2008 Legislation
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SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 112<br /> – Idaho Cobalt Project, decisions

SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 112

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Bill Status



SJM112.....................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
IDAHO COBALT PROJECT - Stating findings of the Legislature and requesting
the President of the United States, the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, and the USDA Forest Service to make timely decisions on
necessary permits and the record decision on the Idaho Cobalt Project.

03/11    Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
03/12    Rpt prt - to Res/Env

Bill Text




                                                                       
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-ninth Legislature                   Second Regular Session - 2008

                                                                       

                                       IN THE SENATE

                               SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 112

                                 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

  1                                   A JOINT MEMORIAL
  2    TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, TO THE SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT
  3        OF INTERIOR, TO THE SECRETARY OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE,   TO  THE
  4        ADMINISTRATOR OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, TO THE CHIEF OF
  5        THE USDA FOREST SERVICE, TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
  6        UNITED  STATES  IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
  7        REPRESENTING THE STATE OF IDAHO IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.

  8        We, your Memorialists, the Senate and the House of Representatives of  the
  9    State  of  Idaho  assembled  in  the Second Regular Session of the Fifty-ninth
 10    Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:

 11        WHEREAS, the state of Idaho is the repository of one of the only  and  one
 12    of  the world's largest supplies of cobalt mineralization capable of producing
 13    high purity cobalt metal, which has multiple applications that benefit mankind
 14    including irreplaceable uses for strategic,  industrial  and  high  technology
 15    manufacturing,  environmental  uses,  medical purposes, high temperature alloy
 16    products for civilian and military jet engines, batteries in hybrid cars  that
 17    reduce  greenhouse  gas  emissions  and  batteries in computers and other high
 18    technology products, thus justifiably earning the reputation as both a  criti-
 19    cal strategic metal and a metal with truly "green" applications; and
 20        WHEREAS,  Formation  Capital Corporation's Idaho Cobalt Project has demon-
 21    strated that it can build and operate a truly "green" mining  project  with  a
 22    minimal  impact upon the environment because it will have a small footprint on
 23    the land of less than 125 acres, because it will use only underground  mining,
 24    because  the Lemhi County mill will use simple physical separation of the min-
 25    erals from the county rock without chemical leaching, and  because  the  final
 26    cobalt  metal  will  be  produced  in  the  already existing Shoshone County's
 27    Sunshine Hydrometallurgical Facility; and
 28        WHEREAS, the proposed project will produce over 150 high  paying  jobs  of
 29    immediate  and  year-round  benefit to the economies of Lemhi and Custer Coun-
 30    ties, as well as an additional thirty-seven  high  value  added  jobs  at  the
 31    company's Shoshone County's Sunshine Hydrometallurgical Facility and will gen-
 32    erate local and state taxes in excess of eight million dollars annually; and
 33        WHEREAS,  the  United States is the leading consumer of high purity cobalt
 34    metal yet produces no domestic supply, and therefore it  is  in  the  nation's
 35    strategic  industrial and military interests to have a domestic supply of such
 36    a critical mineral available especially in times of national emergency; and
 37        WHEREAS, Formation Capital  Corporation  has  been  diligently  exploring,
 38    developing  and  permitting  the project for fourteen years, has spent tens of
 39    millions of dollars to demonstrate to all regulatory agencies, both state  and
 40    federal,  that  it  will  operate  responsibly and in full compliance with all
 41    applicable laws, rules and regulations, and  through  steadfast  perserverance
 42    has  won the overwhelming support of its host communities and has answered all
 43    its critics respectfully and with complete transparency, consistency and  hon-
 44    esty.

                                       2

  1        NOW,  THEREFORE,  BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the Second Regular Ses-
  2    sion of the Fifty-ninth Idaho Legislature, the Senate and the House of  Repre-
  3    sentatives  concurring  therein,  that  we request the President of the United
  4    States, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the USDA  Forest
  5    Service  to make timely decisions on necessary permits and the record decision
  6    on the Idaho Cobalt Project.
  7        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate  be,  and  she  is
  8    hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of this Memorial to the Pres-
  9    ident  of  the United States, to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Inte-
 10    rior, to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Defense, to the Administrator
 11    of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to the Chief of the  USDA  Forest
 12    Service,  to the  President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep-
 13    resentatives of Congress, and the congressional  delegation  representing  the
 14    State of Idaho in the Congress of the United States.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



                       STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                             RS 17997

This memorial expresses the Idaho Legislature's support for
federal officials to make timely decisions on necessary permits
and the record decision on the Idaho Cobalt Project.



                           FISCAL NOTE

None






Contact
Name: Pete Skamser 
Phone: 208-395-1029


STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                       SJM 112