DOI sought comments on improving federal hardrock mining regulations, laws, and permitting processes. Specifically, DOI asked if there were areas that should be off-limits from mining; how to improve permitting without reducing opportunities for public input; and how Tribes and communities could be effectively engaged earlier in the permitting process. Comments were due by August 30, 2022. The process was brought about in part by a petition from a coalition of tribes and environmental groups to revamp hardrock mining regulations to better protect Indigenous and other marginalized communities from displacement, grant stronger safeguards for sacred and cultural resources, and reduce environmental contamination from mining activities.