PHOENIX — The Interior Department is challenging a U.S. House committee vote putting 1 million acres of public land near the Grand Canyon off-limits to new uranium mining.
A letter sent to House Natural Resources Committee chairman Rep. Nick Rahall from an Interior Department official this week says the emergency resolution that was passed June 25 can’t stand because the committee lacked a quorum.
Rahall wrote back to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne on Wednesday, telling him that he was mistaken about House rules and that the action would stand.
The measure was advanced by Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva, who said a rush of uranium-mining claims threatened the natural landscape, which lures 5 million visitors to Grand Canyon National Park yearly.
