U.S. House Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee on June 25 used an emergency power to ban uranium mining and exploration around the Grand Canyon National Park.
After Republicans left in protest, Democrats on the committee voted 20-2 to pass the resolution. Under a rarely used act of Congress, the emergency resolution has the force of law, without needing the approval of the full House or Senate. Passing this resolution requires the Secretary of the Interior to take action.
When the Secretary of Interior determines that an emergency exists or when either of the two congressional committees specified in section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 notifies the Secretary that an emergency exists, the Secretary must immediately make a withdrawal which shall be limited in scope and duration to the emergency.
Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona in a June 19 news release said he had introduced the adopted emergency resolution. Grijalva said, "I feel compelled to submit this request for emergency action due to the grave and immediate threat to the Grand Canyon National Park, the crowned jewel of our national park system."
This is not Grijalva’s first attempt to ban mining around the park. In March he had introduced H.R. 5583 which is aimed at banning any form of mineral entry or exploration on more than 1 million acres of land surrounding the Grand Canyon.
Rep. Rob Bishop R-Utah led a Republican walkout in protest, leaving only Democrats to vote on the resolution. “We will not be a part of this resolution. It’s the wrong thing to do,” Bishop declared.
Republicans requested that Congressional Research Service look into the validity of the resolution. A CRS memo said that the resolution may not hold up in court.
The CRS memo said, “Should such a resolution be adopted it appears likely that the Secretary would be well within his authority to interpret it as informational and/or advisory in nature and, thus, will be able to avoid taking the actions contemplated under the statute."
It is still unclear whether the Interior Department will comply with the order. Similar resolutions in the past have been found to be unconstitutional.
Don Young, R-Alaska, and Rob Bishop, R-Utah, released a statement Wednesday declaring that the resolution withdrawing these lands "is clearly unconstitutional."
