February 3, 2016
This regulation must go forward, and there must be clear, escalating, enforceable penalties for noncompliance. Beginning with damaging fines, to revocation of mining licenses, to revocation + required environmental amelioration of the grounds and human community that are affected.
This transparency is the will of Congress, and should have gone into affect years ago. It's absurd that industry reps are still hiding behind the "This will cost jobs and make us noncompetitive argument," when being open about how much you're willing to pay for mining rights has nothing to do with how many people you will employ. If this will financially drain anyone, it will be the federal government, as the people will now have a better idea of how much they can lobby for essential services like education, disaster relief, and healthcare. Those are functions of government anyway, and should not deter this bill from being signed into law.