Mining (except Oil and Gas) Sector (NAICS 212)

Mining is part of the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (NAICS 21 sector). 

This sector includes metal mining and nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying.  The term mining is used in the broad sense to include quarrying, well operations, beneficiating (e.g., crushing, screening, washing, and flotation), and other preparation customarily performed at the mine site, or as a part of mining activity. 

Additional regulatory information may be available from the US Department of the Interior (DOI).

Read more about sectors at the US Census Bureau NAICS site.

Laws and Regulations

• Air:
  • National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP): air toxics regulations:
    • Gold Mine Ore Processing and Production (Area Sources)
    • Taconite Iron Ore Processing
    • Radiation Protection, including uranium mining and mill tailings
• Asbestos:
  • Asbestos Laws and Regulations
• Waste: 
  • Industrial Waste: Mining Waste
  • TENORM: Mining Wastes: information about Technologically-Enhanced, Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM) produced from mining wastes.
• Water:
  • Effluent Guidelines: Coal Mining Point Source Category
  • Mid-Atlantic Mountaintop Mining: information about mountaintop coal mining and surface mining.
  • National Pollutant Dischange Elimination System (NPDES): wastewater permits:
    • Mining
    • Stormwater Discharges from Industrial Facilities
  • Surface Coal Mining Activities under the Clean Water Act Section 404: wetlands regulations affecting mining activities.
  • Underground Injection Control (UIC) Regulations

Compliance

• Minerals/Mining/Processing Sector Compliance Assistance: including sector profiles and assistance centers.

Enforcement

• National Enforcement Initiatives: Mineral Processing

Policies and Guidance

• Wetlands Policy & Guidance: Surface Coal Mining Activities under Clean Water Act Section 404
• Polluted Runoff: Acid Mine Drainage: includes guidance documents for characterizing and cleaning up abandoned mine sites.
• Abandoned Mine Land: Policy and Guidance: Part of EPA's Superfund program, includes policy and guidance documents that have direct applications to the assessment and remediation of abandoned mine lands.

Related Business Sectors

• Metals
• Mineral Processing

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