The public has until Feb. 22 to weigh in whether Juneau’s mining code should be streamlined and made potentially more mine-friendly.
The Assembly’s mining subcommittee tasked the city attorney to revise the ordinance’s legal language without changing its function.
“I reorganized pretty much the entire chapter, so it read a little easier, it was a little bit clearer,” Juneau City Attorney Amy Mead said Tuesday. “I used our cell tower code as the format and didn’t remove any substance at this point. I think that’s what the committee will be taking up in the next weeks.”
A group of businessmen approached the Juneau Assembly last year asking for the mining code to be revamped.
They criticized the provision requiring a socio-economic study on potential mine impacts.
Mine boosters argue it’s burdensome. Environmentalists have argued it’s valuable.
There aren’t any new mining applications pending though there has been gold exploration on Herbert Glacier.
The seven-member subcommittee outlined some of its options at last week’s meeting.
Mead outlined possible changes in a Feb. 8 memo. The subcommittee will begin considering changes at its March 1 meeting.
“What they want to hear from the public now is whether people think there should be changes, whether it should stay as-is, that kind of thing,” Mead said. “What started this process in the first place was a request that we take some of the provisions out of the mining code and I think that’s the point that the committee would like to hear from the public on – whether people think that’s a good idea or not.”
The mining subcommittee was created by Mayor Ken Koelsch. Its task is to recommend mining ordinance revisions to the Juneau Assembly.
Comments can be directed to the city clerk’s office.
