The U.S. Senate on Monday approved legislation for a land exchange between the Forest Service and PolyMet Inc. that will allow the nonferrous mining company to consolidate its mineral holdings. The exchange previously was approved by the House of Representatives.

The exchange has been opposed by environmentalists who are trying to stop nonferrous mining. They contend the U.S. Forest Service is providing its land at a price that has been set artificially low. Although Forest Service officials have approved the exchange, they face a number of lawsuits. But with the House and Senate advancing special legislation, those lawsuits will be void.

PolyMet executives said the legislation marks another major milestone in PolyMet’s development of Minnesota’s first copper-nickel-precious metals mine, which will be located near Hoyt Lakes.

The land exchange measure was included as a Senate amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed on a 85-10 vote. Last November the House of Representatives passed the land exchange bill on an overwhelming, bipartisan 309-99 vote.

The Senate amendment was sponsored by Sen. Tina Smith and co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar. It is nearly identical to the bill authored by Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.), The Superior National Forest Land Exchange Act of 2017, which he introduced in the House last summer and shepherded to passage. His bipartisan bill was co-sponsored by fellow Minnesota Democrat Reps. Collin Peterson and Tim Walz, and Republicans Tom Emmer and Jason Lewis, among others.

In January 2017, the Superior National Forest issued a Record of Decision authorizing the administrative land exchange, determining it was in the best public interest.

“We are very grateful to House and Senate members and leadership who have worked tirelessly to bring this land exchange to closure,” Jon Cherry, PolyMet President and CEO, said in a news release. “We also acknowledge with gratitude the strong hand of support shown to this legislation by business and labor groups, community leaders and local supporters.”

The transfer of approximately 6,650 acres of federal lands to PolyMet consolidates surface land and mineral ownership in and around the company's NorthMet ore body.

With title transfer, PolyMet will have total surface ownership rights of approximately 19,000 contiguous acres (30 square miles) of land including the land at the mine and processing sites, the transportation corridor connecting those sites, and buffer.

Jobs for Minnesotans, a pro-industry group, issued a statement supporting the vote.

“Last week we acknowledged the milestone that the closing on the PolyMet land exchange with the U.S. Forest Service has been scheduled for later this month. Today, we celebrate the bipartisan U.S. Senate vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the PolyMet land exchange. We fully recognize that this momentous vote moves us a step closer to full congressional affirmation of the U.S. Forest Service’s past decision on the land exchange. This will allow the project to move forward with certainty after rigorous input from the public through the environmental review process. We thank our senators for championing this legislation to date.”