I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5598 

To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness 

and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2020 

Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. PHILLIPS, and Mr. UPTON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe 

Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and 

waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the 

Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Boundary Waters Wil5 derness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 5598 IH

1 (1) The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilder2 ness is a 1,090,000 acre Federal wilderness area, lo3 cated within the Superior National Forest, that was 

4 originally designated in the Wilderness Act of 1964 

5 (Public Law 88–577). 

6 (2) The Forest Service manages the Boundary 

7 Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which includes— 

8 (A) nearly 2,000 pristine lakes ranging in 

9 size from 10 acres to 10,000 acres, and more 

10 than 1,200 miles of canoe routes; 

11 (B) 1,500 cultural resource sites including 

12 historic Ojibwe village sites and Native Amer13 ican pictograph panel sites; and 

14 (C) 150 miles of land and water on the 

15 international border with the Government of 

16 Canada. 

17 (3) In 1978, Congress passed the Boundary 

18 Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act (Public Law 95– 

19 495) to remove incompatible uses, prohibit mining 

20 within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness 

21 and on 220,000 acres of the Superior National For22 est, and to provide management guidance to protect, 

23 preserve, and enhance the lakes, waterways, and for24 ested areas of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 5598 IH

1 Wilderness to enhance public enjoyment of the 

2 unique landscape and wildlife. 

3 (4) The federally recognized Grand Portage 

4 Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Fond du Lac 

5 Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Bois 

6 Forte Band of Chippewa retain hunting, fishing, and 

7 other usufructuary rights throughout the entire 

8 northeast portion of Minnesota, including the 

9 Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, under the 

10 1854 Treaty of LaPointe. All Bands have a legal in11 terest in protecting natural resources and the Forest 

12 Service shares in the Federal trust responsibility to 

13 maintain treaty resources. 

14 (5) The Rainy River Watershed lies within the 

15 Superior National Forest, which contains 20 percent 

16 of the fresh water supply in the entire National For17 est System. 

18 (6) The Rainy River Watershed headwaters 

19 begin in northeastern Minnesota and flow north 

20 through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilder21 ness and Voyageurs National Park and into Canada 

22 along the shared international border. These inter23 national waters are governed by the 1909 Boundary 

24 Waters Treaty, which states that ‘‘boundary waters 

25 and the waters flowing across the boundary shall not 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 5598 IH

1 be polluted on either side to the injury of health or 

2 property on the other’’. 

3 (7) The waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe 

4 Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park are 

5 classified as Outstanding Resource Value Waters 

6 under Federal and State law, and degradation of 

7 water quality is prohibited. A risk of mining develop8 ment is acid mine drainage which generally occurs 

9 when sulfide minerals are exposed to air and water 

10 creating sulfuric acid, which decreases water pH and 

11 leaches harmful metals such as copper, zinc, lead, 

12 cadmium, iron, and nickel. 

13 (8) Acid mine runoff from sulfide-ore copper 

14 mining entering groundwater, rivers, streams, and 

15 lakes harms aquatic life, degrades water quality, and 

16 results in potential severe environmental impacts. 

17 (9) A peer-reviewed study of water quality im18 pacts from 14 operating United States copper sul19 fide mines found 100 percent of the mines experi20 enced pipeline spills or accidental releases: 13 mines 

21 experienced failures of water collection and treat22 ment systems to control contaminated mine seepage 

23 resulting in significant negative water quality im24 pacts. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 5598 IH

1 (10) The mining of copper and other metals in 

2 sulfide bearing ore on Federal lands in the Superior 

3 National Forest, within the Rainy River Watershed, 

4 poses a direct and long-term threat from sulfide-ore 

5 mining contamination to the pristine water and air 

6 quality and healthy forested habitat of the Boundary 

7 Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs Na8 tional Park. 

9 (11) The likely contamination of the air, water, 

10 and forested habitat of the Boundary Waters Canoe 

11 Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park from 

12 the mining of copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, 

13 gold, and silver on Federal lands within the Rainy 

14 River Watershed puts at risk— 

15 (A) the nationally recognized natural re16 sources of the area; and 

17 (B) the region’s amenity-based and tour18 ism industry, which if protected by a mineral 

19 withdrawal, would grow by 1,500 to 4,600 more 

20 jobs and $100,000,000 to $900,000,000 more 

21 income over the next 20 years than if such min22 ing were not banned. 

23 (12) In 2016, the Forest Service issued a 

24 Record of Decision which found ‘‘unacceptable the 

25 inherent potential risk that development of a regionVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:29 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5598.IH H5598

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 5598 IH

1 ally-untested copper-nickel sulfide ore mine within 

2 the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe 

3 Area Wilderness might cause serious and irreplace4 able harm to this unique, iconic, and irreplaceable 

5 wilderness area’’. The Forest Service subsequently 

6 proposed a 20-year mineral withdrawal of 234,328 

7 acres of Federal lands and waters in the Rainy 

8 River Watershed. 

9 (13) In 2018, approximately 20 months into a 

10 24-month review period of the Rainy River Water11 shed mineral withdrawal proposal, the Department 

12 of Agriculture abruptly abandoned the Environ13 mental Assessment. The Administration has subse14 quently refused multiple directives from Congress to 

15 complete and release the Environmental Assessment. 

16 SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS AND 

17 WATERS IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 

18 (a) DEFINITION OF MAP.—In this Act, the term 

19 ‘‘Map’’ means the map prepared by the Forest Service en20 titled ‘‘Superior National Forest Mineral Withdrawal Ap21 plication Map’’ and dated December 5, 2016. 

22 (b) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

23 (d) and subject to valid existing rights, the approximately 

24 234,328 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy 

25 River Watershed of the Superior National Forest in the 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 5598 IH

1 State of Minnesota, as located on the Map and described 

2 in the Federal Register Notice of Application for With3 drawal, dated January 19, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 6639), are 

4 hereby withdrawn from— 

5 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and dis6 posal under the public land laws; 

7 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 

8 laws; and 

9 (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 

10 materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 

11 (c) ACQUIRED LAND.—Any land or interest in land 

12 within the area depicted on the Map that is acquired by 

13 the United States after the date of enactment of this Act 

14 shall, on acquisition, be immediately withdrawn in accord15 ance with this section. 

16 (d) REMOVAL OF SAND, GRAVEL, GRANITE, IRON

17 ORE, AND TACONITE.—The Chief of the Forest Service 

18 is authorized to permit the removal of sand, gravel, gran19 ite, iron ore, and taconite from national forest system 

20 lands within the area depicted on the Map if the Chief 

21 determines that the removal is not detrimental to the 

22 water quality, air quality, and health of the forest habitat 

23 within the Rainy River Watershed. 

24 (e) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be kept 

25 on file and made available for public inspection in the apVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:29 Jan 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5598.IH H5598

pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 5598 IH

1 propriate offices of the Forest Service and the Bureau of 

2 Land Management. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS