I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3844 

To establish the Energy and Minerals Reclamation Foundation to encourage, 

obtain, and use gifts, devises, and bequests for projects to reclaim abandoned mine lands and orphan oil and gas well sites, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2015 

Mr. JODY B. HICE of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the Energy and Minerals Reclamation Foundation to encourage, obtain, and use gifts, devises, and 

bequests for projects to reclaim abandoned mine lands 

and orphan oil and gas well sites, 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 ‘‘Energy and Minerals 

5 Reclamation Foundation Establishment Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ABANDONED MINE LANDS.—The term 

2 ‘‘abandoned mine lands’’ means all hardrock mines 

3 in the United States that were abandoned before 

4 January 1, 1981, and all coal mines in the United 

5 States that were abandoned before August 3, 1977, 

6 regardless of surface or mineral ownership. 

7 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

8 Board of Directors of the Foundation. 

9 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

10 the Directors of the Board. 

11 (4) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

12 means the Energy and Minerals Reclamation Foun13 dation established by this Act. 

14 (5) INTEREST IN REAL PROPERTY.—The term 

15 ‘‘interest in real property’’ includes mineral rights, 

16 rights-of-way, and easements, appurtenant or in 

17 gross. 

18 (6) ORPHANED OIL AND GAS WELL SITES.— 

19 The term ‘‘orphaned oil and gas well sites’’ means 

20 all oil and gas wells in the United States that have 

21 no responsible or liable parties, regardless of surface 

22 or mineral ownership. 

23 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (8) SPLIT ESTATE LANDS.—The term ‘‘split es2 tate lands’’ means lands with respect to which the 

3 surface is or will be in non-Federal ownership and 

4 a mineral interest is owned by the United States. 

5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF ENERGY AND MINERALS REC6 LAMATION FOUNDATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Energy 

8 and Minerals Reclamation Foundation. The Foundation is 

9 a charitable and nonprofit corporation domiciled in the 

10 District of Columbia. 

11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Foundation is to 

12 encourage, obtain, and use gifts, devises, and bequests of 

13 real and personal property for abandoned mine lands and 

14 orphaned oil and gas well site reclamation projects that 

15 further the conservation of natural, scenic, historic, sci16 entific, educational, wildlife habitat, or recreational re17 sources. 

18 (c) GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—The Foundation may 

19 use gifts, devises, bequests, and matching funds from the 

20 Secretary under section 10(b) to make grants and award 

21 contracts for projects that are— 

22 (1) approved by the Board of the Foundation; 

23 and 

24 (2) consistent with the purpose of the Founda25 tion under subsection (b). 


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1 (d) LIMITATION AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall have 

3 no power, other than as an insubstantial part of its 

4 activities, to spend funds or engage in activities that 

5 are not in furtherance of subsection (b). 

6 (2) POLITICAL ACTIVITIES.—The Foundation 

7 shall not participate or intervene in any political 

8 campaign on behalf of any candidate for public of9 fice. 

10 (3) CONFLICT OF INTERESTS.—No Director or 

11 officer or employee of the Foundation shall partici12 pate, directly or indirectly, in the consideration or 

13 determination of any question before the Foundation 

14 affecting— 

15 (A) the direct or indirect financial or per16 sonal interests of the Director, officer, or em17 ployee; or 

18 (B) the interests of any corporation part19 nership, entity, or organization in which such 

20 Director, officer, or employee— 

21 (i) is an officer, member of the board, 

22 or trustee; or 

23 (ii) has any direct financial interest. 

24 (e) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENDI25 TURES.—Of the amount available to the Foundation for 


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1 expenditure each fiscal year, not more than 10 percent 

2 may be used for administrative expenses. 

3 SEC. 4. BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall have a 

6 governing Board of Directors (in this Act referred to 

7 as the ‘‘Board’’), which shall consist of 15 Directors. 

8 (2) EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE OF DIREC9 TORS.—The Directors must be educated or have ac10 tual experience in— 

11 (A) energy or minerals production; and 

12 (B) reclamation of mine lands or oil and 

13 gas fields; or 

14 (C) energy and mineral resource financing, 

15 law, or research. 

16 (3) REPRESENTATION OF DIVERSE AREAS OF

17 EXPERTISE.—To the extent practicable, the Direc18 tors shall represent diverse areas of expertise relat19 ing to mining and mine reclamation, and develop20 ment and reclamation of oil and gas fields. 

21 (4) EX OFFICIO DIRECTOR.—The Director of 

22 the Office of Surface Mining of the Department of 

23 the Interior shall be an ex officio, nonvoting Direc24 tor. 

25 (5) APPOINTMENT AND TERMS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Within one year after 

2 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of the Interior, in consultation with the 

4 Interstate Mining Compact Commission and the 

5 Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, 

6 shall appoint the initial Directors. Thereafter 

7 the Secretary shall no longer have such author8 ity, and subsequent appointments shall be made 

9 by the Chairman with the advice and consent of 

10 a majority of the Directors. 

11 (B) NON-FEDERAL STATUS.—Appointment 

12 and service as a Director of the Board shall not 

13 constitute employment by, or the holding of an 

14 office of, the United States for the purposes of 

15 any Federal law. 

16 (C) TERMS, GENERALLY.—Except as pro17 vided in subparagraph (D), each Director shall 

18 be appointed for a term of 6 years. 

19 (D) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—Of the Di20 rectors initially appointed— 

21 (i) one-third shall be appointed for a 

22 term of 2 years; 

23 (ii) one-third shall be appointed for a 

24 term of 4 years; and 


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1 (iii) one-third shall be appointed for a 

2 term of 6 years. 

3 (E) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Board 

4 shall be filled within 120 days after the occur5 rence of such vacancy. 

6 (F) LIMITATION.—No individual may serve 

7 more than 12 consecutive years as a Director. 

8 (6) REMOVAL.—If a Director misses three con9 secutive meetings of the Board, that individual may 

10 be removed from the Board by a majority vote of the 

11 Directors and that vacancy shall be filled in accord12 ance with this subsection. 

13 (b) CHAIRMAN.—The Chairman of the Board shall 

14 be elected by the Board from the Directors. An individual 

15 shall serve for a 2-year term as Chairman, and may be 

16 reelected to the post during the individual’s tenure as a 

17 Director. 

18 (c) QUORUM.—A majority of the current voting Di19 rectors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 

20 business. 

21 (d) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at the call of 

22 the Chairman at least once each year. 

23 (e) REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES.—Directors 

24 shall serve without pay, but may be reimbursed by the 

25 Foundation for the actual and necessary traveling and 


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1 subsistence expenses incurred by them in the performance 

2 of their duties for the Foundation. Such reimbursement 

3 may not exceed such amount as would be authorized under 

4 section 5703 of title 5, United States Code, for the pay5 ment of expenses and allowances for individuals employed 

6 intermittently in Federal Government service. 

7 (f) GENERAL POWERS.—The Board may complete 

8 the organization of the Foundation by— 

9 (1) appointing officers and employees (subject 

10 to subsection (g)(1)); 

11 (2) adopting a constitution and bylaws con12 sistent with the purpose of the Foundation under 

13 section 3(b) and the other provisions of this Act; and 

14 (3) undertaking other such acts as may be nec15 essary to function and to carry out this Act. 

16 (g) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.—Officers and em17 ployees of the Foundation— 

18 (1) may not be appointed until the Foundation 

19 has sufficient funds to pay for their services; 

20 (2) shall be appointed without regard to the 

21 provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing 

22 appointment in the competitive service; and 

23 (3) may be paid without regard to the provi24 sions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 


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1 of such title relating to classification and General 

2 Schedule pay rates. 

3 SEC. 5. CORPORATE POWERS AND OBLIGATIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation— 

5 (1) shall have perpetual succession; 

6 (2) may conduct business throughout the sev7 eral States, territories, and possessions of the 

8 United States; 

9 (3) shall have a principle office in the metro10 politan area of the District of Columbia that shall 

11 at all times maintain a designated agent in the Dis12 trict of Columbia to accept service of process for the 

13 Foundation; and 

14 (4) may maintain as many offices as considered 

15 necessary by the Board outside of the metropolitan 

16 area of the District of Columbia. 

17 (b) NOTICE AND SERVICE OF PROCESS.—The serving 

18 of notice to, or service of process upon, the agent required 

19 under subsection (a)(3), or mailed to the business address 

20 of such agent, is deemed as service upon or notice to the 

21 Foundation. 

22 (c) SEAL.—The Foundation shall have an official seal 

23 selected by the Board, which shall be judicially noticed. 

24 (d) POWERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out its purpose, the 

2 Foundation shall have, in addition to powers other3 wise authorized under this Act, the usual powers of 

4 a corporation acting as a trustee in the District of 

5 Columbia. 

6 (2) INCLUDED POWERS.—The powers of the 

7 Foundation under this subsection include the power 

8 to— 

9 (A) accept, receive, solicit, hold, admin10 ister, and use any gift, devise, or bequest, either 

11 absolutely or in trust, of real or personal prop12 erty or any income therefrom or other interest 

13 therein; 

14 (B) unless otherwise required by the in15 strument of transfer by which the Foundation 

16 acquires property, sell, donate, lease, invest, re17 invest, retain, or otherwise dispose of any prop18 erty or income therefrom; 

19 (C) borrow money and issue bonds, deben20 tures, or other debt instruments; 

21 (D) sue and be sued, and complain and de22 fend itself in any court of competent jurisdic23 tion, except that the Directors shall not be per24 sonally liable except for gross negligence; 


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1 (E) enter into contracts or other arrange2 ments with public agencies, private organiza3 tions, and persons, and to make such payments 

4 as may be necessary to carry out the purposes 

5 thereof; and 

6 (F) do any and all acts necessary and 

7 proper to carry out the purpose of the Founda8 tion under section 3(b). 

9 (e) ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to its powers 

11 under subsection (d), the Foundation may acquire, 

12 hold, and dispose of lands, waters, or other interests 

13 in real property by donation, gift, devise, purchase 

14 or exchange. 

15 (2) EXEMPTION FROM CONDEMNATION.—No 

16 lands or waters, or interest therein, that are owned 

17 by the Foundation and are determined by the Sec18 retary to be valuable for energy and mineral produc19 tion, shall be subject to condemnation by any State 

20 or political subdivision, or any agent of instrumen21 tality thereof. 

22 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND SUPPORT. 

23 (a) STARTUP FUNDS.—For the purposes of assisting 

24 the Foundation in establishing an office and meeting ini25 tial administrative, project, and other startup expenses, 


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1 the Secretary may provide to the Foundation $2,000,000 

2 from funds appropriated under section 10(a) for each of 

3 fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Such funds shall remain avail4 able to the Foundation until they are expended. 

5 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 

7 the Foundation use of Department of the Interior 

8 personnel, facilities, and equipment, subject to such 

9 limitations, terms, and conditions as the Secretary 

10 shall establish. 

11 (2) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary— 

12 (A) may require the Foundation to reim13 burse the Secretary for the costs of providing 

14 personnel, facilities, and equipment under this 

15 subsection; and 

16 (B) shall require such reimbursement be17 ginning with expenses incurred by the Founda18 tion after the end of the 5-year period begin19 ning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 SEC. 7. AUDITS AND ACTIVITIES SUMMARY. 

21 (a) AUDITS.—For purposes of section 10101 of title 

22 36, United States Code, the Foundation shall be treated 

23 as a corporation in part B of subtitle II of such title. 

24 (b) ACTIVITIES SUMMARY.—The Foundation shall, 

25 within 60 days after the end of each fiscal year, transmit 


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1 to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

2 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat3 ural Resources of the Senate a summary of its proceedings 

4 and activities during such fiscal year, including— 

5 (1) a full and complete statement of its re6 ceipts, expenditures, and investments; 

7 (2) a description of all acquisition and disposal 

8 of real property by the Foundation; 

9 (3) a detailed statement of the recipient, 

10 amount, and purpose of each grant made by the 

11 Foundation; 

12 (4) copies of all minutes of Board meetings; 

13 (5) a copy of the Foundation bylaws; and 

14 (6) a copy of the audit for such fiscal year. 

15 SEC. 8. RELIEF WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN FOUNDATION 

16 ACTS OR FAILURE TO ACT. 

17 The Attorney General may petition in the United 

18 States District Court for the District of Columbia for such 

19 equitable relief as may be necessary or appropriate if the 

20 Foundation— 

21 (1) engages in, or threatens to engage in, any 

22 act, practice, or policy that is inconsistent with its 

23 purpose set forth in section 3(b); or 

24 (2) refuses, fails, or neglects to discharge its 

25 obligations under this Act, or threatens to do so. 


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1 SEC. 9. UNITED STATES RELEASE FROM LIABILITY. 

2 The United States shall not be liable for any debts, 

3 defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation, nor shall 

4 the full faith and credit of the United States extend to 

5 any obligations of the Foundation. 

6 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 (a) STARTUP FUNDS.—There is authorized to be ap8 propriated to the Secretary $4,000,000 to carry out sec9 tion 6(a). 

10 (b) MATCHING FUNDS.—There is authorized to be 

11 appropriated to the Secretary $3,000,000 for each of fiscal 

12 years 2016 through 2020, which shall be made available 

13 by the Secretary to the Foundation to match, on a one14 for-one basis, private contributions made to the Founda15 tion. 

Æ 


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