WASHINGTON—Despite hours of impassioned arguments by Sen. Tina Smith, the U.S. Senate has ended a Biden-era moratorium on mining in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness watershed.

Thursday’s vote cleared a major hurdle for Twin Metals, which is fighting to mine nickel, copper and other metals in the Superior National Forest.

Twin Metals, which has been trying to establish a mine in the area since 2019, will soon be able to apply for federal permits to restart work on the project after President Donald Trump is expected to sign a resolution that would lift a 20-year moratorium.

The moratorium was imposed by the U.S. Forest Service in 2023 due to concerns about environmental hazards from sulfide mining and possible contamination of the favorite destination for canoeists and sportsmen.

But Twin Metals still has to clear a series of federal and state hurdles — including the reinstatement of federal leases canceled by the Biden administration in 2022.

Smith began speaking against the resolution on Wednesday and spoke for hours.

“If they want to go against the will of Minnesotans, then I’m going to spend hours on the floor of the Senate giving them every opportunity to change their minds and do the right thing,” Smith said.

She said using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to repeal the mining ban was a “dangerous precedent” that would allow Congress to overturn any action taken by the administration.

“Future Congresses will be able to overturn any order, even seven years down the line,” removing public lands protections dear to both Senate Democrats and Republicans, Smith said.

She warned her fellow senators “what goes around comes around.”

A CRA can overrule federal agency rules and regulations through a joint resolution of approval in the House and Senate and signed by the president. That means he is not bound by the filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes to pass most bills.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is the granddaughter of Iron Range miners, also warned that the unprecedented use of the CRA to repeal the public land order would threaten all protected lands.

“The CRA threatens the conservation status of the Grand Canyon,” she said.

Minnesota’s Democratic senators also warned of the devastating environmental impact of copper sulfide mining near the 3 million-acre Boundary Waters.

“100% of the time (these mines) have always caused pollution,” Smith said.

Smith also said lifting the moratorium was opposed by Minnesota tribes that have treaty rights to hunt, fish and harvest wild rice in the Superior National Forest and other tribes across the nation.

Smith also claimed that Twin Metals, a subsidiary of Chilean mining company Antofagasta, would ship any ore extracted from the Superior National Forest to smelters in China.

But among Senate Republicans who hold the majority, the arguments of Minnesota’s Democratic senators have not prevailed.

Stauber gets the win

The resolution was adopted on Thursday by a 50-49 majority party vote. It would not only lift the moratorium on sulfide mining in the Boundary Waters, but also bar another president from reimposing such a ban.

Still, a different Congress—with the support of a future president—could always approve a new ban on mining in the Superior National Forest.

The Senate vote was a big win for Rep. Pete Stauber, R-8^th District, which sponsored the resolution that passed the US House in January.

“A big victory for America and Minnesota’s 8th congressional district was secured today,” Stauber exulted published on X shortly after the vote. “The Senate just passed my bill to overturn Biden’s ban on illegal mining in the Superior National Forest – now headed to the President’s desk! Mining is our past, our present and our future – and the future looks bright!”

The filibuster, which gives minority Democrats leverage in the US Senate, has always prevented Stauber from getting approval for his mining initiatives in that chamber.

So Stauber turned to the CRA. Passed in 1996, the law was intended to make federal agencies more accountable.

Congress passed the CRA to prevent a lame duck president from pushing through major policy changes just before the inauguration of a new president. Mandates that a disapproval decision be considered 60 days after the rule change. But the mineral withdrawal was implemented on January 26, 2023, prompting opponents of the resolution to call foul.

While environmentalists and conservation groups lobbied to defeat the resolution, the nation’s mining industry worked to win its approval.

“We need action today to undo past and protect against future unjustified land grabs. We call on the Senate to pass a resolution on the Congressional Review Act of @RepPeteStauber reversing an improper Biden-era land divestment from Minnesota that blocked responsible mining on more than 220,000 acres of mineral-rich land,” the National Association of Mines said. in a post on X Thursday. “Ensuring access to domestic minerals has never been more important; this CRA is a critical step for national and economic security.”

This article first appeared on MinnPost and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.