E.P.A. Looks for Small Entity Input on Financial Responsibility Requirements for Hardrock Mining Industry

WASHINGTON -- The E.P.A. (EPA) looks for nominations from those small entities that may be subject to a suggested rule establishing financial responsibility requirements for facilities within the hardrock mining industry. Financial responsibility requirements help ensure that owners and operators of these facilities, not taxpayers, pay for environmental cleanup.

The selected nominees will serve as the Small Entity Representatives (SERs), providing advice and recommendations on behalf of their company, community, or organization to the federal panel on the suggested rule. E.P.A. previously solicited nominations for a similar panel in 2010. Entities that participated in that previous effort and would like to be considered again need to re-nominate themselves.

The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires E.P.A. to establish a federal panel for rules that will have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The panel includes federal representatives from the Small Business Administration, the Office of Management and Budget, and EPA.

In an earlier Federal Register notice, E.P.A. identified classes of facilities within the hardrock mining industry as those for which E.P.A. will 1st develop financial responsibility requirements under section 108(b) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA).

CERCLA is commonly called the "Superfund" law. In the notice identifying hardrock mining, E.P.A. defined hard rock mining as the extraction, beneficiation or processing of metals and non-metallic, non-fuel minerals.

Small businesses interested in the suggested rule or serving as a SER should visit: http://www.epa.gov/rfa/hard-rock-mining.html

Submissions must be received by June 22, 2015.

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