Here in Montana, the penalties affect more than mine operators facing fines or shutdowns. The stepped-up oversight is also helping define one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, with Representative Denny Rehberg, a six-term Republican, trying to oust Senator Jon Tester, a first-term Democrat.
Mr. Tester and other Montana politicians often support legislation that would benefit the coal and minerals mining industry, a big employer here, or oppose federal mandates that mine owners find objectionable. But it is Mr. Rehberg who has been the most ardent advocate, presenting a case study in how a lawmaker can help build his national profile — and campaign war chest — by championing an industry with deep pockets and political clout.
He has repeatedly criticized federal mine safety officials over the past year, charging that many inspection complaints are job killers or ridiculing others as trivial. In justifying their crackdown, though, federal officials point to the October death of a worker here in Nye at the Stillwater Mine, which had accumulated a string of citations this year.
He has used his influence to push Washington to approve deals sought by mining companies, including land swaps the government questions as disadvantageous to taxpayers, or opening up copper mining in northwestern Montana, which environmentalists argue should be left pristine.
He has tried to block initiatives by the Obama administration, with his most recent victory earlier this month when Congress at least temporarily prohibited the Department of Labor from enforcing a new rule intended to combat black lung disease, blamed for 10,000 miners’ deaths in the past decade. And he is also trying to block proposed rules intended to help pay for the cleanup of toxic waste at abandoned mine sites or to prevent strip mines from contaminating streams.
The congressman dismisses the regulatory proposals as excessive. “They put impediments in the way of reasonable development,” he said in an interview. “It is just a fundamental philosophical difference.”
The industry has shown its gratitude for his vigilance. “He has been incredibly valuable to us,” said Bud Clinch, executive director of the Montana Coal Council.
Just in the past two years, mining industry executives and companies including big players like Murray Energy, Arch Coal and Cloud Peak Energy have donated nearly $100,000 to Mr. Rehberg’s Senate campaign, making him one of the top recipients of mining money in Congress and their favorite in the contest with Mr. Tester.
But advocates for miner health and safety see his efforts differently.
“He is more a spokesman for the industry than a lawmaker,” said Robert Guilfoyle, a retired Montana miner who is now an official with the United Mine Workers union. “He is out here trying to cut us in the neck.”
Mining has been a part of Montana’s heritage since its founding, with cities like Helena made famous for its Last Chance Gulch, where gold was discovered in 1864, or Butte, nicknamed the Richest Hill on Earth because of its vast copper reserves.
But it is also home to Glacier National Park and other wildlife refuges, and its well-organized community of environmental activists challenge almost every application for a new or expanded mine. That creates chronic tensions between environmentalists and mining executives, who note that Montana has more recoverable coal reserves than any other state but produces far less each year than West Virginia, Kentucky or neighboring Wyoming.
“There is a reason they are called the Treasure State — they are incredibly rich in coal and minerals,” said Katie Sweeney, the National Mining Association’s general counsel, of Montana. “But you can’t really call it the Treasure State today, because you can’t get it out of the ground. It is frustrating.”
Mr. Rehberg (pronounced REE-burg) has never been shy about his view that the state can benefit by putting more of its open land to productive use. He has pushed for more access to federal lands to drill for oil and natural gas and to harvest timber. He has also worked to repeal rules that might limit access; he and others in the Montana delegation successfully pushed the Obama administration to remove gray wolves in the state from an endangered species list. (The walls of his House office in Washington are filled with stuffed game, including a Canadian wolf, and the huge head of an American bison.)
Practicing what he preaches about utilizing land, he and his wife have set off about 800 acres of their expansive ranch near Billings, which had been in his family four generations, for a housing development.
The congressman has a tangential personal tie to the mining industry. His son, A. J., is an executive at a startup business called Mongolia Forward, which is trying to negotiate with the Asian nation to tap its uranium reserves. If the company succeeds in the deal and seeks to import the minerals to the United States, it is likely to partner with one of the major mining businesses that donate to the lawmaker.
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