New bill slashes tribes’ role in projects that impact ancestral sites, water and wildlife

In 2024, a subsidiary of the mining company Energy Fuels revived its plans to open the Roca Honda Uranium Mine in New Mexico near Mount Taylor, a place of cultural significance to at least 30 Native nations. The company had received expedited permitting under the Trump administration last year, and in mid-September, the Forest Service announced that it would begin to analyze the mine’s potential impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. That process includes tribal consultation, which is critical to upholding tribes’ ability to protect cultural landscapes, wildlife and water, would change dramatically under the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, a permitting reform bill introduced by Western Republican and Democratic senators, including Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Mike Lee, R-Utah. The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is expected to vote on it after Congress returns on Nov. 9.

This excerpt comes from the named source. Read the original for the full reporting.