I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3419

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of certain public lands 

that are subject to mining operations in Pershing County, Nevada, to 

support sustainable development opportunities for the community in 

which the mining operations occur through privatization of the lands 

allowing for productive post-mining land use that provides for economic 

development opportunities and local government revenues, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2005

Mr. GIBBONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to dispose of certain 

public lands that are subject to mining operations in 

Pershing County, Nevada, to support sustainable development opportunities for the community in which the 

mining operations occur through privatization of the 

lands allowing for productive post-mining land use that 

provides for economic development opportunities and 

local government revenues, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Northern Nevada Sus3 tainable Development in Mining Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) In the past decade, the concept of ‘‘sustain7 able development’’ has become standard United 

8 States and international policy. 

9 (2) Sustainable development is environmentally 

10 sound and is undertaken in a way that meets the 

11 needs of the present without compromising the abil12 ity of future generations to meet their needs. 

13 (3) Federal land managers have worked with 

14 the mining industry and other industries over the 

15 past decade to develop sustainability principles for 

16 resource development on Federal lands, but there is 

17 a need to demonstrate and implement these prin18 ciples. 

19 (4) For the mining industry, a prime goal of 

20 sustainable development is to plan and implement 

21 economically viable and productive post-mining land 

22 uses that will allow lands impacted by mining to 

23 continue providing jobs and other economic benefits 

24 beyond the completion of mining activity. Privatiza25 tion of the surface at mine sites is a crucial compo26 nent in achieving and maintaining sustainable devel-
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1 opment opportunities for a mining operation’s host 

2 community. 

3 (5) With more than 80 percent of Nevada’s 

4 lands in Federal ownership, the State’s rural com5 munities in particular depend on continued produc6 tive uses of Federal lands for jobs, tax revenues, and 

7 economic development. 

8 (6) Mining on Nevada’s public lands is the most 

9 important source of high-paying jobs and other eco10 nomic benefits to rural Nevada communities. Mining 

11 on Nevada public lands also provides substantial tax 

12 revenues to the Treasury and to State and local gov13 ernments. 

14 (7) The Rochester Mine, located in Pershing 

15 County, Nevada, provides an excellent opportunity to 

16 demonstrate sustainable development principles in 

17 the mining industry. 

18 (8) The Rochester Mine, operated by Coeur 

19 Rochester, Inc., opened in 1986 and employs 250 

20 people, most of whom live in or near Lovelock, Ne21 vada. The mine operates on patented lands and ap22 proximately 7,000 acres of public lands subject to 

23 mining claims and impacted by the mining oper24 ation. 
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1 (9) For its 20 years of operation, the Rochester 

2 Mine has been the major source of employment for 

3 Pershing County residents. 

4 (10) The Rochester Mine is near the end of its 

5 productivity, and closure and reclamation of the 

6 mine are expected to begin within 5 years, subject 

7 to closure and reclamation plans to be approved by 

8 the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Ne9 vada. Given ore grades and exploration results in the 

10 area, Coeur Rochester, Inc. does not contemplate 

11 any future mining at the site. 

12 (11) Without a post-mining land use for the 

13 Rochester Mine or entry of a new industry, Pershing 

14 County faces significant and destabilizing unemploy15 ment and loss of tax revenues when the Rochester 

16 Mine closes. 

17 (12) Coeur Rochester, Inc. has developed an in18 novative plan for post-mining land uses of the Roch19 ester Mine site, including reuse of the mine’s over20 burden and waste rock as aggregate in California 

21 and other markets, and potential use of the mine 

22 site as a State-permitted landfill for municipal or in23 dustrial wastes or construction debris. 

24 (13) The public lands subject to mining claims 

25 at the Rochester Mine are difficult and uneconomical 
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1 for the Bureau of Land Management to manage be2 cause of the checkerboard pattern of Federal land 

3 ownership in the vicinity of the Rochester Mine. 

4 (14) Disposal of such lands will also serve other 

5 important public objectives, including the demonstra6 tion of viable and productive post-mining land uses 

7 and of other sustainable development concepts in the 

8 mining industry. The project would also facilitate 

9 the creation of a new long-term employment source 

10 and would result in other important economic devel11 opment benefits and the maintenance of a tax base 

12 for Pershing County. 

13 (15) The Bureau of Land Management has de14 termined that the public lands addressed in this Act 

15 are suitable for consolidation of ownership or dis16 posal into private ownership. 

17 (16) Lands to be conveyed under this Act would 

18 remain subject to applicable Federal and State envi19 ronmental, land use, and safety laws. 

20 (17) Any lands disposed of by the Secretary 

21 pursuant to this Act would be sold at $500 per acre. 

22 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

23 (1) to implement a sustainable development 

24 project in Pershing County, Nevada; 
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1 (2) to encourage and promote the concept of 

2 sustainable development practices in resource-de3 pendent communities that have a limited privately 

4 held land base; and 

5 (3) to provide funds for the general fund of the 

6 Treasury, for the State of Nevada abandoned mine 

7 lands program, and for education and other pur8 poses in the State of Nevada. 

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) CLAIMANT.—The term ‘‘Claimant’’ means 

12 Coeur Rochester, Inc. 

13 (2) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means Per14 shing County, Nevada. 

15 (3) MINING LAW.—The term ‘‘the general min16 ing laws’’ includes, in general, the provisions of law 

17 codified in chapters 2, 12A, and 16 of title 30, 

18 United States Code, and in sections 161 and 162 of 

19 such title. 

20 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 SEC. 4. LAND CONVEYANCE. 

23 (a) CONVEYANCE OF LAND.—Notwithstanding any 

24 other provision of law, and not later than 90 days after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
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1 convey to the Claimant, in return for a payment of $500 

2 per acre, all right, title, and interest, subject to the terms 

3 and conditions of subsection (c), in the approximately 

4 7,000 acres of Federal lands subject to Claimant’s mining 

5 claims maintained under the general mining laws and de6 picted on the Rochester Sustainable Development Project 

7 map. 

8 (b) EXEMPTION FROM REVIEW, ETC.—Any convey9 ance of land under this Act is not subject to review, con10 sultation, or approval under any other Federal law. 

11 (c) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF CONVEYANCE.—

12 (1) NO IMPACT ON LEGAL OBLIGATIONS.—Con13 veyance of the lands pursuant to subsection (a) shall 

14 not affect Claimant’s legal obligations to comply 

15 with applicable Federal mine closure or mine land 

16 reclamation laws, or with any other applicable Fed17 eral or State requirement relating to closure of the 

18 Rochester Mine and use of the land comprising such 

19 mine, including any requirement to prepare any en20 vironmental impact statement under the National 

21 Environmental Policy Act of 1969. 

22 (2) NO INTERFERENCE WITH RECLAMATION

23 AND CLOSURE OBLIGATIONS.—The sustainable de24 velopment project shall be carried out in a way that 

25 is consistent with reclamation and closure obliga-
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1 tions under Federal laws. Federal reclamation and 

2 closure obligations shall not be used to remove infra3 structure identified by Claimant as being usable by 

4 a post-mining land use. 

5 (3) TITLE TO MATERIALS AND MINERALS.—

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, Claim7 ant shall own and have title to all spent ore, waste 

8 rock and tailings, and other materials located on 

9 lands conveyed pursuant to subsection (a). 

10 (4) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—All lands con11 veyed pursuant to subsection (a) shall be subject to 

12 valid existing rights existing as of the date of trans13 fer of title, and Claimant shall succeed to the rights 

14 and obligations of the United States with respect to 

15 any mining claim, mill site claim, lease, right-of-way, 

16 permit, or other valid existing right to which the 

17 property is subject. 

18 (5) ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY.—Notwith19 standing any other Federal, State or local law, the 

20 United States—

21 (A) shall not be responsible for inves22 tigating or disclosing the condition of any prop23 erty to be conveyed under this Act; and 

24 (B) shall not be responsible for environ25 mental remediation, waste management, or en-
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1 vironmental compliance activities arising from 

2 its ownership, occupancy, or management of 

3 land and interests therein conveyed under this 

4 Act with respect to conditions existing at or on 

5 the land at the time of the conveyance. 

6 SEC. 5. DISPOSITION OF PROCEEDS. 

7 The gross proceeds of conveyances of land under this 

8 Act shall be used as follows: 

9 (1) Such sums as are necessary shall be used 

10 to cover 100 percent of the administrative costs, not 

11 to exceed $20,000, incurred by the Nevada State Of12 fice and the Winnemucca Field Office of the Bureau 

13 of Land Management in conducting conveyances 

14 under this Act. 

15 (2) $500,000 shall be paid directly to the State 

16 of Nevada for use in the State’s abandoned mined 

17 land program. 

18 (3) $20,000 per fiscal year for a 5-fiscal-year 

19 period shall be paid directly to Pershing County, Ne20 vada. 

21 (4) Proceeds remaining after the payments pur22 suant to paragraphs (1) through (3) shall be depos23 ited in the general fund of the Treasury.

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