With changes in federal regulations and a high demand for critical minerals, southwestern Colorado’s mining potential is once again gathering attention, especially as the Department of the Interior plans to accelerate the permitting process for energy resources.
Supporters claim that this will help the United States access key domestic energy elements, but critics warn that bypassing much of the permitting process will be detrimental to environmental protections, critical habitats and valuable natural areas.
The Department of the Interior announced a plan to implement emergency permitting procedures to speed up the development of domestic energy resources and critical minerals. This will expedite the review and approval process for projects involving the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, or generation of energy sources — including crude oil, natural gas, uranium, critical minerals, geothermal energy and others. The new permitting procedures pares down the existing multi-year process to 28 days maximum.
“By reducing a multi-year permitting process down to just 28 days, the Department will lead with urgency, resolve, and a clear focus on strengthening the nation’s energy independence,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in a statement. “We are cutting through unnecessary delays to fast-track the development of American energy and critical minerals — resources that are essential to our economy, our military readiness, and our global competitiveness.”
The Trump administration claims that the existing timeline for the current approval process “pose significant risks to the nation’s economic stability, national security, and foreign policy interests,” and that the new permitting procedures will accelerate energy development.
Locally, BLM Tres Rios Field Manager Derek Padilla noted that their office was directed to speed up the review process, but Tres Rios has not received any energy permit applications recently that fall under this type of review.
Environmental assessments for projects, which currently can take up to a year, are now expected to be reviewed within around 14 days, and those requiring a full environmental impact statement — a two-year process — will now be reviewed in approximately 28 days. Typically this fast track style of approval is intended only for severe emergencies like hurricanes, floods and oil spills.
“They provided us direction on energy-related type projects to shorten the comment period to 14 days and have reviews done in 28 days. Our field office has not had any of those projects, so we’ve not had to deal with that yet, but that is something to be aware of,” Padilla said during a San Miguel County Board of Commissioners meeting in May.
Padilla noted that there are three potential upcoming projects in San Miguel County that could be affected by the accelerated permitting process.
“It’s 14 days, compared to 30 day comment periods, and then from start to finish, a 28-day decision framework, compared to anywhere from six months to a year for these types of projects. So it’s pretty condensed,” he said.
The move came as a follow up to President Donald Trump’s executive order on declaring a “national energy emergency ” on the day of his inauguration. The executive order calls for expanding oil and gas exploration and drilling via federal use of eminent domain and the Defense Production Act — which authorizes the government to use private land and resources determined to be of national necessity.
But critics worry that the expedited process will miss key environmental considerations and that hasty approvals could have lasting consequences.
San Miguel County natural resources and climate resilience director Starr Jamison called the emergency energy order “pretty devastating.”
“This deregulation has me very concerned,” Jamison said.
These changes to permitting processes could affect local regulations, including updates to the county’s Land Use Code (LUC). In recent years, San Miguel County has seen an increase in mining exploration permit applications. To help mitigate the environmental impact of these activities and to make the region’s mining regulations more cohesive, the county is updating section 6-3 regulations for the LUC.
With the mining LUC amendment, San Miguel County aims to streamline mining regulations to protect the environment and increase oversight of “ancillary activities,” including transporting materials and site recovery.
But federal or state rules can supersede the LUC mining codes, so these changes at a federal level to the permitting process could affect mining permit applications locally.
“We are almost finished with our mining regulations and are waiting to see what happens next,” Jamison noted.
Following the move to expedite energy projects, a coalition of 15 states decided to sue, stating that the administration is ignoring critical environmental protection laws, putting endangered species, key habitat and cultural resources at risk.
“The Executive Order is unlawful, and its commands that federal agencies disregard the law and in many cases their own regulations to fast-track extensive categories of activities will result in damage to waters, wetlands, critical habitat, historic and cultural resources, endangered species, and the people and wildlife that rely on these precious resources,” the plaintiffs wrote in the lawsuit. “The shortcuts inherent in rushing through emergency processes fundamentally undermine the rights of States.”
The attorney generals from Washington, California, Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin have all joined the lawsuit, although Colorado has not.