I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3843 

To authorize for a 7-year period the collection of claim location and 

maintenance fees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2015 

Mr. LAMBORN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on 

Transportation and Infrastructure and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize for a 7-year period the collection of claim 

location and maintenance fees, 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 ‘‘Locatable Minerals 

5 Claim Location and Maintenance Fees Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is the following: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 


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TITLE I—MINING CLAIM LOCATION AND MAINTENANCE FEES 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Claim location and maintenance fees. 

Sec. 103. Mining claim validity exams and mineral reports for areas segregated 

or withdrawn from mineral entry. 

Sec. 104. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 105. Mineral potential reports and mining claim validity exams. 

Sec. 106. United States mineral deposit database. 

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR INACTIVE AND 

ABANDONED NONCOAL MINE LANDS PROGRAM 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Establishment of inactive and abandoned noncoal mine lands program. 

Sec. 203. Inactive and abandoned mine land program partners. 

Sec. 204. Priority sites for Good Samaritan projects on Federal lands. 

Sec. 205. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE III—GOOD SAMARITAN REMEDIATION OF ABANDONED 

MINE LANDS 

Sec. 301. Short title. 

Sec. 302. Definitions. 

Sec. 303. Permits for remediation of inactive or abandoned mine lands by Good 

Samaritans. 

Sec. 304. State or tribal programs. 

Sec. 305. Enforcement. 

Sec. 306. Grants eligibility. 

Sec. 307. Construction of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. 

Sec. 308. Use of projects to meet offsite mitigation requirements. 

Sec. 309. State and tribal reclamation plans under the Surface Mining Control 

and Reclamation Act of 1977. 

Sec. 310. Savings provisions. 

Sec. 311. Sunset. 

1 TITLE I—MINING CLAIM LOCA2 TION AND MAINTENANCE 

3 FEES 

4 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) CLAIM.—The term ‘‘claim’’ means an 

7 unpatented lode mining claim, placer claim, mill site, 

8 or tunnel site located under the general mining laws. 


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1 (2) CLAIM HOLDER AND CLAIMANT.—The 

2 terms ‘‘claim holder’’ and ‘‘claimant’’ mean the 

3 owner or holder of a claim. 

4 (3) CERTIFIED MINERAL EXAMINER.—The term 

5 ‘‘Certified Mineral Examiner’’ means an employee of 

6 the Federal Government who— 

7 (A) possesses sufficient college education 

8 to qualify as a geologist, mining engineer, or 

9 metallurgical engineer; and 

10 (B) has completed training specified by the 

11 Chief Mineral Examiner of the Bureau of Land 

12 Management, Department of the Interior. 

13 (4) CERTIFIED REVIEW MINERAL EXAMINER.— 

14 The term ‘‘Certified Review Mineral Examiner’’ 

15 means a Certified Mineral Examiner who is deter16 mined by the Bureau of Land Management Mineral 

17 Examiner Certification Panel to possess an addi18 tional breadth of training and experience that is suf19 ficient to review mineral potential reports and min20 ing claim validity exam reports. 

21 (5) FEDERAL LANDS.—The term ‘‘Federal 

22 lands’’ means lands and interests in lands owned by 

23 the United States that are open to mineral entry 

24 and location, or that were open to mineral entry and 

25 location at the time of entry or location. 


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1 (6) GENERAL MINING LAWS.—The term ‘‘gen2 eral mining laws’’ means those Acts that generally 

3 comprise chapters 2, 11, 12, 12A, 15, and 16, and 

4 sections 161 and 162, of title 30, United States 

5 Code, all Acts that are amendatory of or supple6 mentary to any of the foregoing Acts, and the judi7 cial and administrative decisions interpreting such 

8 Acts. 

9 (7) LOCATABLE MINERALS.—The term 

10 ‘‘locatable minerals’’ means those minerals held by 

11 the United States and not subject to disposition 

12 under— 

13 (A) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

14 181 et seq.); 

15 (B) the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 

16 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 

17 (C) the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 

18 601 et seq.); or 

19 (D) the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired 

20 Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.). 

21 (8) MINERAL ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘mineral 

22 activities’’ means any activity on Federal lands 

23 under a claim with or without a discovery, or off of 

24 claims, for mineral prospecting, exploration, develop25 ment, mining, extraction, milling, beneficiation, procVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3843.IH H3843

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1 essing, storage of mined or processed materials, or 

2 reclamation activities for any locatable mineral and 

3 uses that are reasonably incident thereto, including 

4 the construction and use of roads, transmission 

5 lines, water wells, pipelines, utility corridors, and 

6 other means of access across Federal lands for ancil7 lary facilities used in conjunction with such activity. 

8 (9) MINERAL POTENTIAL REPORT.—The term 

9 ‘‘mineral potential report’’ means a report described 

10 in section 204(c)(2)(12) of the Federal Land Policy 

11 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

12 1714(c)(2)(12)). 

13 (10) MINING CLAIM VALIDITY EXAM.—The 

14 term ‘‘mining claim validity exam’’ means an exam15 ination of a mining claim to determine if it estab16 lishes a valid existing right in a valuable mineral de17 posit (as that term is used in section 2319 of the 

18 Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 22)). 

19 (11) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an 

20 individual, partnership, association, society, joint 

21 venture, joint stock company, firm, company, limited 

22 liability company, corporation, cooperative, or other 

23 organization, and any instrumentality of State or 

24 local government, including any publicly owned utilVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3843.IH H3843

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1 ity or publicly owned corporation of State or local 

2 government. 

3 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

4 means the Secretary of the Interior, unless otherwise 

5 specified. 

6 (13) UNITED STATES MINERAL DEPOSIT DATA7 BASE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘United States Mineral 

8 Deposit Database Project’’ means the interactive 

9 database of mines and mineral deposits in the 

10 United States administered by the United States Ge11 ological Survey Mineral Resources Program. 

12 SEC. 102. CLAIM LOCATION AND MAINTENANCE FEES. 

13 (a) LOCATION FEE.—For each claim located after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, a claimant shall pay 

15 the Secretary a location fee of $37 not later than 90 days 

16 after the date of location, at the time the location notice 

17 is recorded with the Bureau of Land Management. 

18 (b) ANNUAL CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE.—Com19 mencing the first calendar year after the date of enact20 ment of this Act, a claimant shall pay the Secretary on 

21 or before September 1 of each year, a claim maintenance 

22 fee of $155 per 20.66-acre claim or fraction thereof to 

23 maintain the claim for the following assessment year be24 ginning at noon on September 1. Payment of such claim 

25 maintenance fee shall be in lieu of the assessment work 


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1 requirement contained in the general mining laws and the 

2 related filing requirements contained in subsections (a) 

3 and (c) of section 314 of the Federal Land Policy and 

4 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744). 

5 (c) WAIVER FOR HOLDERS OF 10 OR FEWER

6 CLAIMS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The claim maintenance fee 

8 required under this section shall be waived for a 

9 claimant who certifies in writing to the Secretary 

10 that on the date the payment was due— 

11 (A) the claimant was— 

12 (i) the holder of not more than 10 

13 lode claims on Federal lands; or 

14 (ii) an association that held less than 

15 or equal to 320 acres; and 

16 (B) the claimant has performed assess17 ment work sufficient to maintain the claims 

18 held by the claimant for the assessment year 

19 ending on noon of September 1 of the calendar 

20 year in which the claim maintenance fee pay21 ment was due. 

22 (2) HOLDER.—As used in paragraph (1), the 

23 term ‘‘holder’’ includes— 

24 (A) the claimant; 


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1 (B) the spouse and dependent children (as 

2 defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue 

3 Code of 1986), of the claimant; and 

4 (C) a person affiliated with the claimant, 

5 including— 

6 (i) a person controlled by, controlling, 

7 or under common control with the claim8 ant; and 

9 (ii) a subsidiary or parent company or 

10 corporation of the claimant. 

11 (3) CERTIFICATION PROCESSING FEE.—The 

12 Secretary shall charge a certification processing fee 

13 of $30 for the filing of a certification under this sub14 section. 

15 (d) SUSPENSION OF CLAIM MAINTENANCE AND

16 WAIVER OF COST RECOVERY FEES.— 

17 (1) CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE.—The claim 

18 maintenance fees required under this section shall be 

19 suspended for any claims of a claimant for an area 

20 that was open to mineral entry and location at the 

21 time of entry or location that has subsequently been 

22 segregated or withdrawn from mineral entry and lo23 cation by order of the Secretary or a law enacted 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act until 

25 such time as the area is reopened to mineral entry, 


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1 or the claimant has submitted a notice or permit to 

2 explore or develop their claims or is actively mining. 

3 (2) COST RECOVERY FEES.—The fees required 

4 by part 3000 of title 43, Code of Federal Regula5 tions, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

6 Act, and any substantially similar fee charged for a 

7 mining claim validity exam, shall be waived for any 

8 claimant with claims in an area that was open to 

9 mineral entry and location at the time of claim loca10 tion that has subsequently been segregated or with11 drawn from mineral entry and location by order of 

12 the Secretary or a law enacted after the date of the 

13 enactment of this Act. 

14 (e) EFFECTS OF PAYMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Timely payment of the loca16 tion and claim maintenance fees under this section 

17 secures the rights of the holder of a mining claim 

18 against the Federal Government both prior to and 

19 after discovery of valuable mineral deposits, to use 

20 and occupy Federal lands under the provisions of 

21 the general mining laws for all mineral activities. 

22 This section shall not be construed to amend section 

23 910 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 53) or in 

24 any way affect the law of possession or the doctrine 

25 of pedis possessio. 


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1 (2) WAIVER OF CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE.—In 

2 the case of a claim holder who qualifies for a waiver 

3 of payment of the claim maintenance fee under sub4 section (c), timely payment of the location fee and 

5 compliance with the assessment work required under 

6 the general mining laws (30 U.S.C. 28–28e) secures 

7 the rights of the holder of a claim, both prior to and 

8 after discovery of valuable mineral deposits, to use 

9 and occupy Federal lands under the provisions of 

10 the general mining laws for all mineral activities. 

11 (f) FORFEITURE OF UNPATENTED CLAIM FOR FAIL12 URE TO PAY MAINTENANCE FEE.— 

13 (1) FAILURE TO PAY.—Failure to pay a claim 

14 maintenance fee or a location fee under this section 

15 for an unpatented mining claim shall subject the 

16 claim to forfeiture by the claim holder as provided 

17 in this subsection. 

18 (2) NOTICE.—The Secretary of the Interior 

19 shall provide the claim holder— 

20 (A) notice of the failure; and 

21 (B) the opportunity to correct the failure 

22 within 45 days after the claim holder’s receipt 

23 of the notice. 

24 (3) AMOUNT.—To correct the failure the claim 

25 holder must, within such 45-day period, pay twice 


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1 the amount of claim maintenance fee that would oth2 erwise have been required to be timely paid. The 

3 Secretary shall specify the amount that must be paid 

4 in the notice under paragraph (2). 

5 (4) FORFEITURE.—Failure by the claim holder 

6 to make a timely and proper payment in the amount 

7 specified in the notice, within 45 days after the 

8 claim holder’s receipt of the notice, shall constitute 

9 a forfeiture of the mining claim by the claim holder 

10 by operation of law. 

11 (g) EFFECTIVE PERIOD OF FEES.—The fees imposed 

12 under this section shall apply during the period beginning 

13 September 1, 2016, and ending August 31, 2022. 

14 SEC. 103. MINING CLAIM VALIDITY EXAMS AND MINERAL 

15 REPORTS FOR AREAS SEGREGATED OR WITH16 DRAWN FROM MINERAL ENTRY. 

17 All mining claim validity exams shall be completed 

18 by Certified Mineral Examiners and reviewed by Certified 

19 Review Mineral Examiners. 

20 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec22 retary of the Interior to carry out mining law administra23 tion program operations $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 

24 years 2016 through 2026. 


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1 SEC. 105. MINERAL POTENTIAL REPORTS AND MINING 

2 CLAIM VALIDITY EXAMS. 

3 Mineral potential reports for areas withdrawn from 

4 mineral entry, and any mining claim validity exam on 

5 claims located within those areas, must be completed or 

6 prepared by a Certified Mineral Examiner and reviewed 

7 by Certified Review Mineral Examiner. 

8 SEC. 106. UNITED STATES MINERAL DEPOSIT DATABASE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the 

11 United States Geological Survey shall enter into separate 

12 memorandum of understanding to share data for the pur13 pose of expanding and maintaining the United States Min14 eral Deposit Database, with each of— 

15 (1) the Director of the Bureau of Land Man16 agement; 

17 (2) the Director of the Office of Surface Mining 

18 Reclamation and Enforcement; and 

19 (3) the Chief Forester of the Forest Service. 

20 (b) FUNDING.—From amounts available for each of 

21 fiscal years 2016 through 2022 for operations to admin22 ister the mining laws, the Secretary may use not more 

23 than $1,000,000 to support the United States Mineral De24 posit Database of which not more than 5 percent may be 

25 used for overhead expenses. 


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1 TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF THE 

2 INTERIOR INACTIVE AND 

3 ABANDONED NONCOAL MINE 

4 LANDS PROGRAM 

5 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this title: 

7 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD.—The term ‘‘en8 vironmental hazard’’ means degradation of air, soil, 

9 or water resources resulting from the effects of past 

10 mining practices. 

11 (2) HISTORIC MINE RESIDUE.—The term ‘‘his12 toric mine residue’’ means mine residue, or condi13 tions related to an inactive or abandoned mine site 

14 that pollute the environment, resulting from prior 

15 mining activities, including— 

16 (A) tailings or mine waste piles; 

17 (B) abandoned equipment (or materials in 

18 such equipment); and 

19 (C) acidic or otherwise polluted flows in 

20 surface or ground water. 

21 (3) INACTIVE AND ABANDONED NONCOAL MINE

22 LANDS.—The term ‘‘inactive and abandoned noncoal 

23 mine lands’’ means any location of a noncoal mine, 

24 including mill sites and processing sites, that was inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3843.IH H3843

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1 active or abandoned before January 1, 1981, and 

2 that— 

3 (A) contains historic mine residue; 

4 (B) is not owned by any person who 

5 caused or contributed to the historic mine res6 idue; 

7 (C) was used for the production of a 

8 noncoal mineral; and 

9 (D) is no longer in operation and is not 

10 subject to a temporary shutdown, as determined 

11 by the Secretary. 

12 (4) PHYSICAL SAFETY HAZARD.—The term 

13 ‘‘physical safety hazard’’ means any dangerous con14 dition or effect resulting from past mining practices, 

15 that poses a risk of death or serious injury to the 

16 public, livestock, or wildlife. 

17 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the Interior. 

19 (6) WATER RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘water re20 sources’’ means any watershed, ground water, water 

21 course, or lake. 

22 SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF INACTIVE AND ABANDONED 

23 NONCOAL MINE LANDS PROGRAM. 

24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

25 Department of the Interior a program to be known as the 


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1 Abandoned Noncoal Mine Lands Program (referred to in 

2 this section as the ‘‘Program’’). The Program shall be ad3 ministered by the Secretary of the Interior acting through 

4 the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. 

5 (b) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM.—Under the Pro6 gram, the Secretary shall— 

7 (1) identify, secure, and remediate physical 

8 safety hazards and environmental hazards associated 

9 with inactive and abandoned noncoal mine lands 

10 that are located on, or affecting, Federal public 

11 lands, including such hazards on other lands that 

12 are adjacent to such Federal lands; 

13 (2) maintain an inventory of the sites of such 

14 inactive and abandoned noncoal mines, affected Fed15 eral public lands, and other lands that are adjacent 

16 to such Federal public lands, including such sites 

17 that have been remediated in whole or in part, and 

18 associated water resources; and 

19 (3) identify the persons, if any, who are respon20 sible for paying the costs to remediate such hazards. 

21 (c) PRIORITIES.—In securing and remediating haz22 ards under this title, the Secretary shall give priority (in 

23 the following order of priority) to— 


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1 (1) the protection of public health, safety, and 

2 general welfare from the adverse effects of inactive 

3 and abandoned noncoal mine lands; and 

4 (2) the reclamation of land and water resources 

5 degraded by the adverse effects of such mines lands. 

6 SEC. 203. INACTIVE AND ABANDONED MINE LAND PRO7 GRAM PARTNERS. 

8 The Secretary, where appropriate, shall seek out Fed9 eral agencies or departments, State agencies, Indian 

10 tribes, nonprofit organizations, individuals, and corpora11 tions to participate as partners, including partners that 

12 are Good Samaritans (as that term is defined in title III), 

13 to facilitate remediation and securing of physical safety 

14 or environmental hazards under this title. 

15 SEC. 204. PRIORITY SITES FOR GOOD SAMARITAN 

16 PROJECTS ON FEDERAL LANDS. 

17 (a) IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec19 retary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the 

20 Bureau of Land Management, and the Secretary of Agri21 culture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 

22 in consultation with other Federal land management agen23 cies, shall identify a minimum of 20 priority sites on Fed24 eral land containing inactive or abandoned mine sites suit25 able for Good Samaritan projects under title III. 


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1 (b) NOMINATIONS.—In identifying priority sites 

2 under subsection (a), the Secretaries shall accept nomina3 tions from the public. 

4 (c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretaries shall annu5 ally review the sites identified under subsection (a) and 

6 identify additional priority sites as appropriate. 

7 SEC. 205. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this title $17,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 

10 through 2020. 

11 TITLE III—GOOD SAMARITAN RE12 MEDIATION OF ABANDONED 

13 MINE LANDS 

14 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan 

16 Cleanup of Abandoned Mine Lands Act’’. 

17 SEC. 302. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this title: 

19 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis20 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency. 

22 (2) COOPERATING PERSON.—The term ‘‘cooper23 ating person’’ means any person (other than a Fed24 eral agency) that— 

25 (A) is a Good Samaritan; 


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1 (B) assists another Good Samaritan in a 

2 remediation project; and 

3 (C) is identified as a cooperating person in 

4 a permit issued under this title. 

5 (3) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—The term ‘‘envi6 ronmental laws’’ means— 

7 (A) the Federal Water Pollution Control 

8 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) and any State law 

9 implementing a permit program under section 

10 402(b) or 404(g) of such Act; and 

11 (B) the Comprehensive Environmental Re12 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

13 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 

14 (4) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.— 

15 The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 

16 means any agency of the Federal Government au17 thorized by statute to exercise jurisdiction, custody, 

18 or control over lands of the United States. 

19 (5) GOOD SAMARITAN.—The term ‘‘Good Sa20 maritan’’ means any person that did not participate 

21 in any way in the creation of, or activities that 

22 caused, any historic mine residue at the inactive or 

23 abandoned mine site and that— 

24 (A) has an ownership interest in the inac25 tive or abandoned mine site, but— 


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1 (i) is not liable or potentially liable for 

2 remediation costs related to the historic 

3 mine residue at the inactive or abandoned 

4 mine site, or affiliated with any other per5 son potentially so liable through any con6 tractual, corporate, or financial relation7 ship (other than a contractual, corporate, 

8 or financial relationship that is created by 

9 the instruments by which the ownership in10 terest in the inactive or abandoned mine 

11 site is conveyed or financed or by a con12 tract for the sale of goods or services); and 

13 (ii) is not a successor entity to a busi14 ness entity that was liable or potentially 

15 liable for such remediation costs; 

16 (B) has an ownership interest in the inac17 tive or abandoned mine site that was acquired 

18 through the inheritance of a patented mining 

19 claim; or 

20 (C) has no ownership interest in the inac21 tive or abandoned mine site and had no such an 

22 interest at any time during or since the creation 

23 of the historic mine residue at the site. 

24 (6) HISTORIC MINE RESIDUE.—The term ‘‘his25 toric mine residue’’ means mine residue, or condiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3843.IH H3843

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1 tions related to an inactive or abandoned mine site 

2 that pollute the environment, resulting from prior 

3 mining activities, including— 

4 (A) tailings or mine waste piles; 

5 (B) abandoned equipment (or materials in 

6 such equipment); and 

7 (C) acidic or otherwise polluted flows in 

8 surface or ground water. 

9 (7) INACTIVE OR ABANDONED MINE SITE.—The 

10 term ‘‘inactive or abandoned mine site’’ means any 

11 mine site, including any mill or processing site, 

12 that— 

13 (A) contains historic mine residue; 

14 (B) is not owned by any person who 

15 caused or contributed to the historic mine res16 idue; 

17 (C) was used for the production of a min18 eral-bearing ore or coal; and 

19 (D) is no longer in operation and is not 

20 subject to a temporary shutdown, as determined 

21 by the permitting authority. 

22 (8) INDIAN COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘Indian coun23 try’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1151 

24 of title 18, United States Code. 


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1 (9) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

2 means an Indian tribe that— 

3 (A) is federally recognized; or 

4 (B) is an Alaska Native Corporation as de5 fined under section 1602 of title 43, United 

6 States Code. 

7 (10) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

8 means a State or tribal agency designated under sec9 tion 304(c)(1) as the lead agency responsible for 

10 carrying out permitting responsibilities of the State 

11 or Indian tribe under this title. 

12 (11) OFFSITE MITIGATION REQUIREMENT.— 

13 The term ‘‘offsite mitigation requirement’’ means a 

14 requirement imposed under another Federal law to 

15 improve, enhance, restore, or create a wetland, 

16 stream, or habitat conservation area to offset or 

17 compensate for adverse impacts to similar eco18 systems resulting from the development of a natural 

19 resource or other commercial activity. 

20 (12) PERMITTING AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘per21 mitting authority’’ means the Administrator or, in 

22 the case of a State or tribal program authorized by 

23 the Administrator under section 304, the lead agen24 cy. 


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1 (13) REMEDIATION.—The term ‘‘remediation’’ 

2 means activities to clean up or otherwise mitigate 

3 the impacts of historic mine residue. 

4 (14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

5 the 50 States of the United States, the District of 

6 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 

7 Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin 

8 Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mari9 anas, and any other territory or possession over 

10 which the United States has jurisdiction. 

11 SEC. 303. PERMITS FOR REMEDIATION OF INACTIVE OR 

12 ABANDONED MINE LANDS BY GOOD SAMARI13 TANS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—A permitting authority may issue 

15 a permit to a Good Samaritan to carry out a project in 

16 accordance with this section. 

17 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.— 

18 (1) PURPOSE OF PROJECT.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—A permitting authority 

20 may issue a permit under this section for a 

21 project to improve the environment (including 

22 water quality) by carrying out remediation at or 

23 related to an inactive or abandoned mine site. 

24 (B) WATER QUALITY.—A permitting au25 thority shall ensure that remediation carried 


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1 out pursuant to a permit issued under this sec2 tion— 

3 (i) assists in the attainment of appli4 cable water quality standards to the extent 

5 reasonable and practicable under the cir6 cumstances; and 

7 (ii) does not result in water quality 

8 that is worse than the baseline water con9 dition. 

10 (2) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY.—A permitting 

11 authority may not issue a permit under this section 

12 for a project at or related to a mine site included on 

13 the National Priorities List developed by the Presi14 dent in accordance with section 105(a)(8)(B) of the 

15 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa16 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

17 9605(a)(8)(B)) or a mine site at which the Adminis18 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency or 

19 another Federal, State, or tribal agency is taking an 

20 environmental enforcement or response action, un21 less the permitting authority determines, after con22 sultation with any other interested agency, that— 

23 (A) the proposed project is not incon24 sistent, and will not interfere, with any other 


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1 planned remediation at the mine site that is 

2 reasonably likely to occur; and 

3 (B) the proposed project will accelerate en4 vironmental improvements. 

5 (c) PERMIT APPLICATIONS.— 

6 (1) CONTENTS.—A permitting authority shall 

7 require an application for a permit under this sec8 tion to include— 

9 (A) a description of the project site (in10 cluding the boundaries of the project site and 

11 any degraded waters related to the project site); 

12 (B) an identification of— 

13 (i) any current owner of the property 

14 on which the project is proposed to be car15 ried out; 

16 (ii) any person with a legal right to 

17 exclude other persons from the project site 

18 or affect activities on the project site, with 

19 a description of those legal rights; 

20 (iii) for project sites on Federal lands, 

21 the Federal land management agency; and 

22 (iv) based on the conduct of an in23 quiry that is reasonable under the cir24 cumstances— 


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1 (I) all persons that may be le2 gally responsible for remediation of 

3 the project site; and 

4 (II) any relationship between 

5 those persons and the applicant; 

6 (C) a description of any contractual ties or 

7 other legal relationship between the applicant 

8 and all persons with responsibility for compli9 ance with environmental laws at the project 

10 site; 

11 (D) a general description of the known and 

12 identifiable baseline conditions, including condi13 tions existing prior to the commencement of 

14 mining activities, as of the date of submission 

15 of the application, of the environment affected 

16 by the historic mine residue to be remediated, 

17 including, if available, any sampling data or in18 formation regarding the extent of contamina19 tion; 

20 (E) a description of— 

21 (i) the historic mine residue proposed 

22 to be remediated; 

23 (ii) the nature and scope of the pro24 posed remediation, including— 


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1 (I) any proposed recycling or re2 processing of the historic mine res3 idue, how the recycling or reprocess4 ing relates to the remediation, and 

5 where the recycling or reprocessing 

6 will occur; and 

7 (II) the manner in which the pro8 posed remediation will mitigate the 

9 drainage from the inactive or aban10 doned mine site to improve water 

11 quality, if applicable; 

12 (iii) the remediation alternatives, if 

13 any, considered in developing the proposed 

14 remediation plan for the project site; 

15 (iv) engineering plans for the project; 

16 (v) how any material related to the in17 active or abandoned mine site that is iden18 tified or listed as hazardous waste under 

19 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 6901 et seq.) will be disposed of; 

21 (vi) a monitoring program proposed to 

22 be carried out following completion of the 

23 remediation, if applicable, that will be im24 plemented to evaluate the effects of the re25 mediation on the environment; and 


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1 (vii) the capacity (including technical 

2 and administrative) of the applicant to 

3 carry out the proposed activities and any 

4 terms of the permit for which the applica5 tion is being submitted; 

6 (F) a plan for any operation and mainte7 nance related to the proposed remediation; 

8 (G) a proposed schedule for activities to be 

9 carried out under the project, including an ex10 pected completion date for the remediation; 

11 (H) a budget for the project; 

12 (I) evidence satisfactory to the permitting 

13 authority that the applicant has sufficient fi14 nancial resources to ensure that the activities 

15 proposed to be carried out by the applicant, in16 cluding any operation and maintenance activi17 ties related to the remediation, will be carried 

18 out under the permit; 

19 (J) an identification of any cooperating 

20 persons and a description of activities proposed 

21 to be carried out by such persons; 

22 (K) a description of— 

23 (i) any recognition for excellence in 

24 environmental compliance, reclamation, or 

25 remediation received by the applicant or 


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1 any cooperating person identified under 

2 subparagraph (J); and 

3 (ii) the history of any noncompliance 

4 with environmental laws by the applicant 

5 or any cooperating person identified under 

6 subparagraph (J) during the 5-year period 

7 preceding submission of the application; 

8 and 

9 (L) if the applicant intends to use the 

10 project to comply with an offsite mitigation re11 quirement, a reference to the offsite mitigation 

12 requirement and any related permit. 

13 (2) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (A) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL COMMU15 NITIES.—As soon as practicable after receiving 

16 an application under this section, a permitting 

17 authority shall provide notice of the application, 

18 including a copy of the application, to— 

19 (i) each local government located 

20 within a radius of 20 miles of the project 

21 site; 

22 (ii) each Federal, State, and tribal 

23 agency that the permitting authority deter24 mines may have an interest in the applica25 tion; and 


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1 (iii) if the project site lies in the head2 water area of a major drainage basin, local 

3 governments located outside of the 20-mile 

4 radius of the project site that are down5 stream of the project site and may be af6 fected by a discharge resulting from activi7 ties carried out pursuant to the project. 

8 (B) PUBLIC NOTICE.—Not later than 30 

9 days after receiving an application under this 

10 section, a permitting authority shall provide to 

11 the public notice of the application. 

12 (3) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—A permitting authority 

14 may, upon request, authorize a person to carry 

15 out investigative sampling, as determined ap16 propriate by the permitting authority, prior to 

17 submitting an application for a permit under 

18 this section. 

19 (B) EFFECT OF AUTHORIZATION.—An au20 thorization to carry out investigative sampling 

21 under this section shall, with respect to the au22 thorized activities, have the same effect as a 

23 permit for the purposes of subsection (g). 

24 (d) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.— 


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1 (1) HEARING.—Prior to issuing a permit under 

2 this section, a permitting authority shall conduct a 

3 public hearing in the vicinity of the proposed project 

4 site, and shall give public notice of the hearing not 

5 later than 30 days before the date of the hearing. 

6 (2) DRAFT PERMIT.—The permitting authority 

7 shall include a draft permit in the notice of a hear8 ing to be conducted under this section. 

9 (3) COMMENTS.—The permitting authority 

10 shall provide the applicant and the public with the 

11 opportunity to— 

12 (A) comment on the draft permit at the 

13 public hearing; and 

14 (B) submit written comments to the per15 mitting authority during the 30-day period fol16 lowing the hearing. 

17 (e) PERMIT ISSUANCE.— 

18 (1) DEADLINE.—A permitting authority shall 

19 issue a permit or deny a permit application under 

20 this section not later than— 

21 (A) the date that is 180 days after the 

22 date on which the permitting authority receives 

23 a complete application for the permit, as deter24 mined by the permitting authority; or 


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1 (B) such later date as may be determined 

2 by the permitting authority, with the agreement 

3 of the applicant. 

4 (2) CONSTRUCTIVE DENIAL.—If the permitting 

5 authority does not issue a permit or deny the permit 

6 application by the applicable date described in para7 graph (1), the application shall be considered to be 

8 denied by the permitting authority. 

9 (3) AGENCY CONSULTATION.— 

10 (A) CONSULTATION.—In considering 

11 whether to issue a permit for a project to be 

12 carried out on Federal lands, a permitting au13 thority shall consult with any applicable Federal 

14 land management agency. 

15 (B) OBJECTION.—A permitting authority 

16 may not issue a permit under this section if— 

17 (i) the proposed project site is not a 

18 priority site designated under section 204; 

19 and 

20 (ii) the permitting authority receives 

21 an objection to the proposed permit from a 

22 Federal land management agency with ju23 risdiction over the project site. 

24 (f) PERMIT CONTENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A permitting authority shall 

2 include in a permit issued under this section— 

3 (A) a description of the activities author4 ized by the permit, including a description of 

5 any activities to be carried out by a cooperating 

6 person in accordance with paragraph (5); 

7 (B) a schedule for the activities to be car8 ried out under the project, in accordance with 

9 paragraph (3), including an end date by which 

10 the permittee shall complete the permitted ac11 tivities; 

12 (C) conditions requiring the permittee to— 

13 (i) secure, for all activities authorized 

14 under the permit, all authorizations, li15 censes, and permits required under law; 

16 (ii) establish and maintain records, 

17 conduct monitoring (as described in para18 graph (4)), and provide such other infor19 mation as may be reasonably necessary to 

20 ensure the project will result in improve21 ment to the environment; and 

22 (iii) minimize any short-term adverse 

23 environmental impacts from the remedi24 ation, to the extent practicable; 


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1 (D) a right of entry to the project site for 

2 the permitting authority to inspect and collect 

3 such information as is reasonably necessary to 

4 carry out this title; 

5 (E) if the project to be carried out under 

6 the permit will be used by the permittee to com7 ply with an offsite mitigation requirement, a 

8 reference to the offsite mitigation requirement 

9 and any related permit; and 

10 (F) any other terms and conditions deter11 mined appropriate by the permitting authority. 

12 (2) BENCHMARKS.—A permitting authority 

13 shall ensure that a permit issued under this section 

14 is site- and situation-specific, relying on pre-mining 

15 conditions and conditions existing as of the date of 

16 issuance of the permit to determine appropriate 

17 water quality or other environmental benchmarks to 

18 achieve in carrying out remediation under the per19 mit. 

20 (3) TIMING.—A permitting authority shall re21 quire activities authorized by a permit issued under 

22 this section to— 

23 (A) commence not later than the date that 

24 is 1 year after the date on which the permit is 

25 issued; and 


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1 (B) continue until completed, with tem2 porary suspensions permitted during adverse 

3 weather or other circumstances, as approved by 

4 the permitting authority. 

5 (4) MONITORING.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—A permitting authority 

7 shall require a permittee to take such actions as 

8 the permitting authority determines are nec9 essary to ensure, where appropriate, baseline, 

10 remedial alternative, and postremediation moni11 toring of the environment. 

12 (B) ADMINISTRATION.—In selecting the 

13 type and frequency of monitoring requirements 

14 to be included in a permit under this para15 graph, the permitting authority shall— 

16 (i) balance the utility of information 

17 obtained through monitoring against the 

18 cost of the monitoring, based on the cir19 cumstances relating to the project; and 

20 (ii) take into account the scope of the 

21 project. 

22 (5) COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES.—A permitting 

23 authority may approve in a permit the conduct of 

24 project activities by cooperating persons if, as deter25 mined by the permitting authority, the cooperative 


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1 arrangement will effectively accomplish the purposes 

2 of this title. 

3 (g) EFFECT OF PERMIT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person authorized by a 

5 permit issued under this section to carry out activi6 ties— 

7 (A) shall be deemed to be in compliance 

8 with environmental laws with respect to such 

9 activities; and 

10 (B) shall not be liable under environmental 

11 laws with respect to such activities, including 

12 for any costs or damages deriving from the 

13 prior activities of others at the project site. 

14 (2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

15 apply if— 

16 (A) the person impedes or fails to facilitate 

17 a response action, remediation, or other natural 

18 resource restoration activity at the project site; 

19 (B) the person exacerbates the pollution 

20 from historic mine residue as a result of gross 

21 negligence or intentional misconduct, in which 

22 case the person may be liable under environ23 mental laws for costs or damages resulting from 

24 such gross negligence or intentional misconduct; 

25 or 


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1 (C) information supplied to the permitting 

2 authority in the permit application is subse3 quently determined to contain a dishonest, 

4 fraudulent, or materially misleading statement 

5 or omission, in which case the permit shall be 

6 deemed to have been invalid beginning on the 

7 date the permit was issued, and shall have no 

8 force or effect. 

9 (h) ADMINISTRATION OF PERMITS.— 

10 (1) MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION OF PER11 MITS.— 

12 (A) AUTHORITY.—A permitting authority 

13 may— 

14 (i) extend the period during which a 

15 permit is valid under procedures estab16 lished for such purpose by the permitting 

17 authority; and 

18 (ii) modify or terminate a permit for 

19 cause, including misrepresentation or a vio20 lation of a permit. 

21 (B) TERMINATION.—Unless the permitting 

22 authority has extended the period during which 

23 a permit is valid, the authority to carry out ac24 tivities under a permit issued under this section 

25 shall terminate— 


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1 (i) if the activities do not commence 

2 by the date that is 1 year after the date 

3 on which the permit is issued; 

4 (ii) if the activities are discontinued or 

5 not completed by the end date specified in 

6 the permit; or 

7 (iii) on any other grounds determined 

8 appropriate by the permitting authority. 

9 (2) TRANSFER OF PERMITS.—A permit may be 

10 transferred to another person only if— 

11 (A) the appropriate permitting authority 

12 determines that the transferee will satisfy all of 

13 the requirements of the permit; 

14 (B) the transferee is a Good Samaritan; 

15 (C) the transferee accepts all of the re16 quirements of the permit; 

17 (D) the permitting authority includes in 

18 the transferred permit any additional or modi19 fied conditions determined to be appropriate by 

20 the permitting authority; and 

21 (E) any Federal, State, or tribal land man22 agement agency with jurisdiction over the 

23 project site is notified of the proposed transfer 

24 and does not object to the permitting authority 


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1 before the date that is 30 days before the pro2 posed transfer is to take effect. 

3 (3) MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS.—A permitting 

4 authority shall maintain all records relating to per5 mits and the permit process under this section. 

6 (i) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—A permit issued under this 

7 section may not authorize any new mining activities other 

8 than those activities directly related to carrying out reme9 diation at or related to the inactive or abandoned mine 

10 site. 

11 SEC. 304. STATE OR TRIBAL PROGRAMS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State or Indian tribe may issue 

13 a permit under this title if the State or Indian tribe has 

14 in effect a Good Samaritan permit program approved by 

15 the Administrator under this section. 

16 (b) APPLICATION.— 

17 (1) SUBMISSION.—The Governor of any State 

18 or the head of an Indian tribe’s governing body may 

19 submit to the Administrator an application to carry 

20 out a Good Samaritan permit program within its ju21 risdiction at any time. 

22 (2) CONTENTS.—An application under this sec23 tion shall include— 


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1 (A) a full and complete description of the 

2 Good Samaritan permit program it proposes to 

3 administer under State or tribal law; and 

4 (B) a statement from the State Attorney 

5 General, or, for an Indian tribe, the equivalent 

6 official authorized to represent the tribe in 

7 court pertaining to the application, that the 

8 laws of the State or Indian tribe provide suffi9 cient legal authority to carry out the described 

10 program. 

11 (3) APPROVAL.—Not later than 120 days after 

12 receiving an application submitted under this sub13 section, the Administrator shall approve the Good 

14 Samaritan permit program unless the Administrator 

15 determines that the requirements of this section are 

16 not met. 

17 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—To meet the requirements of 

18 this section, a State or Indian tribe shall— 

19 (1) designate a lead agency that is responsible 

20 for carrying out permitting responsibilities under 

21 this section; and 

22 (2) have in effect laws providing sufficient legal 

23 authority to carry out a Good Samaritan permit pro24 gram in accordance with this title. 


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1 (d) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.—Upon approval of 

2 a State or tribal Good Samaritan permit program under 

3 this section, the Administrator shall transfer all authority 

4 to issue permits under this title for the State or relevant 

5 area of Indian country to the lead agency designated 

6 under subsection (c)(1). 

7 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—A State or tribal Good Sa8 maritan permit program approved under this section shall 

9 be administered in accordance with this title, except that 

10 nothing in this title precludes a State or Indian tribe from 

11 imposing more stringent requirements on permit appli12 cants or permittees. 

13 SEC. 305. ENFORCEMENT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—A permitting authority may en15 force any violation of this title, with respect to which the 

16 permitting authority has jurisdiction, by— 

17 (1) issuing an order to comply with the violated 

18 provision; or 

19 (2) commencing a civil action for appropriate 

20 relief, including a permanent or temporary injunc21 tion. 

22 (b) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—In the event of a per23 mit violation, and absent extraordinary circumstances, the 

24 court shall, at a minimum, require the person to repair, 

25 to the extent practicable, the damage to any part of the 


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1 environment caused by an action of the person in violation 

2 of the permit. 

3 (c) CIVIL PENALTY.—Any person who violates this 

4 title shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 

5 for each day of the violation (except in cases of knowing 

6 conduct, in which case the civil penalty shall be $32,500 

7 for each day of the violation). 

8 SEC. 306. GRANTS ELIGIBILITY. 

9 A project authorized by a permit issued under this 

10 title is eligible for funding pursuant to section 319 of the 

11 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1329). 

12 SEC. 307. CONSTRUCTION OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRON13 MENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969. 

14 No action of the Administrator taken pursuant to 

15 this title shall be required to comply with section 102 of 

16 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

17 4332). 

18 SEC. 308. USE OF PROJECTS TO MEET OFFSITE MITIGATION 

19 REQUIREMENTS. 

20 A project authorized by a permit issued under this 

21 title shall be considered to satisfy all or part of any offsite 

22 mitigation requirement of the permittee, upon approval by 

23 the authority imposing the offsite mitigation requirement. 


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1 SEC. 309. STATE AND TRIBAL RECLAMATION PLANS UNDER 

2 THE SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND REC3 LAMATION ACT OF 1977. 

4 No State or Indian tribe conducting remediation of 

5 an inactive or abandoned mine site pursuant to an ap6 proved State or tribal abandoned mine reclamation plan 

7 approved under title IV of the Surface Mining Control and 

8 Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231 et seq.) shall, 

9 with respect to the remediation activities, be required to 

10 obtain a permit under the Federal Water Pollution Con11 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

12 SEC. 310. SAVINGS PROVISIONS. 

13 (a) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this title 

14 affects the authority of a Federal, State, tribal, or local 

15 agency to carry out any emergency authority, including 

16 an emergency authority under environmental laws. 

17 (b) LIABILITY UNDER OTHER LAWS.—Except as 

18 provided in section 303(g), nothing in this title or a permit 

19 issued under this title limits the liability of any person 

20 under any other provision of law. 

21 SEC. 311. SUNSET. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—No permitting authority may 

23 issue a permit under this title after the date that is 7 years 

24 after the date of enactment of this title. 

25 (b) STUDY; REPORT.— 


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1 (1) STUDY.—Not earlier than 5 years after the 

2 date of enactment of this title, the Administrator, 

3 the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of 

4 Agriculture, in consultation with the Interstate Min5 ing Compact Commission, shall enter into an ar6 rangement with the National Academy of Sciences, 

7 for execution by the Board on Earth Sciences and 

8 Resources, to conduct a detailed, comprehensive 

9 study of the effectiveness of the permitting activities 

10 carried out under this title. 

11 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 7 years after the 

12 date of enactment of this title, the Board on Earth 

13 Sciences and Resources shall submit to Congress, 

14 the appropriate Federal agencies, and the Governors 

15 of each of the States represented by the Interstate 

16 Mining Compact Commission a report containing— 

17 (A) the results of the study conducted 

18 under paragraph (1); and 

19 (B) any recommendations regarding 

20 whether the permitting activities carried out 

21 under this title should be reauthorized and, if 

22 so, any changes that should be made to improve 

23 the effectiveness of the activities. 

24 (3) FUNDING.—From the funds collected as 

25 claim location fees and maintenance fees under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3843.IH H3843

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1 tion 102, the Secretary of the Interior shall provide 

2 to the National Academy of Sciences such funds as 

3 it requests, not to exceed $2,000,000, for the pur4 pose of conducting the study required under this sec5 tion. 

Æ 


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