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Admin backs Kaipat bill on Pagan
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Posted on Feb 03 2006
The Fitial administration is behind a proposed legislation that will temporarily halt mining operations on Pagan until a task force is created that will make comprehensive impact studies on the project.
“The governor is fully supporting Cinta Kaipat’s bill on the Pagan Mining Task Force,” press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said.
He recalled that Fitial himself introduced a similar bill in the 14th House of Representatives when he was speaker.
Kaipat’s House Bill 15-56 would create a multi-agency and community task force to undertake a comprehensive feasibility impact study, environmental impact study, and other studies deemed necessary before pozzolan is extracted from Pagan.
The bill also seeks to temporarily prohibit any person from engaging in any pozzolan-extraction activities or any other type of mining activities on Pagan until the task force completes its duties and responsibilities.
The bill was introduced in yesterday’s House session. Seven other lawmakers signed the measure.
According to the bill, the task force will consist of designated representatives from the Northern Islands Mayor Office, Marianas Public Lands Authority “or its successor,” Division of Environmental Quality, Coastal Resources Management, Historic Preservation Office, Division of Fish and Wildlife, and the departments of Lands and Natural Resources and Public Works.
The chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Committee will also appoint a representative from a non-governmental organization. The governor and the Legislature may each designate a representative to the task force.
“The task force shall enlist the aid of experienced experts from within and outside the CNMI to conduct the feasibility impact study and the environmental impact study, as well as any other study or studies deemed necessary, and shall also enlist the aid of knowledgeable mining industry consultants as well as any other consultants necessary to aid the task force in the fair and ethical selection of the winning bidder,” the bill read.
