Provision for mining near Boundary Waters nixed from federal budget bill

WASHINGTON — An effort to jumpstart copper-nickel mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has died in Congress.

A provision that would pave the way for mining in the Superior National Forest in northeastern Minnesota was removed Tuesday night from the federal budget bill moving through Congress, an unexpected win for environmentalists.

Draft language released before a U.S. House committee overseeing technical corrections to the bill included instructions to “strike Section 80131.”

Sen. Tina Smith, the Democrat from Minnesota, had pushed the Senate parliamentarian to remove the language, saying green-lighting the mining of sulfide-bearing ore near a sensitive watershed did not meet rules in the U.S. Senate for a measure intended to be approved through the reconciliation process, which must be chiefly focused on the budget.

“Today marks a victory in our fight to protect the Boundary Waters,” Smith said in a statement Tuesday. She noted that the Republican spending bill had contained a provision “that gave a foreign mining company full permission to build a copper-nickel sulfide mine right on the doorstep of the Boundary Waters.”

The language would have nullified a Biden administration prohibition on mining federal lands in Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties. It also would have reinstated hardrock mineral leases, including to Twin Metals Minnesota, which is seeking to mine for copper and nickel near Birch Lake, a tributary to the Boundary Waters.

The federal government in exchange would have received millions in rent for use of federal land. The change was headed to a vote by the full House on Wednesday.

Twin Metals Minnesota, owned by Chilean-based Antofagasta, declined to comment.

Julie Lucas, executive director of Mining Minnesota, said the decision to remove language “due to a nice, procedural provision” would delay the pursuit of a resilient supply chain for the country’s energy future.

“Leaders from both sides of the aisle recognize the need to increase our domestic production of minerals,” Lucas said in a statement, “and we welcome conversations about Minnesota’s role in meeting those mineral security goals.”

The proposed Twin Metals mine, roughly 9 miles south of Ely, is estimated to generate 750 full-time jobs and produce minerals, including copper and nickel, that would power technology from batteries to cellphones to medical devices.

But there also are concerns about toxic runoff leaching into lakes near the popular BWCAW.

Chance Adams of Tenstrike, with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday, meeting with members of Congress and trying to drum up support to remove the mining portion of the budget bill.

“It would potentially ruin thousands of lakes and pollute the watershed that goes up into Voyageurs [National Park],” Adams said.

Ingrid Lyons, executive director of Save the Boundary Waters, called the announcement “good news for the millions who cherish this iconic place.”

“The Boundary Waters is a natural treasure, ecological wonder and vital economic driver,” Lyons said.

Before Memorial Day, the House of Representatives passed a version of the spending bill, including tax and entitlement cuts, the ending of green-energy credits and mining on public lands. The GOP-controlled Senate is aiming to pass the bill before July 4.

But to pass it under the filibuster-free reconciliation process in the Senate, the bill needs to abide by the so-called “Byrd Rule,” which requires that provisions stay primarily focused on the budget. It’s the Senate parliamentarian’s job to make that call.

The current Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, has in the past rebuffed both Democratic and Republican policies. In 2021, MacDonough earned grief from Democrats for ruling against the inclusion of a $15 minimum wage in a budget reconciliation package. Ten years earlier, she spoiled Republicans’ efforts to roll back parts of the Affordable Care Act.

Michael Thorning, a director with the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, said the parliamentarian is nonpartisan but takes heat for her decisions.

“The parliamentarian’s expanded role has much more to do with senators seeking to expand the scope of reconciliation beyond what was originally envisioned,” Thorning said.

Once approved by the House, the full bill will be transmitted to the Senate.

Rep. Pete Stauber, the Republican who represents northern Minnesota and championed the Twin Metals project at a committee hearing earlier this spring, said the bill as originally drafted would unleash “America’s natural resources, which will generate equitable returns for the American people through royalty, rental and auction fees.”

Stauber did not respond to a request for comment.

Under the provisions of the pro-mining language for the Superior National Forest lands, the Congressional Budget Office had estimated the federal government would have collected $81 million in rent between 2025 and 2034.

It’s widely expected that President Donald Trump could take executive action to try to jumpstart mining in the Superior National Forest. Trump has highlighted mining projects in northern Minnesota on past visits to the state.

Chris Knopf, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters, noted the battle is not over.

“For conservationists, every victory is temporary and every defeat is permanent,” Knopf said.

By Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had announced her agency was beginning a process to reverse President Joe Biden’s cancellation of mineral leases.