Lummis: Wyoming wins with Helium Bill; Trona royalty rates cut

Lummis: Wyoming wins with Helium Bill; Trona royalty rates cut

ROCK SPRINGS – In a letter addressed to the people of Wyoming Representative Cynthia Lummis said that a Helium Bill passed in Washington will help secure AML payments to the State of Wyoming in addition to lowering the royalty rates on trona mined in Southwest Wyoming.

Dear Friends,

Wyoming won on Thursday. The Helium Stewardship act of 2013, passed by the House, returns to the people of Wyoming about $60 million in AML funds rightly owed them by the federal government. And it does this all while securing a stable supply of helium.

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The helium bill was designed to avert a massive helium shortage by renewing the federal supply chain. And, with the auctioning of helium, tens of millions of dollars will go to reducing the federal deficit while putting the federal government on an exit ramp from the helium market.

The bill also amends the limits on Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) payments placed on Wyoming last year. It lifts the $15 million limit for both 2014 and 2015, which results in the nearly $60 million gain for Wyoming. This is a strong victory in the ongoing fight to get back all the money the federal government owes Wyoming through the AML program.

The bill also cuts the inflated royalty rates on Wyoming Trona from 6 percent to 4 percent. This gives much needed relief to an industry that provides thousands of jobs in southwest Wyoming. Trona is processed into soda ash, and used in glass and many household products. Wyoming provides almost all the soda ash needed in the United States, the rest is exported around the world. It is this export market that demands the royalty relief, as Wyoming’s soda ash competes with the heavily subsidized, state-owned Chinese soda ash industry. I am a supporter of paying the American people for the privilege of mining on public land, but I also support strategic royalties that can help grow jobs and revenue.

All around this is a big win for Wyoming that was hard fought and rightly won by the entire delegation. As we continue to fight for these and all the issues important to Wyoming, please stay in touch with me and let me know what matters to you.

Sincerely,