GOVERNOR’S OFFICE NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval Friday sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking the president for his assistance in making changes at the federal level that will specifically and almost immediately clear the way for job growth in Nevada.
“This is my first request of President Obama since becoming governor,” Sandoval noted. “I need his help to get Nevadans working again, and we have identified a very specific step he can take to spur job creation in our mining industry.”
Sandoval’s letter asks the president to remove the requirement that all Federal Register notices dealing with the mining permitting process through the Bureau of Land Management be approved through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Washington, D.C. headquarters before being allowed to be published in the Federal Register.
In his letter, Sandoval noted that prior to 2001 BLM state offices had the authority to send notices directly to the Federal Register without prior review by DOI’s Washington headquarters. Early in the George W. Bush administration, the policy was changed, requiring BLM state offices to send all Federal Register notices to Washington for review and approval. The policy change has proven to cause significant and costly delays in the approval process, according to numerous stakeholders with whom the governor has met.
Sandoval is asking the president to direct DOI and BLM to allow state offices to send items directly to the Federal Register unless the state office believes, in its discretion, that Washington review is needed.
“This single step,” Sandoval writes, “consistent with your – and my – stated desire to remove regulations that are overly burdensome for job-creating businesses, could be extremely beneficial to my state.”
A copy of the governor’s letter to the president is attached.
