The US mining sector has applauded the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council’s (FPISC’s) vote to include mining under projects covered by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), but environmental groups have their reservations.
The National Mining Association (NMA) has said the vote highlights that the nation’s transit systems, ports and waterways, pipelines and other projects, is reliant on timely access to raw materials made available through domestic mining.
“As the front end of our supply chain, American mining is key to successfully repairing our nation’s infrastructure so including mining projects among those covered by FAST-41 is an important first step in addressing permitting delays that have plagued the mining industry for years,” says NMA president and CEO Rich Nolan.