PRESS RELEASES 2000

December 22, 2000
NMA Files Legal Challenge to Unnecessary, Costly New Black-Lung Rules
Rules Ignore Science, Place Miners' Jobs in Jeopardy
Washington - The National Mining Association filed a legal challenge today to the Department of Labor’s newly promulgated regulations that make sweeping changes to the Federal Black Lung Disability Benefits program. The suit was filed in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia.

December 22, 2000
NMA President Unites With Energy Associations to Support Sound Energy Policies
Washington - In a letter to President-Elect George W. Bush, National Mining Association President and Chief Executive Officer Jack N. Gerard, along with the presidents of five other major energy organizations, pledged their support in addressing America's energy issues.

December 20, 2000
New Black-Lung Rules Ignore Science, Place Miners' Jobs in Jeopardy MSHA's own screening program proves new regs not needed
Washington - Legitimate black lung claimants, coal miners, and American consumers will suffer due to the Department of Labor's sweeping changes to the Federal Black Lung Benefits program. The new rules, published in today's Federal Register, have been called "critically flawed" by numerous organizations, but are scheduled to go into effect on January 19, 2001.

December 15, 2000
NMA Challenges Unnecessary, Costly and "Unlawful" 3809 Rules "BLM has defied Congress, National Academy of Sciences, Western Governors"
Washington -- The National Mining Association filed a legal challenge today to the Bureau of Land Management's newly promulgated 3809 surface mining regulations in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. Despite conflicts with many of the recommendations of a Congressionally-mandated National Academy of Sciences study, the new rules were published in the November 21 Federal Register and will go into effect on January 20, 2001.

December 8, 2000
New NMA Chief Cites "Uniting the Industry" as First Major Goal "Mining has more in common to hold the industry together than differences to divide"
Spokane, WA -- In a speech before the Northwest Mining Association's 106th annual meeting, National Mining Association's new President & CEO Jack N. Gerard cited unification and "renewed intensity" as major priorities for the mining industry in today's uncertain and unpromising political environment.

December 6, 2000
NMA Board Elects New Officers
WASHINGTON - Ronald C. Cambre, chairman and chief executive officer of Newmont Mining Corp. in Denver, was elected to serve as chairman of the National Mining Association, the principal trade association of the U.S. mining industry. Cambre succeeds outgoing Chairman Steven F. Leer, president and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based Arch Coal Inc.

November 27, 2000
Taxpayers Saddled With Cost of Unnecessary 3809 Rules
Implementation of new of program to cost $27 million
Under the guise of environmentalism, American taxpayers will be picking up the tab for a costly overhaul of the Bureau of Land Management's existing 3809 surface mining regulations. The new rules, published in the November 21 Federal Register, are in direct conflict with the findings of an independent study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences last year.

October 19, 2000
MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2000® Breaks Sales Records! Largest and Most Successful MINExpo Ever Unites Worldwide Mining Industry
Washington, D.C. -- MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2000, the mining industry's preeminent and most comprehensive trade show in the world, came to a close last week boasting the largest attendance figures in the show's history.

October 9, 2000
NMA Presents Chairman's Award for Excellence in Mining Education
LAS VEGAS, N.V. -- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, RAG American Coal-Pennsylvania Operations, ESRI, and the Kentucky Coal Association were awarded National Mining Association's 2000 Chairman's Awards for Excellence in Mining Education at an awards luncheon held in conjunction with NMA's MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2000®.

October 8, 2000
Milton H. Ward and Douglas C. Yearley Receive NMA Distinguished Service Award
LAS VEGAS, N.V. -- Milton H. Ward, former chairman, president and CEO of Cyprus Amax Minerals Co., and Douglas C. Yearly, former chairman and CEO of Phelps Dodge Corp., were awarded National Mining Association's 2000 Distinguished Service Award tonight at an awards dinner held in conjunction with NMA's MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2000®.

September 26, 2000
NMA Announces Chairman's Award for Excellence in Mining Education
WASHINGTON -- Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, RAG American Coal–Pennsylvania Operations, ESRI, and the Kentucky Coal Association are the recipients of National Mining Association's 2000 Chairman's Awards for Excellence in Mining Education.

September 22, 2000
NMA, DOE Select 16 New Projects under the Mining Industry of the Future Program
Washington - The National Mining Association and the U.S. Department of Energy today announce 16 new partnerships to promote technology development in the U.S. mining industry.

September 8, 2000
NMA, MSHA Announce 1999 Sentinels of Safety Award Winners
WASHINGTON -- Winners of the Sentinels of Safety, mining's most prestigious safety award, have been announced by the National Mining Association (NMA) and the Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), cosponsors of the national safety program.

July 14, 2000
EPA Water Rule Circumvents Congress; Ignores Science and Economic Impacts
Washington--The National Mining Association expressed disappointment with the Environmental Protection Agency’s race to issue as final controversial revisions to surface water regulations despite a clear directive by Congress meant to prevent EPA from finalizing the rules.

July 7, 2000
National Mining Association's Response to Department of Labor's Revisions to Its Coal Mine Dust Standards
Washington-The National Mining Association looks forward to actively participating in the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) proposed revisions to its program for monitoring and controlling respirable coal mine dust. The proposal, issued today, is partly in response to an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in which NMA successfully challenged MSHA's earlier attempt to revise its program without complying with the rulemaking procedures of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act.

June 15, 2000
National Energy Security Act of 2000: Promises Sound Long-Term Energy Policy
Washington--The president of the National Mining Association today told a Senate committee that a pending energy security measure, S. 2557, will provide the United States with a sound long-term energy policy that will help reduce America's dependence on imported oil to 50 percent by 2010.

June 12, 2000
Commodity Producers and Shippers Call for Information on Quality of Rail Services
Railroads should make available "reports that furnish meaningful information on the quality of rail service from the perspectives of railroad commodity producers and shippers," according to Joe Lema, National Mining Association's vice president of manufacturers and services. In an address to the 6th Annual Global Forum on Railroad Finance today, Lema emphasized the need for "information relevant to the quality of rail service - not simply the efficiency of train operations related to time in transit."

June 8, 2000
NMA Chief Calls for U.S. Energy Policy To Be Based on Domestic Supplies
Washington--A return to an energy policy that balances economic, security, social and environmental considerations and is based on full utilization of America's reliable and reasonably priced domestic sources is in the best interests of the United States, the head of the National Mining Association said today.

May 24, 2000
Exports to Canada Rise Again in '99, According to International Coal Review Annual
Washington--U.S exports of steam coal to Canada increased for the fourth consecutive year during 1999, according to the National Mining Association. Exports of steam coal used in electric power generation increased to 14.5 million tons from 14.3 million tons a year earlier, a 1.4 percent increase.

May 15, 2000
Program Set For First U.S. International Coal Conference June 12-14, 2000, in Washington, D.C.
The Coal Exporters Association of the United States (CEA) is preparing to host the First U.S. International Coal Conference June 12-14, 2000, in Washington, D.C. The conference will examine the challenges and issues affecting the global coal community including the international coal market and the role of U.S. coal exports.

May 11, 2000
The following is a statement by Richard L. Lawson, NMA President and Chief Executive Officer, on EPA's public data release of the 1998 Toxics Release Inventory data
"The 1998 Toxics Release Inventory released today by the Environmental Protection Agency includes, for the first time, information from mining activities. The data will show that the mining industry reported substantial quantities of naturally occurring inorganic metal compounds that exist in low concentrations in all rock and soil.

May 9, 2000
The following is a statement by NMA President and CEO Richard L. Lawson on the Administration's Public Lands Withdrawal Plan as outlined by the U.S. Forest Service today:
"The American people again are the losers in the latest land-grab initiative proposed by the Clinton-Gore administration. The 'Roadless Area' land withdrawal turns a cold shoulder to the rights of American citizens by dictating the removal of 40 to 60 million acres of land from public use without adequate input from the American Public or Congress.

May 2, 2000
Court Sets Aside EPA Mineral Waste Rule
Washington--A final 1998 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule defining recyclable mineral processing secondary materials as solid wastes under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was set aside April 21 by a federal appeals court. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals stated, "Once again, by regulating in-process secondary materials, EPA has acted in contravention of Congress' intent.'"

April 26, 2000
ADVISORY: NMA Files Brief Urging Reversal of Federal Court Decision Banning Valley Fills Bragg v. Robertson, No. 99-2443(L) (4th Cir.)
The National Mining Association filed a friend of the court brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit explaining why the West Virginia federal district court's decision banning valley fills should be reversed.

April 20, 2000
NMA Leads Industry Groups Against Use of 'Single Shift' Coal Dust Samples
Washington--The National Mining Association and 10 state coal mining associations have filed a brief before the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission arguing against the use of "single shift" sampling as a method of enforcing federal coal dust standards in underground coal mines.

April 17, 2000
Interior Department Batting 1.000 In Efforts to Kill Mining
Washington--The U.S. Department of Interior has issued yet another new "directive" that substantially changes the rules governing mining on public lands. This is one of several recent Interior Department actions intended to kill American mining exploration operations, the National Mining Association said today.

March 30, 2000
Answers to Climate Questions Found in Technology, Not Kyoto Treaty, NMA's Lawson Tells Senate
Washington--The time has come to move beyond the debate on the flawed Kyoto Treaty and to move forward with sensible programs that allow the United States to once and for all find the answers to the questions about climate change, the National Mining Association said today.