatory practices. (Adobe Stock image)
There’s a new sheriff in town. Actually, it’s an old sheriff but one with new, even bolder swagger this time around.
From a federal regulatory standpoint, the Trump administration represents a brand-new day for mining companies, according to Cyrus Western, Region 8 administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who spoke at the recent annual conference of the Utah Mining Association in Salt Lake City.
The Trump administration, including EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, have made clear that “the war on coal is over,” Western told the crowd.
“I think the last four years, the industry in this state and across the country faced a nonstop onslaught of regulation,” he said. “Regulation has its place, right? We all need it to have a level, equal playing field, but I think it was pretty clear that that regulation was designed really to do one thing, and that was to put you out of business.”
Western was referring to the Biden administration, but his criticism extended beyond that.
“One of the things I hope that everyone in this room has been taking stock of is that we have survived that onslaught, right? And not only of the last administration, but of all the previous administrations of the last 10 to 20 years, where I think there’s kind of been this kind of creeping push of regulations, right? — perhaps some well-meaning, perhaps not — that has ultimately led to this place where it has made it harder and harder for the folks in this room to fulfill their business models.”
Western commended the audience for not only making it through all of that, but to still be operating and contributing to the nation’s economy. Without providing many technical details about regulatory changes underway or planned by the Trump administration, Western promised a whole new approach, backed by a spirit of collaboration.
“In my mind, the days that the EPA, or any federal agency, coming into Utah, pounding our fists on our chests and saying, ‘Hey, this is how it’s going to be,’ those days are over,” he said. “Our approach is much more of, ‘Hey, how can we work with you? How can we help you?’
“Those days of trying to regulate this industry out of existence are over. We are here to have that relationship, have those tough conversations, and build that trust. Because I think that trust was fundamentally lacking in the last four years.”
Western said he has emphasized to his staffers that the administration has “an ambitious agenda” and if they push back on it, he will need to fire them.
“We understand the importance of your role in this economy and we want to make sure that whatever’s holding you back, it’s not us. … We want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to be helpful and not be an impediment,”
Nonetheless, companies will be held responsible for following laws, rules and regulations.
“At the end of the day, if folks aren’t following the law, there has to be accountability … there has to be compliance,” he said, adding that the EPA is seeking “outcomes that are fair and that, again, are ultimately in compliance.”
He discounted the idea in place for years that actions or people were either pro-environment and anti-industry or they were pro-industry and anti-environment.
“I think that’s just fundamentally not true, and I feel a responsibility to send that message … that we can have both, and we can walk and chew gum at the same time, that we can help the regulated-industry folks fulfill their business model, create these awesome jobs and also adhere to high environmental standards as well,” Western said.
In response to an audience question about whether future administrations will continue on the same path or pinball to something else — say, from another proverbial new sheriff in town — Western offered no guarantees but said the administration hopes to have “durable outcomes” from its actions, that important items “are thorough, that they are durable and we can ultimately win if they get challenged.”
Western said he will serve as an evangelist for the industry and noted its impacts both large and small. While some people living on the coasts do not understand mining, the extraction industry is “one of the last vestiges of these really high-quality, middle-class, blue-collar jobs,” he said, with mining contributing to communities in ways that few others do. On a broader scale, mining has contributed to “every great moment” of the past 150 years, with an example being the use of rare earth materials to manufacture rockets that put humans on the moon.
In his evangelist/cheerleader role, Western said Utah’s high concentrations of critical minerals is among the reasons the state will have a key role in the years to come.
“I think this state has a very unique opportunity to play a role in the future of mining in America,” he said. “I think that, as a matter of fact, we cannot achieve our full potential as a country without mining, and without mining right here in Utah.”
Western issued to the audience a call to action. “You, the folks in this room, and the companies you run and the miners that you employ … despite all the headwinds, have done an incredible job of meeting that call, of serving the nation. But we need you. Without you, I think our future is uncertain. But with you and with your whole effort, I think we can create this incredible future for America.”