The Pebble Partnership welcomed today’s announcement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it has initiated steps to withdraw its Proposed Determination restricting development at the Pebble Project. PLP CEO Tom Collier had the following statement regarding the announcement:
“We are very pleased with this positive step from the EPA in its return to fair and normal process for making regulatory decisions. We welcome today’s news and look forward to accessing the regular permitting process for our project later this year.
EPA Administrator Pruitt has indicated his strong support for the rule of law and today’s announcement reflects that commitment. We have long advocated that the normal, fair and objective permitting process is the appropriate place to make decisions about this important project.
We have undertaken several initiatives that demonstrate our project has been responsive to stakeholder input. This includes a significantly smaller mine plan that we look forward to sharing as the year progresses.”
Collier expressed confidence that EPA will withdraw its Proposed Determination at the conclusion of the administrative process initiated today. The US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology urged Administrator Pruitt to take such action back in February 2017, stating that EPA actions at Pebble were based on “a questionable scientific assessment that relied on pre-determined conclusions,” and that EPA officials “acted with bias and predetermined conclusions aimed to prevent this project and improperly expand EPA’s authority under the Clean Water Act.”