Heinrich kills deal to compensate mine

With the 113th Congress failing to stop large-scale mining the Santa Clarita Valley, Cemex appears ready to start mining aggregates in Soledad Canyon. The Senate closed up shop for the holidays Tuesday night after a flurry of last-minute legislative activity left the city without the Senate vote needed to avert a mine in Soledad Canyon just east of city limits. Santa Clarita officials and Cemex executives struck a partnership seven years ago, after years of fighting. The deal essentially entailed the international mining company holding off on profiting from its mineral rights contracts in Soledad Canyon, so both sides could work on a way to compensate Cemex by other means. The latest version of “the legislative solution,” the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act, calls for Cemex to cancel their mining contracts in exchange for 10,000 acres of federal land being sold, with those proceeds compensating Cemex. Santa Clarita officials said the bill, which was authored by Boxer and achieved a zero score, led to city officials celebrating the move as the best bet for Santa Clarita to stop a massive sand and gravel mine...more

Here is the most interesting part, at least for New Mexicans:



About one week after city officials sent out a letter expressing their disappointment in McKeon for not using a manager’s amendment to include the Cemex bill in the NDAA, he pulled the bill off the suspension calendar. “(H.R. 5742) was never an appropriate bill for the NDAA and the omnibus,” said Morris Thomas, Santa Clarita Valley field representative for McKeon, shortly after McKeon got the bill passed with a unanimous voice vote.

This means Rep. McKeon got unanimous consent, i.e. all members of the House, both D's and R's, agreed to the bill.  It then moved to the Senate, where this happened:

This placed Boxer and her staff with few options, and just a few days to garner support from Heinrich — who served two terms in the House of Representatives in the HASC under McKeon before his election to the Senate and opposed the Cemex bill on ideological grounds. Heinrich placed a legislative hold on the bill, indicating he didn’t support it, leaving Boxer little option. “Heinrich has no objection to buying out the gravel mining contract outside of Santa Clarita, Calif.,” said Whitney Porter, Heinrich’s spokeswoman. “However, the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act uses the sale of 10,000 acres of BLM land as a budget offset to pay for the buyout. This is highly unusual for public land legislation.” The bill sets a dangerous precedent, she added, noting it could allow Congress to use federal lands as a “piggy bank” any time legislators need funds. His views echo those of the Bureau of Land Management officials, who also formally opposed the bill, despite numerous attempts by city officials.

Heinrich opposed this on "ideological grounds", i.e. the privatization of 10,000 acres of federal land.  Apparently using a public resource to protect the public is a no-no.  He's fine with spending public dollars to compensate the mine, but opposes the loss of any public land.  This should give all New Mexicans insight on our Senator, who just happens to sit on the committee with jurisdiction over public lands, and is the only member of New Mexico's Congressional Delegation who sits on such a committee. 

UPDATE, I just found this: 

N.M. Senator Introduces Own Bill, Calls Cemex ‘Dangerous Precedent’

...Heinrich, who touts his concern for the environment, said such a bill establishes a precedent for Congress to use its national lands as a piggy bank, Porter said. On his website, Heinrich considers himself “a lead proponent of preserving New Mexico’s public lands and wildlife.”“Fighting for public access to public land and conservation has been a centerpiece of Senator Heinrich’s public career,” Porter stated in an email. “America’s forests, wildlife refuges and conservation lands are part of the fabric of our democracy.”...Heinrich applauded Congress’ bipartisan passage of dozens of public land use bills in the National Defense Authorization Act on Friday, some of which were similar in nature to the Cemex bill...Heinrich introduced a bill last week, S.B. 3016, that would, going forward, allow the BLM “the authority to accept a relinquished ‘mineral materials’ (sand, gravel, aggregate, etc.) contract and reimburse the company for funds paid for the contract,” Porter said. Currently, BLM has this authority for oil and gas leases, but not gravel, she added. However, there are two foreseeable concerns with the situation for advocates of the Cemex bill, which includes the city of Santa Clarita, that has spent about $12 million for the property. The relinquishment must happen before production of minerals and before any surface disturbance, Porter said. However, Soledad Canyon was reportedly mined without federal permits in the 1990s, which is what reportedly prompted the sale of contracts, and led to the city purchasing the property. The other issue is one of time. Cemex officials have said this current legislative session is the deadline for the international mining company to look for a legislative solution that would avoid a mine opening up in Santa Clarita’s backyard, according to congressional testimony.

 I see nothing there that would cause me to revise my comments.  He's still willing to spend public dollars to partially compensate, but unwilling to turn loose of public acreage for the same purpose.  The fact there were similar provisions in the NDAA package is interesting.  I guess if he gets Wilderness in NM his "ideological grounds" change.