The State of Utah has primacy on regulation and reclamation of mining activities on all lands within the state, and the Utah Legislature assigned responsibility for administration of mining to the Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining (DOGM).

• For regulation of mineral ore mining, the DOGM administers permitting, inspection, and enforcement procedures under the Utah Mined Land Reclamation Act. All large mining operations within the state are required to have an approved notice of intention with the Minerals Program prior to beginning operations. Mining operations are broken up into the three categories: (1) large mine, (2) small mine, and (3) exploration under the Minerals Rules. The DOGM maintains a permit database of active and reclaimed mine sites. The DOGM Minerals Program regulates all mining operations as defined in the Utah Mined Land Reclamation Act.
• For coal mining, the State of Utah obtained primacy for regulation and reclamation under the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).
• For oil and gas, DOGM obtained primacy in 1982 from the Environmental Protection Agency for regulation of Class II Water Injection Wells; this program regulates disposal of produced water from oil and gas wells, and reinjection of fluids for pressure maintenance and secondary recovery operations in oil and gas fields [1].

The data layers show the locations of several different mining operations, use to identify the areas of the county where mining occurs and to understand the types of mining products that come from the county.

In developing county resource management plans (BMPs), counties may want to consider the economic significance of mining, the importance of mining heritage, and potential resource conflicts to be resolved such as recreation, water quality, and sensitive species concerns.

As an example, see the Copperton Township General Plan[2], which includes planning goals such as:

• Recognize Copperton’s unique relationship with Kennecott Utah Copper and the mining heritage of the area. Encourage productive industrial development to continue in appropriate places.
• Work with Salt Lake County and Utah Economic Development Divisions and Kennecott to encourage satellite businesses that Kennecott does business with to develop facilities in the Copperton area to better serve the company and community needs.
• Minimize the adverse impacts of the mine on adjacent uses by maintaining and utilizing adequate landscape buffer areas, screening, and the visual appearance of buildings.
• Ensure that high-impact areas provide sufficient noise buffers to reduce impacts on residential areas.

Potential broader planning goals related to mining:

• Categorize lands as: open to fluid mineral leasing, open with special stipulations, allowing no surface occupancy, or closed.[3]
• Identify land withdrawals (lands not available for mining) to protect rare and unique resources and public interests.[3]
• Use public finance tools to appropriately incentivize mining operations in areas conducive to the impact of mining.

• Annual mineral activity and extractive industry reports from the Utah Geological Survey’s Mineral Resources web page provide information about statewide mining development, trends, and economic factors.
• Information on market trends for specific minerals can be found at the USGS National Minerals Information Center.
• Mining made up 4.2% of Utah’s GDP in 2012.[4]

• The Utah Geological Survey’s Mineral Resources webpage provides information regarding energy and mineral research, statistics, extraction activity reports, resource maps, and other current information.
• Mining permits and records from the DOGM Minerals Program address environmental effects and reclamation efforts for specific mining operations.
• Decisions to permit mining operations on federal lands must be consistent with applicable resource management plans and likely require environmental impact evaluation under the National Environmental Policy Act.