By Mila Besich Lira
Superior Sun
Last week started out with a barrage of state and national news coverage upon Resolution Copper’s announcement that their Mine Plan of Operations would be submitted to the Tonto National Forest Service. The submission of the Mine Plan of Operations will mark the beginning of the full National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) review. The Mine Plan of Operations will be available electronically on the Resolution Copper website in the coming weeks. Resolution Copper hosted a community wide open house in Superior on Monday to allow the community an opportunity to see the plan and ask questions before it was submitted to the Forest Service on Friday.
On Wednesday, there was an unexpected call for a floor vote by the U.S. House of Representatives on the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act H.R. 687. As unexpectedly as the house vote was called by Representatives Gosar and Kirkpatrick the duo pulled the bill from the floor for a full vote within minutes of the floor vote. In a statement following the series of events both Gosar and Kirkpatrick vowed to keep fighting for the passage of the land exchange bill.
Kirkpatrick stated, “The setback on HR 687 is disappointing. The families in Arizona’s Copper Corridor need these jobs, and Arizona’s economy needs this boost. I remain committed to moving this forward, working across the aisle with Congressman Gosar and my colleagues, and bringing local stakeholders together. When it comes to creating jobs and strengthening the economy, we need to find common ground.”
While the U.S. House of Representatives have not voted on the bill, Senator John McCain has requested a hearing in the Senate Energy Committee for Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013.