(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s outgoing administration plans to approve a controversial land swap needed for Rio Tinto Ltd and partners to build an Arizona copper project that Native American tribes say will destroy sites of cultural and religious value.
The U.S. Forest Service told Reuters it will publish a final environmental impact statement for the mining project on Jan. 15, a necessary step to complete the land exchange. The publication will come five days before Trump leaves office.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Dan Grebler)
