Trump admin lifts brief ban on mining approvals

By Heather Richards | 01/30/2025 04:05 PM EST

An Interior Department secretarial order retains a 60-day moratorium on renewable energy authorizations.

People walk up the steps of the Interior Department headquarters.

Interior Department headquarters in Washington. Francis Chung/POLITICO

The Interior Department reversed Wednesday the Trump administration’s short-lived moratorium on some mining approvals on federal lands.

Acting Secretary Walter Cruickshank signed the order amending a prior mandate that Interior Department halt a host of actions for 60 days unless first approved by a senior Trump administration official.

The original order — signed the day President Donald Trump took office — had barred approval of operation plans and amendment plans under the General Mining Law of 1872, which governs the extraction of minerals like gold and copper on public lands. The order had also halted new rights of way, easements and land sales.

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The amended order removes those two provisions. It retains a 60-day moratorium on several other consequential public land decisions, including renewable energy authorizations, hiring new workers — other than seasonal hires — and publishing final agency actions in the Federal Register.

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