While supporters of new mining legislation say the initiative as a way to streamline Wisconsin’s iron mining permit process, the bill likely to be one of the key issues of the upcoming legislative session has vocal critics.
According to the Wisconsin Legislature’s website, the mining bill was introduced to the committee on Jobs, Economy and Small Business in December of last year.
The bill would decrease current Department of Natural Resources regulations for ferrous minerals, including iron, and streamline the permitting and public hearing process for proposed mining projects, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau’s analysis.
The analysis also said current state law requires the DNR to hold at least one informational meeting on an environmental impact report for a mining project. The new bill would not require such an informational meeting.
The bill had two public hearings since its introduction, one in Milwaukee and the other in Hurley.
Gogebic Taconite LLC is a development-stage iron ore mining in Ashland and Iron counties in Wisconsin which works to assemble the required information to begin the permitting process, according to their website.
The proposed mine would create 3,000 or more construction jobs to build the mine, according to the information page on GTAC’s website. It would also create over 700 direct mining jobs, each with an annual average salary estimated at $60,000.
Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber, D-Appleton, who is on the committee to which the bill was referred, said she did not support the bill and it should be completely rewritten.
Schaber detailed many problems with the bill, including how it limits Native American tribes’ ability to participate in the process, ties the hands of the DNR by limiting the amount of time they have to review regulations and eliminates the ability for a citizen to file civil suits against the proposed projects.
According to a filing with the Government Accountability Board, GTAC has spent $114,883 since July of last year lobbying state officials in support of its proposal to open the mine.
The company has also donated $21,500 to Wisconsin politicians since August of last year. $11,500 of these donations came from Chris Cline, the owner of The Cline Group, which is the parent company of GTAC, according the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s online database. The company donated $10,000 to Gov. Scott Walker, with $8,000 coming directly from Cline, $1,500 to Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon and $1,000 to Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.
When asked what his top priorities were for the upcoming legislative session at a Wispolitics luncheon on January 12, Jeff Fitzgerald said the passing the mining bill would be one of his top priorities since it would be a creator of jobs in the state.
Common Cause in Wisconsin Director Jay Heck said the trend of GTAC’s political donations in Wisconsin, along with out-of-state donations like Cline’s coming in to affect state politics, is becoming more popular.
“It used to be that legislation came primarily from in state,” Heck said. “It’s the way the game is played in Illinois, where for years they’ve had a reputation of anything goes. We’ve moved away from a system like Minnesota, which has actually done a great job at maintaining small, publicly-funded elections.”
