Manglona wants quarrying regs temporarily suspended in CNMI

A Rota legislator has written the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ask that regulations on quarrying and mining operations on the island be temporarily suspended to help the rebuilding efforts in the CNMI’s southernmost island.

Sen. Paul Manglona (Ind-Rota) wants regulations set by the Mining Safety and Health Administration on quarrying and mining on Rota be temporarily lifted. The suspension would allow private companies to begin quarrying operations that would help in Rota’s rebuilding projects, Manglona said.

His letter was addressed to David Gervino, the external affairs officer of the Incident Management Assistance Team of FEMA that is one of the agencies under the Department of Homeland Security.

Typhoon Mangkhut last week left considerable damage on government and private infrastructures, homes, and other properties on the island of Rota. Strong winds brought down power poles, telephone lines, and damaged homes.

Manglona said a state of emergency declaration by President Donald Trump has authorized FEMA to coordinate all disaster relief efforts for Rota.

“Although Typhoon Mangkhut caused damage on Rota, Saipan, and Tinian, the island of Rota was directly hit by the typhoon and suffered the most severe damage, including structural damages that will require quarry products, such as aggregates and manufactured sands, to be rebuilt or repaired,” Manglona said in the letter.

“However, the problem is that there is no operating quarry on Rota at this time. Currently, if there is any construction project that requires quarry materials, the products are shipped to Rota from Saipan, which is very cost-prohibitive and time-consuming. Concrete masonry units or hollow blocks, which cannot be produced without manufactured sand, are also presently being shipped from Saipan.”

He said that two private quarrying companies have shown willingness to assist Rota in gathering and providing quarry materials during this emergency declaration but the MSHA regulations currently prohibit mining operations.

“One of the obstacles of operating a quarry on Rota is the application of the MSHA regulations in the CNMI, including the island of Rota. Temporary suspension of the MSHA regulations for three to four months would allow quarries [on] Rota to be opened quickly to assist in the typhoon relief efforts,” said Manglona.

“At the same time, quarry operators can work with MSH to ensure long-term compliance of the regulations. The MSHA is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, thus the request for temporary suspension of the MSH regulations must be made to the [Labor] secretary.”

He added that he wrote to FEMA to ask the agency to request Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta to suspend MSHA regulations for three to four months since it is currently authorized in coordinating Rota’s typhoon relief efforts because of the state of emergency declaration.