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EVALUATION OF THE MRSP PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 30 SUBPROGRAMS Recommendation C Mineral resource assessments should be performed more efficiently, and the cost-savings should be directed to more fundamental investigations in other subprograms of the MRSP. The panel believes that assessments can be conducted more efficiently and still provide the information required by land management agencies. A good opportunity for improving efficiency seems to be through extensive discussion and planning with users to assure that the appropriate levels of new data collection and numerical estimation are selected for the particular task. Cost-savings achieved through increases in efficiency would enable the MRSP to transfer funds to other subprograms. The panel recognizes the need for investigations into fundamental processes as a basis for assessments (see also General Recommendation 3). Understanding how mineral deposits form in context with their host geological terranes (part of the Resource Investigations Subprogram) is vital to the credibility and accuracy of resource assessments. Similarly, understanding the geochemical behavior of mineral deposits and their impact on the environment, including geochemical backgrounds and baselines (parts of the Mitigation Studies Subprogram), is critical to credible mineral-environmental assessments. The panel recommends that, to the extent feasible, land management agencies be expected to pay for mineral resource and environmental assessments. MITIGATION STUDIES SUBPROGRAM The panel commends the USGS for recognizing the importance of environmental protection and for inclusion of the Mitigation Studies Subprogram in the MRSP. However, the panel finds that the role for the MRSP in mitigation studies is not clear. In addition, certain components of the Mitigation Studies Subprogram are more oriented toward resource investigation than mitigation and might better be part of the Resource Investigations Subprogram (Figure 2-1). There is an appropriate federal role for components and elements of the Mitigation Studies Subprogram, provided that the involvement is research- oriented and advisory in nature. There are also appropriate, but non-exclusive, USGS and MRSP roles for components and elements of
EVALUATION OF THE MRSP PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 31 SUBPROGRAMS FIGURE 2-1 Proposed structure of the (a) Geochemical Backgrounds and Baselines Subprogram, and (b) Resource and Environmental Investigations Subprogram.
EVALUATION OF THE MRSP PLAN AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 32 SUBPROGRAMS the Mitigation Studies Subprogram. However, universities, industry, and other divisions within the USGS can also contribute to the research-oriented components and elements under this subprogram. Since other federal agencies and industry will be applying the results of research conducted by the Mitigation Studies Subprogram to site-specific remediation problems, closer collaboration with the federal agencies that are charged with managing public lands (e.g., BLM and USFS) would ensure that the Mitigation Studies Subprogram research is meeting their needs (see General Recommendation 2). A broadly based external advisory panel would be able to guide the effective application of MRSP research to environmental issues at mines and other sites (see General Recommendation 4). Environmental behavior of mineral deposits refers to the natural and human-induced impact of mineral deposits on their surrounding environment. The USGS possesses considerable expertise in this field of research, which is increasingly relevant to solving national problems. There is an appropriate but non-exclusive role for the MRSP in this field. Several scientists in the MRSP and Water Resources Division (WRD) of the USGS have expertise in the environmental behavior of mineral deposits, especially as related to water chemistry, Both the MRSP and the WRD depend heavily on the availability of high quality geologic and topographic maps constructed at appropriate map scales. Through a well-defined, cross-divisional partnership with WRD and the USGS National Mapping Division (NMD), and through intradivision partnerships within the Geologic Division (GD), a successful interdisciplinary approach could be undertaken to understand the environmental behavior of mineral deposits. The MRSP could use these partnerships, for example, to improve and enhance aspects of the component Geoenvironmental Models of Mineral Deposits. The panel notes that recent collaborative efforts at Summitville and in the Upper Animas Basin in Colorado provide excellent examples of combined Geologic Division and Water Resources Division research. These studies could serve as a management model for future studies under the MRSP. Other federal agencies charged with resource management could apply the research to mitigation issues affecting public lands.
