EMA Urges House to Pass Bill Prohibiting Implementation of BLM’s Rock Springs Resource Management Plan

Arlington, Va., Sept. 19, 2024 – The Essential Minerals Association (EMA) today thanked the House Natural Resources Committee for the successful markup of H.R. 6085, a bill that would prohibit the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from implementing the Final Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for their Rock Springs, Wyoming, Field Office, which manages 3.6 million acres of land in southwest Wyoming. 

“We have been surprised and disappointed by the Administration’s actions with BLM’s resource management plan, which would greatly impact the soda ash industry in Wyoming,” said Chris Greissing, EMA president. “In recent years, BLM recognized the importance of the soda ash sector and enacted policy decisions that enabled the industry to invest $6 billion to expand overall capacity by 50 percent. Investments such as these allow the U.S. soda ash industry to become more competitive in the global market where Chinese companies are their primary competitors. The Final Resource Management Plan for the Rock Springs Field Office will make these expansions much more difficult to undertake and undermine prior effective policies. This will result in China producing more synthetic soda ash, which will negatively impact the global environment.”

The Final Rock Springs Field Office Final Resource Management Plan blocks 34 percent more acres from the leasing of trona, increases acres designated as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) by 226 percent, and would increase areas to be excluded or avoided for rights-of-way to access trona development areas. 

Trona – also known as soda ash - is an essential mineral used in glassmaking, water treatment, food processing, detergents, paper products, medicine, the manufacturing and recycling of lithium-ion batteries. The industry is directly responsible for more than 1,000 union jobs and is a critical component to the overall green energy transition. The United States has approximately 90 percent of the world’s natural soda ash, while the Chinese largely use a synthetic method of production that produces about three times as much CO₂ and uses about three times as much energy to produce. Roughly 60 percent of the production from U.S. companies is exported.

“EMA and the U.S. soda ash industry are proud to have a champion like Representative Hageman representing the interests of Wyoming and working to put the development of the U.S. manufacturing sector first,” Greissing added. “We thank Chairman Westerman and the full committee for their efforts to move this bill quickly out of committee and encourage both the House and Senate to pass this bill. We saw the negative impacts of overly relying on China during the COVID-19 epidemic for our manufacturing needs and appreciate the committee for realizing the negative impact this Resource Management Plan would have on the domestic economy.”

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The Essential Minerals Association (EMA) is the representative voice for companies that extract and process a vital and beneficial group of raw materials and minerals, which are the essential ingredients for many of the products used in everyday life. EMA ensures that the voices of its member companies and the socio-economic benefits they provide – from mining to end-use products – are heard by government leaders as well as the general public. Visit essentialminerals.org to learn more.