AZ SM1002

Arizona Senate urges U.S. Congress to pass the Hardrock Leasing and Reclamation Act of 2019 and the Health Benefits for Miners Act of 2019.

Notes that mining has been significant to Arizona's economy since preterritorial times, with the state providing 68 percent of domestic U.S. copper production in 2017.

Identifies that current federal mining laws have remained largely unchanged since 1872 and fail to hold mining companies accountable for environmental damage.

States that abandoned hardrock mines have polluted 40 percent of western watershed headwaters and left the public with billions of dollars in cleanup costs.

Directs Arizona's Secretary of State to transmit copies of the memorial to the President of the U.S. Senate, Speaker of the U.S. House, and all Arizona members of Congress.