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Joint Minerals Committee

INVITING NUCLEAR WASTE RISKS FEDERAL OVERREACH AND ENVIRONMENTAL HARM

Posted on by John Burrows

Some bad ideas refuse to die — and the recent legislative push to make Wyoming a temporary location for the nation’s high-level radioactive waste is definitely one of them.

Over the last three decades, the Wyoming Legislature has discussed rolling out the red carpet for nuclear waste several times. Now, that discussion promises to rear its head once again when the 2025 General Session begins in January.

Just as we have in the past, WOC opposes this latest proposal, which would make it easier to store high-level radioactive waste in Wyoming. It’s not a position we take lightly: As an independent, statewide organization, we understand the challenges associated with diversifying our economy and the need for solutions that address complex energy and environmental challenges, which are often at odds with one another.

As one of the most regulated materials known to humankind, inviting high-level nuclear waste to Wyoming would also invite an unprecedented level of federal oversight and regulation not seen before in Wyoming. For this reason and others discussed here, we strongly believe that inviting this waste to Wyoming would be a poor decision that could jeopardize our environment, communities, state sovereignty, and future hopes of broader economic diversification.

Concerned about nuclear waste storage in Wyoming? Join our list to stay informed as this bill moves through the legislature.

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Wyoming has held the line against nuclear waste storage for decades. Before we get to the current proposal, let’s take a look at some highlights from Wyoming’s long and proud history of rejecting nuclear waste dumps.

  • 1991: The U.S. Department of Energy proposes a “Monitored Retrievable Storage” nuclear waste facility in Wyoming. Gov. Mike Sullivan ended the project a year later, citing numerous concerns around transportation safety, the failures of the federal government as a trusted partner, and potential damage to other industries.
  • 1994: A University of Wyoming poll shows that more than 80 percent of residents opposed nuclear waste storage in Wyoming.
  • 1995: The Wyoming legislature passes laws regulating private and federal nuclear waste storage facilities. Importantly, they include safeguards to ensure Wyoming does not become a de facto permanent repository site.
  • 1998: Gov. Jim Geringer shuts down a proposal for a private nuclear waste storage facility.
  • 2010: The decades-long effort by the federal government to create a permanent nuclear disposal facility for high level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain Nevada ended, mainly for political reasons.
  • 2019: The Wyoming legislature’s Spent Fuel Rods Subcommittee studies the revenue opportunity for waste storage. Because of restrictions and limited funds provided in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, they abandon the effort.

The current attempt to bring nuclear waste to Wyoming comes from a bill sponsored by the Joint Minerals Committee that changes the definition of “high-level nuclear waste” to exclude “spent nuclear fuel.” This definition change would create a loophole to circumvent our existing laws that require extensive environmental protections and requirements for public comment and legislative approval for the storage of high-level radioactive waste.

Call it what you like — but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. Legislators can change the definition of “high level nuclear waste,” but spent nuclear fuel is still high level nuclear waste, and “spent” does not equal safe. The definition change is out of sync with the definition held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, setting the stage for conflict with the federal agency created to regulate high-level radioactive waste — do we really want to invite more uncertainty in management, jeopardizing land, water, wildlife and communities?

If you share our concerns, we could use your help. Tell your legislators that you oppose nuclear dumps in Wyoming, and sign up here to be notified with alerts as this bill moves through the legislature.

Looking for more information? Check out our nuclear waste storage fact sheet. Finally, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for a conversation.

VOICE YOUR SUPPORT FOR WIND RIVER MULE DEER MIGRATION

Posted on by Meghan Riley

Wyoming is renowned for its wide-ranging ungulates and boasts the most extensive migration corridors left in the Lower 48. However, maintaining connectivity in these corridors requires maps of animals’ seasonal movements — it’s darn near impossible to protect critical habitat if you don’t know where it is!

Thankfully, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is now making moves to formally recognize and share maps for the Upper Wind River Mule Deer Migration Corridor.

These incredible mule deer migrate through some of our wildest places, including the Wind River Basin, the Gros Ventre, Absarokas, and Grand Teton National Park. But development on private lands is one of the chief threats to this migration, according to WGFD biologists’ threat evaluation.

To ensure Upper Wind River Mule Deer have the connected habitat they need to survive and thrive, we need a map of their corridor to direct conservation efforts where they’ll do the most good. If you’d like to see this and other migration corridors mapped, the agency needs to hear from you!

Write a comment in support of mapping this migration

We know from past experience that public support matters when it comes to migration corridors. It is up to us to show the state that Wyomingites overwhelmingly support the sharing of data and mapping of migration corridors.

Your comments can be brief and speak to your connection to Wyoming’s mule deer — the more personal, the better! You may also want to touch on the suggested points below.

SUPPORT WIND RIVER MULE DEER: COMMENT NOW

Deadline: August 9, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Suggested talking points:

  • Support for habitat mapping and data sharing: We can’t hope to protect habitat for deer that migrate through the Upper Wind River Valley without having a clear picture of where their migration corridor is. I am grateful to our biologists for mapping this migration and fully support this migration corridor being formally recognized and shared with the public.
  • In favor of funding for habitat improvements: Given the pressures these deer face on private land in the Dubois area, I recommend that Wyoming Game and Fish Department ask that this migration corridor be prioritized for funding through the USDA’s Migratory Big Game Initiative. The more we can do to fund habitat improvements in this migration corridor, the better.
  • Enthusiasm for mapping this corridor and others: It is heartening to see new migration corridors being mapped and shared with the public. In addition to formally recognizing the Upper Wind River Mule Deer Migration Corridor, I strongly encourage biologists to do the same for other migrations around the state.*

*Many migrations would benefit from being formally recognized, including Wyoming Range mule deer, Carter Mountain pronghorn, Shirley Basin pronghorn, Clarks Fork mule deer, and Upper Shoshone mule deer. If you have a personal connection to any of these, feel free to include that in your comment!

Thank you once again for voicing your support for the Upper Wind River Mule Deer Migration Corridor — and for your care and stewardship of our phenomenal wildlife!

ROOFTOP SOLAR IS UNDER ATTACK (YET AGAIN)

Posted on by Era Aranow

A bad bill that tried to end net metering in the 2023 legislative session is back — and we need your help to stop it.

Over the years, you’ve told the Senate, the Corporations Committee, and the Travel Committee how important net metering is to Wyomingites. Those efforts paid off, but now we need you to speak up again. This time, it’s the Minerals Committee that needs to be told how strongly Wyoming supports net metering.

Having the freedom to use our roofs, property, businesses, and homes to generate the electricity that helps power our lives is a policy that makes sense for Wyoming.

But the bill “Small customer electricity generation” would end net metering and negatively impact current and future rooftop solar customers, businesses, and employees.

This bill would eliminate jobs, limit the energy choices Wyomingites currently have to produce their own power, and harm long-term investments. Even its discussion (yet again!) creates significant uncertainty for customers and installers in Wyoming.

STOP ANOTHER ATTACK ON NET METERING

Deadline: July 30, 2024

On July 31 in Casper, the representatives and senators of the Joint Minerals Committee will vote on whether or not to end net metering. We need to send the message to the committee that net metering is a policy that works for Wyoming, and that we should not favor utility monopolies and their rising rates over private investment.

Please help us keep net metering alive by telling the Minerals Committee to vote ‘NO’ on “Small customer electricity generation.” If it’s not broken, there’s no need to fix it!

You don’t need to have rooftop solar to make a difference. Some of the most effective testimony and comments we’ve seen on this issue are from folks without rooftop solar but who would like to see more of it.

Thank you for once again taking action and showing your support for net metering. Together, we’ll stop this bad bill, just as we’ve done in years past.

Looking for more information and points to include in your message to the committee? See our fact sheet for net metering.

STOP THE EXPANSION OF LIMITED MINING OPERATIONS TO NEW MINERAL TYPES!

Posted on by Era Aranow

Your voice makes a difference! Will you urge the Joint Minerals Committee to protect public input on mines and ensure industry is not exempted from important health and environmental protections? Find suggested talking points to help you write your message below.

MESSAGE THE COMMITTEE

Imagine this: Your new neighbor is a gaping 15-acre mine, bringing clouds of dust, unrelenting noise, and near-constant truck traffic to your area. Your peace and quiet are disrupted, your property values decrease, and, worst of all, there’s almost nothing you can do about it.

It may be hard to believe, but this nightmare scenario is entirely possible under the current process for Limited Mining Operations. LMOs are operations for mining inert materials like sand and gravel that are 15 acres or less, or approximately the size of 12 football fields.

LMOs are exempt from the mine permit process and do not require public comment, which means that a dusty, noisy mine could become your new neighbor without you having a chance to voice your concerns. While many LMOs help ranchers maintain roads on their own property, over the years we’ve seen more and more commercial operators using this permit exemption close to residential areas.

And here’s where it gets worse: Legislators are now proposing to expand these permit exemptions to include almost all mineral types. This increases the likelihood of a commercial LMO near you, and elevates the risk of water pollution and other hazards.

This proposed legislation takes an existing problem and makes it potentially far more damaging. But you can help today by asking the Joint Minerals Committee to oppose the expansion of LMOs to new mineral types.

ACT NOW – MESSAGE THE COMMITTEE

Deadline: July 29, 2024

You may have heard about the proposed gravel pit in Casper, an example that demonstrates how even existing types of LMOs can significantly impact the quality of life in an area. The last thing we should be doing is expanding these exemptions. But if this bill moves forward, that’s exactly what would happen.

This bill would expand the LMO category from sand and gravel to include gold, lithium, rare earth metals, and others. If these operations are exempted from a full mine permit, there would be less oversight from the Department of Environmental Quality and no public comment requirements for minerals with known risks.

Some even see this expansion as a means to allow large mines to get started on a small scale before their full permitting process is complete.

On July 30 in Casper, the representatives and senators of the Joint Minerals Committee will vote on the expansion of LMOs. We need to send the message to the committee that Wyomingites like you and me value public participation in these processes, and that we should not exempt industry from important health, safety, and environmental protections for these new minerals.

How large is a 15-acre mine?

Looking for more information and points to include in your message to the committee? See our fact sheet for Limited Mining Operations.

Thank you for reaching out to your legislators. Together, we can keep this from getting worse!