ABSTRACT
Most environmental regulation of operations conducted under the Mining Law has appeared only in the past fifteen years, but this is not to say that the Mining Law itself totally denied the possibility of such regulation. As originally enacted in 1866, the law contained two express limitations on mining activities: they were subject to "such regulations as may be prescribed by law," and to those local mining district customs or rules that were not in conflict with federal law. The 1872 statute carried forward both limitations and added a further one expressly authorizing state, territorial, and local regulations "not in conflict with" federal law.3 In striking a balance between state and federal responsibility, the Mining Law was an early example of what has come to be described today as "cooperative federalism."4
