89–010 

Calendar No. 651 

115TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 115–364 

REINSTATEMENT OF CERTAIN MINE CLAIMS FOR SMALL 

MINERS 

NOVEMBER 14, 2018.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 884] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 884) to amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to require the Bureau of Land Management to 

provide a claimant of a small miner waiver from claim maintenance fees with a period of 60 days after written receipt of 1 or 

more defects is provided to the claimant by registered mail to cure 

the 1 or more defects or pay the claim maintenance fee, and for 

other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably 

thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and an 

amendment to the title, and recommends that the bill, as amended, 

do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

1. Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SMALL MINER WAIVERS TO CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEES. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) COVERED CLAIMHOLDER.—The term ‘‘covered claimholder’’ means— 

(A) the claimholder of the claims in the State numbered AA023149, 

AA023163, AA047913, AA047914, AA047915, AA047916, AA047917, 

AA047918, and AA047919 (as of December 29, 2004); 

(B) the claimholder of the claim in the State numbered FF (as of December 29, 2004); 

(C) the claimholder of the claims in the State numbered FF–58607, FF– 

58608, FF–58609, FF–58610, FF–58611, FF–58613, FF–58615, FF–58616, 

FF–58617, and FF–58618 (as of December 31, 2003); and 

(D) the claimholder of the claims in the State numbered FF–53988, FF– 

53989, and FF–53990 (as of December 31, 1987). 

(2) DEFECT.—The term ‘‘defect’’ includes a failure— 

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(A) to timely file— 

(i) a small miner maintenance fee waiver application; 

(ii) an affidavit of annual labor associated with a small miner maintenance fee waiver application; or 

(iii) an instrument required under section 314(a) of the Federal Land 

Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)); and 

(B) to pay the required application fee for a small maintenance fee waiver 

application. 

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior. 

(4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Alaska. 

(b) TREATMENT OF COVERED CLAIMHOLDERS.—Notwithstanding section 10101(d) of 

the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f(d)) and section 314(c) 

of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(c)), each 

covered claimholder shall, during the 60-day period beginning on the date on which 

the covered claimholder receives written notification from the Bureau of Land Management by registered mail of the opportunity, have the opportunity— 

(1)(A) to cure any defect in a small miner maintenance fee waiver application 

(including the failure to timely file a small miner maintenance fee waiver application) for any prior period during which the defect existed; or 

(B) to pay any claim maintenance fees due for any prior period during which 

the defect existed; and 

(2) to cure any defect in the filing of any instrument required under section 

314(a) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 

1744(a)) (including the failure to timely file any required instrument) for any 

prior period during which the defect existed. 

(c) REINSTATEMENT OF CLAIMS DEEMED FORFEITED.—The Secretary shall reinstate 

any claim of a covered claimholder as of the date declared forfeited and void— 

(1) under section 10104 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 

U.S.C. 28i) for failure to pay the claim maintenance fee or obtain a valid waiver 

under section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 

U.S.C. 28f); or 

(2) under section 314(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(c)) for failure to file any instrument required under section 314(a) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)) for any prior period during which the 

defect existed if the covered claimholder— 

(A) cures the defect; or 

(B) pays the claim maintenance fee under subsection (b)(1)(B). 

2. Amend the title so as to read: 

‘‘A bill to require the Bureau of Land Management to provide 

certain covered claimholders the opportunity to cure any defects in 

a small miner maintenance fee waiver application or pay the claim 

maintenance fee, and for other purposes.’’ 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 884, as ordered reported, is to require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to provide certain covered 

claimholders the opportunity to cure any defects in a small miner 

maintenance fee waiver application or pay the claim maintenance 

fee. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

In 1993, as part of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (Public Law 103–66), Congress established an annual claim maintenance fee that is required to hold a mining claim on public land. 

At the same time, a small miner waiver was created to allow 

claimholders with 10 or fewer claims to avoid paying the fee as 

long as they have performed assessment work on the claims in the 

amount of $100 per claim during the year and have certified in 

writing by September 1 that they hold 10 or fewer claims. 

Claimholders on public lands are also required to file an affidavit 

that they have performed assessment work on or before December 

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30 in compliance with section 314(c) of the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1744(c)). 

A mine claim is subject to forfeiture due to failure or tardiness 

in filing the required affidavit of assessment work; the small miner 

waiver application; the claim maintenance fee, or the small miner 

certification. While the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act provides an opportunity to cure any defects in a small miner waiver 

application within 60 days of a defect notification, BLM has ruled 

administratively that this grace period does not extend to a failure 

to file the small miner waiver application in a timely manner. 

In a number of instances, the mine claims of small placer miners, 

along with associated operation plans, have been voided due to untimely submission of annual filings–errors the small miners assert 

were caused by BLM clerical mistakes, mailing delays, or for unexplained reasons. In these cases, BLM terminated the claims with 

no notification of defect or allowance to correct any error. 

S. 884 provides four claimholders in Alaska who lost mine claims 

due to errors with an opportunity to cure any defect in the annual 

filing, including the failure to timely file the required application 

or instrument, and have the mine claims reinstated, as of the date 

the claim was declared forfeited and void. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 884 was introduced by Senator Murkowski on April 6, 2017. 

The Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining held a 

hearing on the bill on July 26, 2017. 

In the 114th Congress, Senator Murkowski introduced similar 

legislation, S. 1395, on May 20, 2015. 

In the 113th Congress, Senator Murkowski introduced similar 

legislation, S. 366, on February 14, 2013. The Subcommittee on 

Public Lands, Forests, and Mining held a hearing on S. 366 on 

April 25, 2013 (S. Hrg. 113–28). 

In the 112th Congress, Senator Murkowski introduced a similar 

bill, S. 303, on February 8, 2011. The Subcommittee on Public 

Lands and Forests held a hearing on S. 303 on March 22, 2012 (S. 

Hrg. 112–642). 

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in 

an open business session on October 2, 2018, and ordered S. 884 

favorably reported, as amended. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 

open business session on October 2, 2018, by a majority voice vote 

of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 884, if 

amended as described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

During its consideration of S. 884, the Committee adopted an 

amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the 

title. The substitute amendment narrows the bill’s scope to cover 

four Alaskan miners and removes the broader policy changes that 

required BLM to provide any small miner with the opportunity to 

fix waiver application defects and have their claims reinstated. The 

substitute amendment also made a number of technical corrections 

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and is further described in the section-by-section analysis. The title 

amendment reflects the changes made by the substitute amendment. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Small miner waivers to claim maintenance fees 

Subsection (a) defines key terms. 

Subsection (b) provides each covered claimholder with the opportunity to cure any defect in a small miner maintenance fee waiver 

application or pay any claim maintenance due, and cure any defect 

in the filings required by section 314(c) of FLPMA (43 U.S.C. 

1744(c)) within 60 days from the date the claimholder receives notification from BLM via registered mail of the opportunity. 

Subsection (c) directs the Secretary of the Interior to reinstate 

any claim by a covered claimholder as of the date the claim was 

declared forfeited and void if the covered claimholder cures the defect or pays the claim maintenance fee that was the cause of the 

original forfeiture. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

Current law requires mining claimholders to pay claim maintenance fees each year or submit an application for a fee waiver and 

related paperwork to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by 

a filing deadline. If claimholders fail to do so they forfeit the claim. 

S. 884 would direct BLM to reinstate the forfeited mining claims 

of four claimholders in Alaska if those claimholders retroactively 

submit paperwork and pay fees. CBO estimates that any costs incurred by BLM to manage the reinstated claims would be insignificant and would be offset by the fees for that paperwork; thus, the 

net effect on spending subject to appropriation would be negligible. 

Enacting S. 884 would not affect direct spending or revenues; 

therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply. 

CBO estimates that enacting S. 884 would not increase net direct 

spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10- 

year periods beginning in 2029. 

S. 884 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Janani Shankaran. 

The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 884. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 884, as ordered reported. 

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CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 884, as ordered reported, does not contain any congressionally 

directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at the 

July 26, 2017, hearing on S. 884 follows: 

TESTIMONY OF JOHN RUHS, ACTING DEPUTY DIRECTOR, BU- REAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF THE INTE- RIOR

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on S. 884. 

In communities across the country, hardrock mining provides jobs, supports a diverse and vital economy, and 

brings important commodities to market that are essential 

to maintaining a high quality of life for all Americans. The 

public lands are a significant source of these mineral resources, and mineral development is an important land 

use within the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) 

multiple-use mandate. The Department of the Interior (Department) greatly appreciates the work of Chairman Murkowski and the Subcommittee in support of environmentally-responsible mineral development from the nation’s public lands. 

S. 884 would require the BLM to allow mining claimants 

a chance to ‘‘cure’’ their failure to meet certain required filing deadlines. The bill would also give private relief to a 

small number of mining claimants whose mining claims 

have been deemed abandoned for failure to comply with 

applicable laws and regulations. The BLM appreciates the 

sponsor’s work on this legislation and supports S. 884’s 

goal of providing flexibility to small miners who have 

missed their filing deadlines. The BLM would welcome the 

opportunity to work with the sponsor and the Subcommittee on language to clarify the legislation and promote accountability. 

BACKGROUND

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (maintenance fee statute) established an annual maintenance fee 

for unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites. 

This annual maintenance fee is currently set by regulation 

at $155 per lode mining claim or site and $155 per every 

20 acres or portion thereof for a placer claim. The maintenance fee statute also gave the Secretary of the Interior 

(Secretary) the discretion to waive the annual maintenance 

fee for certain ‘‘small miners’’–mining claimants who hold 

10 or fewer claims or sites. 

Following the enactment of the maintenance fee statute, 

the Department promulgated regulations that exercised 

the Secretary’s discretion to allow the maintenance fee 

waiver for ‘‘small miners.’’ These regulations state that in 

order to qualify for the waiver under the maintenance fee 

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statute, the mining claimant must, among other things, 

file a maintenance fee waiver certification that certifies he 

and all related parties hold 10 or fewer mining claims or 

sites. Under the original regulations, the deadline for filing 

the maintenance fee waiver certification for the upcoming 

assessment year was August 31, which was the same day 

as the statutory deadline for filing annual maintenance 

fees. When Congress changed the statutory annual maintenance fee deadline to September 1, the Department 

changed the deadline for maintenance fee waiver certifications to also be September 1 for the coming assessment 

year. The Secretary’s decision to make the regulatory 

deadline for filing maintenance fee waiver certifications 

the same as the statutory deadline for paying annual mining claim maintenance fees took into consideration the 

statutory constraint that maintenance fee waivers could 

not legally or practically be sought any later than the 

deadline for the maintenance fee itself. 

Unlike mining claimants who pay the annual maintenance fee, mining claimants who file maintenance fee 

waiver certifications are not exempt from the annual filing 

requirements in section 314 of the Federal Land Policy 

and Management Act (FLPMA). As such, mining claimants 

who file maintenance fee waivers certifications must also 

submit an annual filing–either an affidavit that they have 

done sufficient work on their claim in lieu of the maintenance fee, or a notice of intention to hold–on or before December 30, following the submission of the waiver and 

after the close of the assessment year for which a waiver 

was sought. Failure to submit either the waiver certification or the required filing under FLPMA results in forfeiture or abandonment of the mining claim by operation 

of law. 

When Congress amended the maintenance fee statute in 

1998 to change the filing deadline from August 31 to September 1, as noted above, it also amended the maintenance fee statute to allow mining claimants seeking a 

maintenance fee waiver to cure a ‘‘defective’’ waiver certification. The amendment required the BLM to give mining 

claimants filing timely ‘‘defective’’ maintenance fee waiver 

certifications notice of the defect and 60 days from the receipt of written notice to ‘‘cure’’ that defect or pay the annual maintenance fee due for the applicable assessment 

year. Failure of the mining claimant to cure the defect results in the forfeiture of the mining claim. 

S.884

S.884 would amend the maintenance fee statute to allow 

mining claimants an opportunity to ‘‘cure’’ a defective 

maintenance fee waiver certification for any reason, including if the claimant failed to timely file the waiver. As 

under the current statute, mining claimants would have 

60 days from the receipt of written notice to correct that 

defect or pay the applicable maintenance fee. The bill 

would also provide the same 60-day cure period for an unVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:28 Nov 20, 2018 Jkt 089010 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6969 E:\HR\OC\SR364.XXX SR364
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timely annual filing under section 314(a) of FLPMA. S.884 

would also give private relief to certain mining claimants 

whose mining claims have been deemed abandoned for 

failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations. 

The BLM has concerns with the bill as written and would 

like to opportunity to work with the sponsor to better 

achieve the bill’s goals. 

ANALYSIS

Altering deadlines 

The BLM generally supports the goals in Sec. 1(a) that 

would allow miners flexibility when filing the small miner 

fee waiver. As written, the BLM has concerns with the 

proposed legislation, as it would effectively eliminate the 

September 1 deadline in the maintenance fee statute as 

well as the annual filing deadlines in section 314(a) of 

FLPMA. Amending the maintenance fee statute and section 314 of FLPMA to make failure to timely file a curable 

defect would require the BLM to accept late filings after 

the deadline, no matter how late. This would shift the administrative review and notification to the BLM, increasing the cost of administering the mining law program. Further, it would enable a mining claimant to hold the mining 

claims or sites in suspense until the BLM is able to identify the deficiency and notify the mining claimant. This 

would effectively extend the applicable deadlines by removing any penalty for failing to comply in a timely manner. In an effort to limit the administrative burden, and 

hold miners accountable to timely pay the maintenance fee 

or file a timely maintenance fee waiver, the BLM would 

like to work with the sponsor on language to provide limitations on the number of times a small miner can have an 

untimely filing or perhaps institute a monetary fee associated with it. 

Curing defective waivers 

Under Sec. 1(a) of S. 884, if a mining claimant files either an untimely maintenance fee payment, an untimely 

maintenance fee waiver certification, or fails to make any 

filing at all, including a maintenance fee payment, the 

BLM would no longer be able to simply declare the mining 

claim or site void by operation of law, as authorized under 

the current maintenance fee statute since 1994. Rather, 

under this new provision, if any mining claimant fails to 

pay the annual maintenance fee or file a maintenance fee 

waiver certification by the deadline, the BLM would have 

to first determine whether each mining claimant qualifies 

as a ‘‘small miner’’ and, if so, would have to give notice 

and opportunity to cure–whether or not the mining claimant had any intention of paying the fee or filing a maintenance fee waiver certification. Moreover, because the BLM 

would have no way to determine if a mining claimant who 

qualified as a ‘‘small miner’’ had simply decided not to pay 

the fee or file the maintenance fee waiver certification and 

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intentionally relinquish their mining claims, the BLM 

would have to send a ‘‘defect’’ notice to all such mining 

claimants who fail to either timely pay their maintenance 

fees or timely file a maintenance fee waiver certification 

and give them the opportunity to cure. 

Similar considerations apply with respect to the provisions in S. 884 that allow mining claimants an opportunity 

to ‘‘cure’’ defective annual filings under section 314 of 

FLPMA. In addition, the amendments to FLPMA need 

clarification for other reasons. Section 1(a) of the proposed 

legislation purports to limit the opportunity to ‘‘cure’’ only 

to ‘‘an affidavit of annual labor’’ and only where ‘‘associated with the application.’’ However, section 1(c) amends 

section 314 of FLPMA to extend the opportunity to ‘‘cure’’ 

to all required annual filings under section 314(a), regardless of whether it is an affidavit of annual assessment 

work, and regardless of whether it is associated with a 

maintenance fee waiver certification. These provisions appear to be potentially contradictory, and we would like the 

opportunity to work with the sponsor to clarify these requirements. 

Covered claimholder 

The mining claims described under Section 1(b) belonged 

to several different claimants in Alaska. Section 1(b) would 

give the mining claimants the opportunity to ‘‘cure’’ the defects that led to their mining claims being declared abandoned and void, consistent with the amendments to the 

maintenance fee statute and section 314 of FLPMA that 

are proposed here. 

The first ‘‘covered claimholder’’ (for mining claims 

AA023149, AA023163, AA047913, AA047914, AA047915, 

AA047916, AA047917, AA047918, and AA047919) is from 

Girdwood, Alaska. The mining claimant held nine mining 

claims located in the Chugach National Forest in southeastern Alaska. The BLM determined these mining claims 

to be statutorily abandoned in January 2005 when the 

mining claimant failed to file annual assessment work documents in accordance with FLPMA, and the Interior Board 

of Land Appeals (IBLA) subsequently upheld the BLM’s 

decision to declare these mining claims null and void. 

Finally, as the legislation is currently written, the BLM 

could not verify the remaining mining claim serial numbers identified in the bill. We would like to work with the 

sponsor to ensure that the bill text accurately identifies 

the mining claim serial numbers associated with the ‘‘covered claimholders’’ to whom this bill is seeking to provide 

relief. The BLM would welcome the opportunity to work 

with the sponsor on ways the Department can better serve 

the hardrock mining community. 

CONCLUSION

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on S. 884. 

I would be glad to answer your questions. 

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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered reported. 

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