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State, national mining groups back Pebble fight
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‘EPA overstepped its authority with veto of project’ Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. recently announced that four nation - al mining and business organizations filed amicus briefs in Alaska Federal Court supporting its challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agen- cy’s (EPA) Section 404(c) veto of the Pebble copper project, arguing that the agency overstepped its authority and failed to weigh the economic conse- quences of blocking one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper deposits. Arriving as the court continues to work through the latest phase of lit- igation over EPA’s “Final Determi - nation,” the newest filings address a decision that bars the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from issuing the federal wetlands permit required to advance Pebble’s development plan. Maintaining that the veto was the product of a process that strayed be - yond the bounds Congress intended for EPA’s Section 404(c) authority, North - ern Dynasty points to the sequence of actions that began under the Obama Administration and were finalized un - der the Biden Administration. In its view, the agency relied on a novel reading of its mandate and over- looked the economic consequences of blocking a major domestic copper source. In their brief, the Alaska Miners As - sociation (AMA), National Mining As - sociation (NMA) and American Explo - ration & Mining Association (AEMA) frame the case as one with broad con- sequences for U.S. mineral policy and future investment in domestic explo-
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Photo Courtesy Pebble Limited Partnership
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ration and development. They point to the scale of the de - posit and the expected demand growth across construction, transportation, electronics, industrial equipment, and national defense, noting that copper is foundational to nearly every pathway toward large-scale electrification. Their argument stresses that the ve- to’s “aggressive and unprecedented” use injects new uncertainty into permit - ting, casting “a cloud over mining proj- ects in Alaska and beyond” at a moment when the U.S. is seeking to strengthen security of supply for critical minerals. “The misuse of EPA’s veto author - ity,” the groups contend, undermines not only miners but also the domestic manufacturers and industries depen- dent on reliable access to mineral in- puts. They urge the court to align EPA’s actions with long-standing statutory interpretation and regulatory prac - tice, warning that broad assertions of authority — unbounded by cost con -
siderations or consistent methodology — could hinder mineral development across the country. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce echoes these themes while empha- sizing the economic dimension of the agency’s decision. Its filing argues that EPA “vetoed a permit that is a crucial prerequisite for construction of the Pebble Mine ... without considering the significant financial consequences of that veto for the project proponents, the State, and the national economy.” The Chamber asserts that Con- gress’s use of the term “unacceptable” in Section 404(c) requires the agency to weigh costs alongside environmen- tal effects. By attempting to read cost out of the statute entirely, the brief argues, EPA departed from the princi- ples of reasoned decision-making and established administrative law.
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— North of 60 Mining News
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THE LINK: The Official Magazine of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance | WINTER 2026
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