A lawsuit challenging a Bush administration policy allowing mines located on federal land to deposit waste on valid mine claims was filed Oct. 20 in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., by the Western Mining Action Project on behalf of the  Earthworks in Washington, D.C., Tucson’s Save the Scenic Santa Ritas and three other environmental groups.

If successful, the challenge could affect the Augusta Resource Corp.’s proposed Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson based on the use of their mine claims in the Coronado National Forest.

U.S. Reps. Gabrielle Giffords and Raul Grijlavla want the Department of Agriculture to validate claims that Augusta has on Forest Service land, overriding a refusal by the Coronado Forest to do so, and to consider a “no action” alternative under the National Environmental Policy Act that could halt approval of a mine.

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In 2003, the Interior Department issued a regulation saying that a mine with valid claims on public land could use as many of their claims as they wished to deposit mine tailings and other wastes, even if they could otherwise be mined.

Under the 1872 Mining Act, a mine is allowed five acres of waste per claim on what are known as millsite claims — usually around 20 acres. Prior to 2003, mine waste had to be dumped on millsite claims contiguous to valid mine claims. Following a challenge to the 2003 ruling, a Federal district court stated that since Congress had not changed the law, if the Interior Department wanted to make a new rule regarding mine wastes it would have to go through a public comment process and the National Environmental Policy Act review. The U.S. Department of Interior implemented its regulation without doing so.

In December 2008, in the closing days of the Bush administration, the Interior Department reversed a 2003 ruling by the Federal District Court stating that public lands that were used by the mining industry, but that were not valid mine or mill claims, had to receive fair market value pricing from a mine.