II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1690 

To preserve the multiple use land management policy in the State of Arizona, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 12, 2011 

Mr. MCCAIN (for himself, Mr. KYL, Mr. HATCH, Mr. LEE, and Mr. BARRASSO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To preserve the multiple use land management policy in 

the State of Arizona, 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 ‘‘Northern Arizona Min5 ing Continuity Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) over the past 20 years, a form of low-im9 pact, safe, and environmentally responsible under10 ground ‘‘breccia pipe’’ uranium mining has been 


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1 conducted in northern Arizona, particularly in an 

2 area located beyond the northern boundaries of the 

3 Grand Canyon National Park known as the ‘‘Ari4 zona Strip’’; 

5 (2) according to United States Geological Sur6 vey estimates, the Arizona Strip— 

7 (A) has the potential of becoming the sec8 ond most important uranium-producing region 

9 in the United States; and 

10 (B) contains approximately 375,000,000 

11 pounds of high-grade uranium ore with the en12 ergy equivalent of 13,000,000,000 barrels of oil, 

13 which is approximately the quantity of recover14 able oil originally found in Prudhoe Bay, Alas15 ka; 

16 (3) in 1984, during the last uranium boom, 

17 Congress enacted the Arizona Wilderness Act of 

18 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–406), 

19 which— 

20 (A) is recognized as a historic compromise 

21 between environmental and uranium mining in22 terests; and 

23 (B) affirmed the continued multiple use 

24 management of Federal land on the Arizona 


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1 Strip that was not designated as wilderness by 

2 that Act; 

3 (4) continued development of resources on the 

4 Arizona Strip would significantly boost economic 

5 growth in the area, provide for permanent well-pay6 ing jobs, and serve as a source of revenue to the 

7 Federal Government and State and local govern8 ments; 

9 (5) on July 21, 2009, the Department of the 

10 Interior published a notice entitled ‘‘Notice of Pro11 posed Withdrawal and Opportunity for Public Meet12 ing; Arizona’’ (74 Fed. Reg. 35887), which— 

13 (A) proposed the withdrawal of approxi14 mately 1,000,000 acres of Federal locatable 

15 minerals in northern Arizona from the location 

16 of new mining claims over concerns that the 

17 uranium mining could impact the Grand Can18 yon watershed; and 

19 (B) made no mention of the Arizona Wil20 derness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 

21 Public Law 98–406) or the resource manage22 ment plans that have governed mineral resource 

23 development on the Arizona Strip; and 

24 (6) the February 2011 Draft Environmental 

25 Impact Statement for the proposed withdrawal deVerDate Mar 15 2010 18:32 Oct 13, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1690.IS S1690

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1 termined there is no conclusive evidence from well 

2 and spring sampling data that modern-day breccia 

3 pipe uranium mining operations in the northern por4 tion of the Grand Canyon region has impacted the 

5 chemical quality of groundwater in the regional-aqui6 fer. 

7 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF PROPOSED MINING WITHDRAWAL 

8 WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except by express authorization 

10 by Congress referencing this section and notwithstanding 

11 any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior 

12 shall not extend, renew, or issue a notice of segregation 

13 or withdrawal of the public land and National Forest Sys14 tem land (including a portion of the land) described in 

15 Public Land Order 7773 (76 Fed. Reg. 37826 (June 28, 

16 2011)). 

17 (b) EFFECT OF NOTICE.—Any notice of segregation 

18 or withdrawal of the land described in subsection (a) shall 

19 have no legal effect. 

Æ 


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