II 

Calendar No. 312 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2781 

To promote remediation of abandoned hardrock mines, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mr. CRAPO, Ms. 

SINEMA, Mr. DAINES, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. KELLY, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. TESTER, Mr. THUNE, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. 

ROSEN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. 

MURKOWSKI, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BRAUN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. ROMNEY, 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. ERNST, Mr. PADILLA, and Mr. HOEVEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

JANUARY 25, 2024 

Reported by Mr. CARPER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To promote remediation of abandoned hardrock mines, 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 ‘‘Good Samaritan Reme3 diation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ABANDONED MINE SITE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘abandoned 

8 mine site’’ means an abandoned or inactive 

9 hardrock mine site and any facility associated 

10 with an abandoned or inactive hardrock mine 

11 site— 

12 (i) that was used for the production of 

13 a mineral other than coal conducted on 

14 Federal land under sections 2319 through 

15 2352 of the Revised Statutes (commonly 

16 known as the ‘‘Mining Law of 1872’’; 30 

17 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) or on non-Federal land; 

18 and 

19 (ii) for which, based on information 

20 supplied by the Good Samaritan after re21 view of publicly available data and after re22 view of other information in the possession 

23 of the Administrator, the Administrator or, 

24 in the case of a site on land owned by the 

25 United States, the Federal land manage26 ment agency, determines that no responVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 sible owner or operator has been identi2 fied— 

3 (I) who is potentially liable for, 

4 or has been required to perform or 

5 pay for, environmental remediation 

6 activities under applicable law; and 

7 (II) other than, in the case of a 

8 mine site located on land owned by 

9 the United States, a Federal land 

10 management agency that has not been 

11 involved in mining activity on that 

12 land, except that the approval of a 

13 plan of operations under the hardrock 

14 mining regulations of the applicable 

15 Federal land management agency 

16 shall not be considered involvement in 

17 the mining activity. 

18 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘abandoned 

19 mine site’’ includes a hardrock mine site (in20 cluding associated facilities) that was previously 

21 the subject of a completed response action 

22 under the Comprehensive Environmental Re23 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

24 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) or a similar 

25 Federal and State reclamation or cleanup proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 gram, including the remediation of mine-scarred 

2 land under the brownfields revitalization pro3 gram under section 104(k) of that Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 9604(k)). 

5 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘abandoned 

6 mine site’’ does not include a mine site (includ7 ing associated facilities)— 

8 (i) in a temporary shutdown or ces9 sation; 

10 (ii) included on the National Priorities 

11 List developed by the President in accord12 ance with section 105(a)(8)(B) of the 

13 Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

14 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 

15 (42 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)) or proposed for 

16 inclusion on that list; 

17 (iii) that is the subject of a planned or 

18 ongoing response action under the Com19 prehensive Environmental Response, Com20 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

21 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) or a similar Federal 

22 and State reclamation or cleanup program; 

23 (iv) that has a responsible owner or 

24 operator; or 


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1 (v) that actively mined or processed 

2 minerals after December 11, 1980. 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency. 

6 (3) APPLICABLE WATER QUALITY STAND7 ARDS.—The term ‘‘applicable water quality stand8 ards’’ means the water quality standards promul9 gated by the Administrator or adopted by a State or 

10 Indian tribe and approved by the Administrator pur11 suant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

12 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.). 

13 (4) COOPERATING PERSON.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘cooperating 

15 person’’ means any person that is named by the 

16 Good Samaritan in the permit application as a 

17 cooperating entity. 

18 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘cooperating 

19 person’’ does not include— 

20 (i) a responsible owner or operator 

21 with respect to the abandoned mine site 

22 described in the permit application; or 

23 (ii) a person that had a role in the 

24 creation of historic mine residue at the 


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1 abandoned mine site described in the per2 mit application. 

3 (5) COVERED PERMIT.—The term ‘‘covered per4 mit’’ means— 

5 (A) a Good Samaritan permit; and 

6 (B) an investigative sampling permit. 

7 (6) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.— 

8 The term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ 

9 means any Federal agency authorized by law or Ex10 ecutive order to exercise jurisdiction, custody, or 

11 control over land owned by the United States. 

12 (7) GOOD SAMARITAN.—The term ‘‘Good Sa13 maritan’’ means a person that, with respect to his14 toric mine residue, as determined by the Adminis15 trator— 

16 (A) is not a past or current owner or oper17 ator of— 

18 (i) the abandoned mine site at which 

19 the historic mine residue is located; or 

20 (ii) a portion of that abandoned mine 

21 site; 

22 (B) had no role in the creation of the his23 toric mine residue; and 

24 (C) is not potentially liable under any Fed25 eral, State, Tribal, or local law for the remediVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 ation, treatment, or control of the historic mine 

2 residue. 

3 (8) GOOD SAMARITAN PERMIT.—The term 

4 ‘‘Good Samaritan permit’’ means a permit granted 

5 by the Administrator under section 4(a)(1). 

6 (9) HISTORIC MINE RESIDUE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘historic 

8 mine residue’’ means mine residue or any con9 dition at an abandoned mine site resulting from 

10 hardrock mining activities. 

11 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘historic 

12 mine residue’’ includes— 

13 (i) previously mined ores and minerals 

14 other than coal that contribute to acid 

15 mine drainage or other pollution; 

16 (ii) equipment (including materials in 

17 equipment); 

18 (iii) any tailings, heap leach piles, 

19 dump leach piles, waste rock, overburden, 

20 slag piles, or other waste or material re21 sulting from any extraction, beneficiation, 

22 or other processing activity that occurred 

23 during the active operation of an aban24 doned mine site; 


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1 (iv) any acidic or otherwise polluted 

2 flow in surface water or groundwater that 

3 originates from, or is pooled and contained 

4 in, an inactive or abandoned mine site, 

5 such as underground workings, open pits, 

6 in-situ leaching operations, ponds, or im7 poundments; 

8 (v) any hazardous substance (as de9 fined in section 101 of the Comprehensive 

10 Environmental Response, Compensation, 

11 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

12 9601)); 

13 (vi) any pollutant or contaminant (as 

14 defined in section 101 of the Comprehen15 sive Environmental Response, Compensa16 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

17 9601)); and 

18 (vii) any pollutant (as defined in sec19 tion 502 of the Federal Water Pollution 

20 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)). 

21 (10) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

22 has the meaning given the term in section 518(h) of 

23 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

24 1377(h)). 


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1 (11) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING PERMIT.—The 

2 term ‘‘investigative sampling permit’’ means a per3 mit granted by the Administrator under section 

4 4(d)(1). 

5 (12) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

6 entity described in— 

7 (A) section 502(5) of the Federal Water 

8 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(5)); and 

9 (B) section 101(21) of the Comprehensive 

10 Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

11 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(21)). 

12 (13) REMEDIATION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘remedi14 ation’’ means any action taken to investigate, 

15 characterize, or cleanup, in whole or in part, a 

16 discharge, release, or threat of release of a haz17 ardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant 

18 into the environment at or from an abandoned 

19 mine site, or to otherwise protect and improve 

20 human health and the environment. 

21 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘remediation’’ 

22 includes any action to remove, treat, or contain 

23 historic mine residue to prevent, minimize, or 

24 reduce— 


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1 (i) the release or threat of release of 

2 a hazardous substance, pollutant, or con3 taminant that would harm human health 

4 or the environment; or 

5 (ii) a migration or discharge of a haz6 ardous substance, pollutant, or contami7 nant that would harm human health or the 

8 environment. 

9 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘remediation’’ 

10 does not include any action that requires plug11 ging, opening, or otherwise altering the portal 

12 or adit of the abandoned mine site. 

13 (14) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘reservation’’ 

14 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian country’’ in 

15 section 1151 of title 18, United States Code. 

16 (15) RESPONSIBLE OWNER OR OPERATOR.— 

17 The term ‘‘responsible owner or operator’’ means a 

18 person that is— 

19 (A)(i) legally responsible under section 301 

20 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

21 U.S.C. 1311) for a discharge that originates 

22 from an abandoned mine site; and 

23 (ii) financially able to comply with each re24 quirement described in that section; or 


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1 (B)(i) a present or past owner or operator 

2 or other person that is liable with respect to a 

3 release or threat of release of a hazardous sub4 stance, pollutant, or contaminant associated 

5 with the historic mine residue at or from an 

6 abandoned mine site under section 104, 106, 

7 107, or 113 of the Comprehensive Environ8 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

9 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604, 9606, 9607, 

10 9613); and 

11 (ii) financially able to comply with each re12 quirement described in those sections, as appli13 cable. 

14 SEC. 3. SCOPE. 

15 Nothing in this Act— 

16 (1) except as provided in section 4(n), reduces 

17 any existing liability under Federal, State, or local 

18 law; 

19 (2) except as provided in section 4(n), releases 

20 any person from liability under Federal, State, or 

21 local law, except in compliance with this Act; 

22 (3) authorizes the conduct of any mining or 

23 processing other than the conduct of any processing 

24 of previously mined ores, minerals, wastes, or other 


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1 materials that is authorized by a Good Samaritan 

2 permit; 

3 (4) imposes liability on the United States or a 

4 Federal land management agency pursuant to sec5 tion 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Re6 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

7 U.S.C. 9607) or section 301 of the Federal Water 

8 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311); or 

9 (5) relieves the United States or any Federal 

10 land management agency from any liability under 

11 section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental 

12 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 

13 (42 U.S.C. 9607) or section 301 of the Federal 

14 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311) that 

15 exists apart from any action undertaken pursuant to 

16 this Act. 

17 SEC. 4. ABANDONED MINE SITE GOOD SAMARITAN PILOT 

18 PROJECT AUTHORIZATION. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es21 tablish a pilot program under which the Adminis22 trator shall grant not more than 15 Good Samaritan 

23 permits to carry out projects to remediate historic 

24 mine residue at any portions of abandoned mine 

25 sites in accordance with this Act. 


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1 (2) OVERSIGHT OF PERMITS.—The Adminis2 trator may oversee the remediation project under 

3 paragraph (1), and any action taken by the applica4 ble Good Samaritan or any cooperating person 

5 under the applicable Good Samaritan permit, for the 

6 duration of the Good Samaritan permit, as the Ad7 ministrator determines to be necessary to review the 

8 status of the project. 

9 (3) SUNSET.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

11 subparagraph (B), the pilot program described 

12 in paragraph (1) shall terminate on the date 

13 that is 7 years after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act. 

15 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub16 paragraph (A), the Administrator may grant a 

17 Good Samaritan permit pursuant to this Act 

18 after the date identified in subparagraph (A) if 

19 the application for the Good Samaritan per20 mit— 

21 (i) was submitted not later than 180 

22 days before that date; and 

23 (ii) was completed in accordance with 

24 subsection (c) by not later than 7 years 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 (C) EFFECT ON CERTAIN PERMITS.—Any 

2 Good Samaritan permit granted by the deadline 

3 prescribed in subparagraph (A) or (B), as ap4 plicable, that is in effect on the date that is 7 

5 years after the date of enactment of this Act 

6 shall remain in effect after that date in accord7 ance with— 

8 (i) the terms and conditions of the 

9 Good Samaritan permit; and 

10 (ii) this Act. 

11 (b) GOOD SAMARITAN PERMIT ELIGIBILITY.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

13 Good Samaritan permit to carry out a project to re14 mediate an abandoned mine site, a person shall dem15 onstrate that— 

16 (A) the abandoned mine site that is the 

17 subject of the application for a Good Samaritan 

18 permit is located in the United States; 

19 (B) the purpose of the proposed project is 

20 the remediation at that abandoned mine site of 

21 historic mine residue; 

22 (C) the proposed activities are designed to 

23 result in the partial, interim, or complete reme24 diation of historic mine residue at the aban25 doned mine site; 


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1 (D) the proposed project poses a low risk 

2 to the environment; 

3 (E) to the satisfaction of the Adminis4 trator, the person— 

5 (i) possesses, or has the ability to se6 cure, the financial and other resources nec7 essary— 

8 (I) to complete the permitted 

9 work, as determined by the Adminis10 trator; and 

11 (II) to address any contingencies 

12 identified in the Good Samaritan per13 mit application described in subsection 

14 (c); 

15 (ii) possesses the proper and appro16 priate experience and capacity to complete 

17 the permitted work; and 

18 (iii) will complete the permitted work; 

19 and 

20 (F) the person is a Good Samaritan with 

21 respect to the historic mine residue proposed to 

22 be covered by the Good Samaritan permit. 

23 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF ALL RESPONSIBLE

24 OWNERS OR OPERATORS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan 

2 shall make reasonable and diligent efforts to 

3 identify, from a review of publicly available in4 formation in land records or on internet 

5 websites of Federal, State, and local regulatory 

6 authorities, all responsible owners or operators 

7 of an abandoned mine site proposed to be reme8 diated by the Good Samaritan under this sec9 tion. 

10 (B) EXISTING RESPONSIBLE OWNER OR

11 OPERATOR.—If the Administrator determines, 

12 based on information provided by a Good Sa13 maritan or otherwise, that a responsible owner 

14 or operator exists for an abandoned mine site 

15 proposed to be remediated by the Good Samari16 tan, the Administrator shall deny the applica17 tion for a Good Samaritan permit. 

18 (c) APPLICATION FOR PERMITS.—To obtain a Good 

19 Samaritan permit, a person shall submit to the Adminis20 trator an application, signed by the person and any co21 operating person, that provides, to the extent known or 

22 reasonably discoverable by the person on the date on which 

23 the application is submitted— 

24 (1) a description of the abandoned mine site 

25 (including the boundaries of the abandoned mine 


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1 site) proposed to be covered by the Good Samaritan 

2 permit; 

3 (2) a description of all parties proposed to be 

4 involved in the remediation project, including any co5 operating person and each member of an applicable 

6 corporation, association, partnership, consortium, 

7 joint venture, commercial entity, or nonprofit asso8 ciation; 

9 (3) evidence that the person has or will acquire 

10 all legal rights or the authority necessary to enter 

11 the relevant abandoned mine site and perform the 

12 remediation described in the application; 

13 (4) a detailed description of the historic mine 

14 residue to be remediated; 

15 (5) a detailed description of the expertise and 

16 experience of the person and the resources available 

17 to the person to successfully implement and com18 plete the remediation plan under paragraph (7); 

19 (6) to the satisfaction of the Administrator and 

20 subject to subsection (d), a description of the base21 line environmental conditions, including potentially 

22 affected surface water quality and hydrological con23 ditions, affected by the historic mine residue to be 

24 remediated that includes— 


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1 (A) the nature and extent of any adverse 

2 impact on the water quality of any body of 

3 water caused by the drainage of historic mine 

4 residue or other discharges from the abandoned 

5 mine site; 

6 (B) the flow rate and concentration of any 

7 drainage of historic mine residue or other dis8 charge from the abandoned mine site in any 

9 body of water that has resulted in an adverse 

10 impact described in subparagraph (A); and 

11 (C) any other release or threat of release 

12 of historic mine residue that has resulted in an 

13 adverse impact to public health or the environ14 ment; 

15 (7) subject to subsection (d), a remediation 

16 plan for the abandoned mine site that describes— 

17 (A) the nature and scope of the proposed 

18 remediation activities, including— 

19 (i) any historic mine residue to be ad20 dressed by the remediation plan; and 

21 (ii) a description of the goals of the 

22 remediation including, if applicable, with 

23 respect to— 


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1 (I) the reduction or prevention of 

2 a release, threat of release, or dis3 charge to surface waters; or 

4 (II) other appropriate goals relat5 ing to water or soil; 

6 (B) each activity that the person proposes 

7 to take that is designed— 

8 (i) to improve or enhance water qual9 ity or site-specific soil quality relevant to 

10 the historic mine residue addressed by the 

11 remediation plan, including making meas12 urable progress toward achieving applicable 

13 water quality standards; or 

14 (ii) to otherwise protect human health 

15 and the environment (including through 

16 the prevention of a release, discharge, or 

17 threat of release to water or soil); 

18 (C) the monitoring or other form of assess19 ment that will be undertaken by the person to 

20 evaluate the success of the activities described 

21 in subparagraph (A) during and after the reme22 diation, with respect to the baseline conditions, 

23 as described in paragraph (6); 


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1 (D) to the satisfaction of the Adminis2 trator, detailed engineering plans for the 

3 project; 

4 (E) detailed plans for any proposed recy5 cling or reprocessing of historic mine residue to 

6 be conducted by the person (including a de7 scription of how all proposed recycling or re8 processing activities contribute to the remedi9 ation of the abandoned mine site); and 

10 (F) identification of any proposed con11 tractor that will perform any remediation activ12 ity; 

13 (8) subject to subsection (d), a schedule for the 

14 work to be carried out under the project, including 

15 a schedule for periodic reporting by the person on 

16 the remediation of the abandoned mine site; 

17 (9) a health and safety plan that is specifically 

18 designed for mining remediation work; 

19 (10) a specific contingency plan that— 

20 (A) includes provisions on response and 

21 notification to Federal, State, and local authori22 ties with jurisdiction over downstream waters 

23 that have the potential to be impacted by an 

24 unplanned release or discharge of hazardous 

25 substances, pollutants, or contaminants; and 


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1 (B) is designed to respond to unplanned 

2 adverse events (such as potential fluid release 

3 that may result from addressing pooled water 

4 or hydraulic pressure situations), including the 

5 sudden release of historic mine residue; 

6 (11) subject to subsection (d), a project budget 

7 and description of financial resources that dem8 onstrate that the permitted work, including any op9 eration and maintenance, will be completed; 

10 (12) subject to subsection (d), information dem11 onstrating that the applicant has the financial re12 sources to carry out the remediation (including any 

13 long-term monitoring that may be required by the 

14 Good Samaritan permit) or the ability to secure an 

15 appropriate third-party financial assurance, as deter16 mined by the Administrator, to ensure completion of 

17 the permitted work, including any long-term oper18 ations and maintenance of remediation activities 

19 that may be— 

20 (A) proposed in the application for the 

21 Good Samaritan permit; or 

22 (B) required by the Administrator as a 

23 condition of granting the permit; 


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1 (13) subject to subsection (d), a detailed plan 

2 for any required operation and maintenance of any 

3 remediation, including a timeline, if necessary; 

4 (14) subject to subsection (d), a description of 

5 any planned post-remediation monitoring, if nec6 essary; and 

7 (15) subject to subsection (d), any other appro8 priate information, as determined by the Adminis9 trator or the applicant. 

10 (d) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING.— 

11 (1) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING PERMITS.—The 

12 Administrator may grant an investigative sampling 

13 permit for a period determined by the Administrator 

14 to authorize a Good Samaritan to conduct investiga15 tive sampling of historic mine residue, soil, or water 

16 to determine— 

17 (A) baseline conditions; and 

18 (B) whether the Good Samaritan— 

19 (i) is willing to perform further reme20 diation to address the historic mine res21 idue; and 

22 (ii) will proceed with a permit conver23 sion under subsection (e)(1). 

24 (2) NUMBER OF PERMITS.— 


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1 (A) LIMITATION.— Subject to subpara2 graph (B), the Administrator may grant not 

3 more than 15 investigative sampling permits. 

4 (B) APPLICABILITY TO CONVERTED PER5 MITS.—An investigative sampling permit that is 

6 not converted to a Good Samaritan permit pur7 suant to paragraph (6) may be eligible for 

8 reissuance by the Administrator subject to the 

9 overall total of not more than 15 investigative 

10 sampling permits allowed at any 1 time de11 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

12 (3) APPLICATION.—If a Good Samaritan pro13 poses to conduct investigative sampling, the Good 

14 Samaritan shall submit to the Administrator an in15 vestigative sampling permit application that con16 tains, to the satisfaction of the Administrator— 

17 (A) each description required under para18 graphs (1), (2), (5), and (6) of subsection (c); 

19 (B) the evidence required under subsection 

20 (c)(3); 

21 (C) each plan required under paragraphs 

22 (9) and (10) of subsection (c); and 

23 (D) a detailed plan of the investigative 

24 sampling. 

25 (4) REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a person submits an 

2 application that proposes only investigative 

3 sampling of historic mine residue, soil, or water 

4 that only includes the requirements described in 

5 paragraph (1), the Administrator may only 

6 grant an investigative sampling permit that au7 thorizes the person only to carry out the plan 

8 of investigative sampling of historic mine res9 idue, soil, or water, as described in the inves10 tigative sampling permit application under 

11 paragraph (3). 

12 (B) REPROCESSING.—An investigative 

13 sampling permit— 

14 (i) shall not authorize a Good Samari15 tan or cooperating person to conduct any 

16 reprocessing of material; and 

17 (ii) may authorize metallurgical test18 ing of historic mine residue to determine 

19 whether reprocessing under subsection 

20 (f)(4)(B) is feasible. 

21 (C) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SAM22 PLES.—In conducting investigative sampling of 

23 historic mine residue, soil, or water, a Good Sa24 maritan shall— 


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1 (i) collect samples that are representa2 tive of the conditions present at the aban3 doned mine site that is the subject of the 

4 investigative sampling permit; and 

5 (ii) retain publicly available records of 

6 all sampling events for a period of not less 

7 than 3 years. 

8 (5) POST-SAMPLING REMEDIATION.— 

9 (A) REFUSAL TO CONVERT PERMIT.—Sub10 ject to subparagraph (B), a Good Samaritan 

11 who obtains an investigative sampling permit 

12 may decline— 

13 (i) to apply to convert the investiga14 tive sampling permit into a Good Samari15 tan permit under paragraph (6); and 

16 (ii) to undertake remediation activities 

17 on the site where investigative sampling 

18 was conducted on conclusion of investiga19 tive sampling. 

20 (B) RETURN TO PREEXISTING CONDI21 TIONS.—If the activities carried out by a Good 

22 Samaritan under an investigative sampling per23 mit result in surface water quality conditions, 

24 or any other environmental or safety conditions, 

25 that are worse than the preexisting conditions 


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1 of the applicable abandoned mine site due to 

2 historic mine residue at the abandoned mine 

3 site, the Good Samaritan shall return the aban4 doned mine site to those preexisting conditions. 

5 (6) PERMIT CONVERSION.—Not later than 1 

6 year after the date on which the investigative sam7 pling under the investigative sampling permit con8 cludes, a Good Samaritan to whom an investigative 

9 sampling permit is granted under paragraph (1) 

10 may apply to convert an investigative sampling per11 mit into a Good Samaritan permit under subsection 

12 (e)(1). 

13 (e) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING CONVERSION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person to which an inves15 tigative sampling permit was granted may submit to 

16 the Administrator an application in accordance with 

17 paragraph (2) to convert the investigative sampling 

18 permit into a Good Samaritan permit. 

19 (2) APPLICATION.— 

20 (A) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING.—An appli21 cation for the conversion of an investigative 

22 sampling permit under paragraph (1) shall in23 clude any requirement described in subsection 

24 (c) that was not included in full in the applica25 tion submitted under subsection (d)(3). 


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1 (B) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—An 

2 application for permit conversion under this 

3 paragraph shall be subject to— 

4 (i) environmental review and public 

5 comment procedures required by sub6 section (l); and 

7 (ii) a public hearing, if requested. 

8 (f) CONTENT OF PERMITS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan permit 

10 shall contain— 

11 (A) the information described in subsection 

12 (c), including any modification required by the 

13 Administrator; 

14 (B)(i) a provision that states that the 

15 Good Samaritan is responsible for securing, for 

16 all activities authorized under the Good Samari17 tan permit, all authorizations, licenses, and per18 mits that are required under applicable law ex19 cept for— 

20 (I) section 301, 302, 306, 307, 402, 

21 or 404 of the Federal Water Pollution 

22 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311, 1312, 1316, 

23 1317, 1342, 1344); and 

24 (II) authorizations, licenses, and per25 mits that would not need to be obtained if 


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1 the remediation was conducted pursuant to 

2 section 121 of the Comprehensive Environ3 mental Response, Compensation, and Li4 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9621); or 

5 (ii) in the case of an abandoned mine site 

6 in a State that is authorized to implement State 

7 law pursuant to section 402 or 404 of the Fed8 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

9 1342, 1344) or on land of an Indian tribe that 

10 is authorized to implement Tribal law pursuant 

11 to that section, a provision that states that the 

12 Good Samaritan is responsible for securing, for 

13 all activities authorized under the Good Samari14 tan permit, all authorizations, licenses, and per15 mits that are required under applicable law, ex16 cept for— 

17 (I) the State or Tribal law, as applica18 ble; and 

19 (II) authorizations, licenses, and per20 mits that would not need to be obtained if 

21 the remediation was conducted pursuant to 

22 section 121 of the Comprehensive Environ23 mental Response, Compensation, and Li24 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9621); 


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1 (C) specific public notification require2 ments, including the contact information for all 

3 appropriate response centers in accordance with 

4 subsection (o); 

5 (D) in the case of a project on land owned 

6 by the United States, a notice that the Good 

7 Samaritan permit serves as an agreement for 

8 use and occupancy of Federal land that is en9 forceable by the applicable Federal land man10 agement agency; and 

11 (E) any other terms and conditions deter12 mined to be appropriate by the Administrator 

13 or the Federal land management agency, as ap14 plicable. 

15 (2) FORCE MAJEURE.—A Good Samaritan per16 mit may include, at the request of the Good Samari17 tan, a provision that a Good Samaritan may assert 

18 a claim of force majeure for any violation of the 

19 Good Samaritan permit caused solely by— 

20 (A) an act of God; 

21 (B) an act of war; 

22 (C) negligence on the part of the United 

23 States; 

24 (D) an act or omission of a third party, if 

25 the Good Samaritan— 


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1 (i) exercises due care with respect to 

2 the actions of the Good Samaritan under 

3 the Good Samaritan permit, as determined 

4 by the Administrator; 

5 (ii) took precautions against foresee6 able acts or omissions of the third party, 

7 as determined by the Administrator; and 

8 (iii) uses reasonable efforts— 

9 (I) to anticipate any potential 

10 force majeure; and 

11 (II) to address the effects of any 

12 potential force majeure; or 

13 (E) a public health emergency declared by 

14 the Federal Government or a global govern15 ment, such as a pandemic or an epidemic. 

16 (3) MONITORING.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Good Samaritan 

18 shall take such actions as the Good Samaritan 

19 permit requires to ensure appropriate baseline 

20 monitoring, monitoring during the remediation 

21 project, and post-remediation monitoring of the 

22 environment under paragraphs (6), (7), and 

23 (15), respectively, of subsection (c). 

24 (B) MULTIPARTY MONITORING.—The Ad25 ministrator may approve in a Good Samaritan 


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1 permit the monitoring by multiple cooperating 

2 persons if, as determined by the Adminis3 trator— 

4 (i) the multiparty monitoring will ef5 fectively accomplish the goals of this sec6 tion; and 

7 (ii) the Good Samaritan remains re8 sponsible for compliance with the terms of 

9 the Good Samaritan permit. 

10 (4) OTHER DEVELOPMENT.— 

11 (A) NO AUTHORIZATION OF MINING AC12 TIVITIES.—No mineral exploration, processing, 

13 beneficiation, or mining shall be— 

14 (i) authorized by this Act; or 

15 (ii) covered by any waiver of liability 

16 provided by this Act from applicable law. 

17 (B) REPROCESSING OF MATERIALS.—A 

18 Good Samaritan may reprocess materials recov19 ered during the implementation of a remedi20 ation plan only if— 

21 (i) the project under the Good Samar22 itan permit is on land owned by the United 

23 States; 

24 (ii) the applicable Federal land man25 agement agency has signed a decision docVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 ument under subsection (l)(2)(G) approv2 ing reprocessing as part of a remediation 

3 plan; 

4 (iii) the proceeds from the sale or use 

5 of the materials are used— 

6 (I) to defray the costs of the re7 mediation; and 

8 (II) to the extent required by the 

9 Good Samaritan permit, to reimburse 

10 the Administrator or the head of a 

11 Federal land management agency for 

12 the purpose of carrying out this Act; 

13 (iv) any remaining proceeds are de14 posited into the appropriate Good Samari15 tan Mine Remediation Fund established by 

16 section 5(a); and 

17 (v) the materials only include historic 

18 mine residue. 

19 (C) CONNECTION WITH OTHER ACTIVI20 TIES.—The commingling or association of any 

21 other discharge of water or historic mine res22 idue or any activity, project, or operation con23 ducted on or after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act with any aspect of a project subject to a 

25 Good Samaritan permit shall not limit or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 duce the liability of any person associated with 

2 the other discharge of water or historic mine 

3 residue or activity, project, or operation. 

4 (g) ADDITIONAL WORK.—A Good Samaritan permit 

5 may allow the Good Samaritan to return to the abandoned 

6 mine site after the completion of the remediation to per7 form operations and maintenance or other work— 

8 (1) to ensure the functionality of the abandoned 

9 mine site; or 

10 (2) to protect public health and the environ11 ment. 

12 (h) TIMING.—Work authorized under a Good Samar13 itan permit— 

14 (1) shall commence, as applicable— 

15 (A) not later than the date that is 18 

16 months after the date on which the Adminis17 trator granted the Good Samaritan permit, un18 less the Administrator grants an extension 

19 under subsection (r)(2)(A); or 

20 (B) if the grant of the Good Samaritan 

21 permit is the subject of a petition for judicial 

22 review, not later than the date that is 18 

23 months after the date on which the judicial re24 view, including any appeals, has concluded; and 


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1 (2) shall continue until completed, with tem2 porary suspensions permitted during adverse weath3 er or other conditions specified in the Good Samari4 tan permit. 

5 (i) TRANSFER OF PERMITS.—A Good Samaritan per6 mit may be transferred to another person only if— 

7 (1) the Administrator determines that the 

8 transferee qualifies as a Good Samaritan; 

9 (2) the transferee signs, and agrees to be bound 

10 by the terms of, the permit; 

11 (3) the Administrator includes in the trans12 ferred permit any additional conditions necessary to 

13 meet the goals of this section; and 

14 (4) in the case of a project under the Good Sa15 maritan permit on land owned by the United States, 

16 the head of the applicable Federal land management 

17 agency approves the transfer. 

18 (j) ROLE OF ADMINISTRATOR AND FEDERAL LAND

19 MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.—In carrying out this section— 

20 (1) the Administrator shall— 

21 (A) consult with prospective applicants; 

22 (B) convene, coordinate, and lead the ap23 plication review process; 

24 (C) maintain all records relating to the 

25 Good Samaritan permit and the permit process; 


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1 (D) in the case of a proposed project on 

2 State, Tribal, or private land, provide an oppor3 tunity for cooperating persons and the public to 

4 participate in the Good Samaritan permit proc5 ess, including— 

6 (i) carrying out environmental review 

7 and public comment procedures pursuant 

8 to subsection (l); and 

9 (ii) a public hearing, if requested; and 

10 (E) enforce and otherwise carry out this 

11 section; and 

12 (2) the head of an applicable Federal land man13 agement agency shall— 

14 (A) in the case of a proposed project on 

15 land owned by the United States, provide an 

16 opportunity for cooperating persons and the 

17 public to participate in the Good Samaritan 

18 permit process, including— 

19 (i) carrying out environmental review 

20 and public comment procedures pursuant 

21 to subsection (l); and 

22 (ii) a public hearing, if requested; and 

23 (B) in coordination with the Adminis24 trator, enforce Good Samaritan permits issued 


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1 under this section for projects on land owned by 

2 the United States. 

3 (k) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.— 

4 As soon as practicable, but not later than 14 days after 

5 the date on which the Administrator receives an applica6 tion for the remediation of an abandoned mine site under 

7 this section, the Administrator shall provide notice and a 

8 copy of the application to— 

9 (1) each local government with jurisdiction over 

10 a drinking water utility, and each Indian tribe with 

11 reservation or off-reservation treaty rights to land or 

12 water, located downstream from a proposed remedi13 ation project that is reasonably anticipated to be ad14 versely impacted by a potential release of contami15 nants from the abandoned mine site, as determined 

16 by the Administrator; 

17 (2) each Federal, State, and Tribal agency that 

18 may have an interest in the application; and 

19 (3) in the case of an abandoned mine site that 

20 is located partially or entirely on land owned by the 

21 United States, the Federal land management agency 

22 with jurisdiction over that land. 

23 (l) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PUBLIC COM24 MENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the issuance of a 

2 Good Samaritan permit to carry out a project for 

3 the remediation of an abandoned mine site, the Ad4 ministrator shall ensure that environmental review 

5 and public comment procedures are carried out with 

6 respect to the proposed project. 

7 (2) RELATION TO NEPA.— 

8 (A) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.—Subject to 

9 subparagraph (F), the issuance or modification 

10 of a Good Samaritan permit by the Adminis11 trator shall be considered a major Federal ac12 tion for purposes of section 102 of the National 

13 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

14 4332). 

15 (B) LEAD AGENCY.—The lead agency for 

16 purposes of an environmental assessment and 

17 public comment under this subsection shall 

18 be— 

19 (i) in the case of a proposed project 

20 on land owned by the United States, the 

21 applicable Federal land management agen22 cy; and 

23 (ii) in the case of a proposed project 

24 on State, Tribal, or private land, the Ad25 ministrator. 


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1 (C) COORDINATION.—To the maximum ex2 tent practicable, the lead agency described in 

3 subparagraph (B) shall coordinate procedures 

4 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

5 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with State, Trib6 al, and Federal cooperating agencies, as appli7 cable. 

8 (D) COOPERATING AGENCY.—In the case 

9 of a proposed project on land owned by the 

10 United States, the Administrator shall be a co11 operating agency for purposes of an environ12 mental assessment and public comment under 

13 this subsection. 

14 (E) SINGLE NEPA DOCUMENT.—The lead 

15 agency described in subparagraph (B) may con16 duct a single environmental assessment for— 

17 (i) the issuance of a Good Samaritan 

18 permit; 

19 (ii) any activities authorized by a 

20 Good Samaritan permit; and 

21 (iii) any applicable permits required 

22 by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec23 retary of Agriculture. 

24 (F) NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan 

2 permit may only be issued if, after an envi3 ronmental assessment, the head of the lead 

4 agency issues a finding of no significant 

5 impact. 

6 (ii) SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.—If the 

7 head of the lead agency determines that a 

8 project would likely have a significant im9 pact on the environment, the head of the 

10 lead agency shall not issue a Good Samari11 tan permit for the proposed project. 

12 (G) DECISION DOCUMENT.—An approval 

13 or denial of a Good Samaritan permit may be 

14 issued as a single decision document that is 

15 signed by— 

16 (i) the Administrator; and 

17 (ii) in the case of a project on land 

18 owned by the United States, the head of 

19 the applicable Federal land management 

20 agency. 

21 (H) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para22 graph exempts the Secretary of Agriculture or 

23 the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable, 

24 from any other requirements of section 102 of 


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1 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

2 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

3 (m) PERMIT GRANT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

5 grant a Good Samaritan permit to carry out a 

6 project for the remediation of an abandoned mine 

7 site only if— 

8 (A) the Administrator determines that— 

9 (i) the person seeking the permit is a 

10 Good Samaritan; 

11 (ii) the application described in sub12 section (c) is complete; 

13 (iii) the project is designed to reme14 diate historic mine residue at the aban15 doned mine site to protect public health 

16 and the environment; 

17 (iv) the proposed project is designed 

18 to meet all other goals, as determined by 

19 the Administrator, including any goals set 

20 forth in the application for the Good Sa21 maritan permit that are accepted by the 

22 Administrator; 

23 (v) the proposed activities, as com24 pared to the baseline conditions described 


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1 in subsection (c)(6), will make measurable 

2 progress toward achieving— 

3 (I) applicable water quality 

4 standards; 

5 (II) improved soil quality; 

6 (III) other improved environ7 mental or safety conditions; or 

8 (IV) reductions in threats to soil 

9 quality or other environmental or 

10 safety conditions; 

11 (vi) the applicant has— 

12 (I) demonstrated that the appli13 cant has the proper and appropriate 

14 experience and capacity to complete 

15 the permitted work; 

16 (II) demonstrated that the appli17 cant will complete the permitted work; 

18 (III) the financial and other re19 sources to address any contingencies 

20 identified in the Good Samaritan per21 mit application described in sub22 sections (b) and (c); 

23 (IV) granted access and provided 

24 the authority to review the records of 

25 the applicant relevant to compliance 


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1 with the requirements of the Good Sa2 maritan permit; and 

3 (V) demonstrated, to the satisfac4 tion of the Administrator, that— 

5 (aa) the applicant has, or 

6 has access to, the financial re7 sources to complete the project 

8 described in the Good Samaritan 

9 permit application, including any 

10 long-term monitoring and oper11 ations and maintenance that the 

12 Administrator may require the 

13 applicant to perform in the Good 

14 Samaritan permit; or 

15 (bb) the applicant has estab16 lished a third-party financial as17 surance mechanism, such as a 

18 corporate guarantee from a par19 ent or other corporate affiliate, 

20 letter of credit, trust, surety 

21 bond, or insurance to assure that 

22 funds are available to complete 

23 the permitted work, including for 

24 operations and maintenance and 


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1 to address potential contin2 gencies, that— 

3 (AA) establishes the 

4 Administrator or the head of 

5 the Federal land manage6 ment agency as the bene7 ficiary of the third-party fi8 nancial assurance mecha9 nism; and 

10 (BB) allows the Admin11 istrator to retain and use 

12 the funds from the financial 

13 assurance mechanism in the 

14 event the Good Samaritan 

15 does not complete the reme16 diation under the Good Sa17 maritan permit; and 

18 (vii) the project meets the require19 ments of this Act; 

20 (B) the State or Indian tribe with jurisdic21 tion over land on which the abandoned mine 

22 site is located has been given an opportunity to 

23 review and, if necessary, comment on the grant 

24 of the Good Samaritan permit; 


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1 (C) in the case of a project proposed to be 

2 carried out under the Good Samaritan permit 

3 partially or entirely on land owned by the 

4 United States, pursuant to subsection (l), the 

5 head of the applicable Federal land manage6 ment agency has signed a decision document 

7 approving the proposed project; and 

8 (D) the Administrator or head of the Fed9 eral land management agency, as applicable, 

10 has provided— 

11 (i) environmental review and public 

12 comment procedures required by sub13 section (l); and 

14 (ii) a public hearing under that sub15 section, if requested. 

16 (2) DEADLINE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

18 shall grant or deny a Good Samaritan permit 

19 by not later than— 

20 (i) the date that is 180 days after the 

21 date of receipt by the Administrator of an 

22 application for the Good Samaritan permit 

23 that, as determined by the Administrator, 

24 is complete and meets all applicable re25 quirements of subsection (c); or 


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1 (ii) such later date as may be deter2 mined by the Administrator with notifica3 tion provided to the applicant. 

4 (B) CONSTRUCTIVE DENIAL.—If the Ad5 ministrator fails to grant or deny a Good Sa6 maritan permit by the applicable deadline de7 scribed in subparagraph (A), the application 

8 shall be considered to be denied. 

9 (3) DISCRETIONARY ACTION.—The issuance of 

10 a permit by the Administrator and the approval of 

11 a project by the head of an applicable Federal land 

12 management agency shall be considered to be discre13 tionary actions taken in the public interest. 

14 (n) EFFECT OF PERMITS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan and any 

16 cooperating person undertaking remediation activi17 ties identified in, carried out pursuant to, and in 

18 compliance with, a covered permit— 

19 (A) shall be considered to be in compliance 

20 with all requirements (including permitting re21 quirements) under the Federal Water Pollution 

22 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) (including 

23 any law or regulation implemented by a State 

24 or Indian tribe under section 402 or 404 of 

25 that Act (33 U.S.C. 1342, 1344)) and the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa2 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 

3 et seq.) during the term of the Good Samaritan 

4 permit and after the termination of the Good 

5 Samaritan permit; 

6 (B) shall not be required to obtain a per7 mit under, or to comply with, section 301, 302, 

8 306, 307, 402, or 404 of the Federal Water 

9 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311, 1312, 

10 1316, 1317, 1342, 1344), or any State or Trib11 al standards or regulations approved by the Ad12 ministrator under those sections of that Act, 

13 during the term of the Good Samaritan permit 

14 and after the termination of the Good Samari15 tan permit; and 

16 (C) shall not be required to obtain any au17 thorizations, licenses, or permits that would 

18 otherwise not need to be obtained if the remedi19 ation was conducted pursuant to section 121 of 

20 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

21 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

22 U.S.C. 9621). 

23 (2) UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any person (including 

25 a Good Samaritan or any cooperating person) 


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1 that carries out any activity, including activities 

2 relating to mineral exploration, processing, 

3 beneficiation, or mining, including development, 

4 that is not authorized by the applicable Good 

5 Samaritan permit shall be subject to all applica6 ble law. 

7 (B) LIABILITY.—Any activity not author8 ized by a Good Samaritan permit, as deter9 mined by the Administrator, may be subject to 

10 liability and enforcement under all applicable 

11 law, including— 

12 (i) the Federal Water Pollution Con13 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and 

14 (ii) the Comprehensive Environmental 

15 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

16 of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 

17 (3) NO ENFORCEMENT OR LIABILITY FOR GOOD

18 SAMARITANS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara20 graphs (D) and (E), a Good Samaritan or co21 operating person that is conducting a remedi22 ation activity identified in, pursuant to, and in 

23 compliance with a covered permit shall not be 

24 subject to enforcement or liability described in 

25 subparagraph (B) for— 


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1 (i) any actions undertaken that are 

2 authorized by the covered permit; or 

3 (ii) any past, present, or future re4 leases, threats of releases, or discharges of 

5 hazardous substances, pollutants, or con6 taminants at or from the abandoned mine 

7 site that is the subject of the covered per8 mit (including any releases, threats of re9 leases, or discharges that occurred prior to 

10 the grant of the covered permit). 

11 (B) ENFORCEMENT OR LIABILITY DE12 SCRIBED.—Enforcement or liability referred to 

13 in subparagraph (A) is enforcement, civil or 

14 criminal penalties, citizen suits and any liabil15 ities for response costs, natural resource dam16 age, or contribution under— 

17 (i) the Federal Water Pollution Con18 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) (includ19 ing under any law or regulation adminis20 tered by a State or Indian tribe under that 

21 Act); or 

22 (ii) the Comprehensive Environmental 

23 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

24 of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 


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1 (C) DURATION OF APPLICABILITY.—Sub2 paragraph (A) shall apply during the term of 

3 the Good Samaritan permit and after termi4 nation of the Good Samaritan permit. 

5 (D) OTHER PARTIES.—Nothing in sub6 paragraph (A) limits the liability of any person 

7 that is not described in that subparagraph. 

8 (E) DECLINE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDI9 TIONS.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if 

10 a Good Samaritan or cooperating person fails 

11 to comply with any term, condition, or limita12 tion of a covered permit and that failure results 

13 in surface water quality or other environmental 

14 conditions that are measurably worse than 

15 baseline conditions at the abandoned mine site, 

16 the Administrator shall— 

17 (i) notify the Good Samaritan or co18 operating person, as applicable, of the fail19 ure to comply; and 

20 (ii) require the Good Samaritan or the 

21 cooperating person, as applicable, to un22 dertake reasonable measures, as deter23 mined by the Administrator, to return sur24 face water quality or other environmental 

25 conditions to those baseline conditions. 


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1 (F) FAILURE TO CORRECT.—Subpara2 graph (A) shall not apply to a Good Samaritan 

3 or cooperating person that fails to take any ac4 tions required under subparagraph (E)(ii) with5 in a reasonable period of time, as established by 

6 the Administrator. 

7 (G) MINOR OR CORRECTED PERMIT VIOLA8 TIONS.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

9 failure to comply with a term, condition, or lim10 itation of a Good Samaritan permit or inves11 tigative sampling permit shall not be considered 

12 a permit violation or noncompliance with that 

13 permit if— 

14 (i) that failure or noncompliance does 

15 not result in a measurable adverse impact 

16 on water quality or other environmental 

17 conditions; or 

18 (ii) the Good Samaritan or cooper19 ating person complies with subparagraph 

20 (E)(ii). 

21 (o) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF ADVERSE EVENT.—A 

22 Good Samaritan shall notify all appropriate Federal, 

23 State, Tribal, and local entities of any unplanned or pre24 viously unknown release of historic mine residue caused 


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1 by the actions of the Good Samaritan or any cooperating 

2 person in accordance with— 

3 (1) section 103 of the Comprehensive Environ4 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

5 of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9603); 

6 (2) section 304 of the Emergency Planning and 

7 Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 

8 11004); 

9 (3) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act 

10 (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

11 (4) any other applicable provision of Federal 

12 law; and 

13 (5) any other applicable provision of State, 

14 Tribal, or local law. 

15 (p) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—A remediation project con16 ducted under a Good Samaritan permit shall be eligible 

17 for funding pursuant to— 

18 (1) section 319 of the Federal Water Pollution 

19 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1329); and 

20 (2) section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Envi21 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

22 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)). 

23 (q) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY AND LIABILITY.— 

24 (1) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

25 section affects the authority of— 


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1 (A) the Administrator to take any respon2 sive action authorized by law; or 

3 (B) a Federal, State, Tribal, or local agen4 cy to carry out any emergency authority, in5 cluding an emergency authority provided under 

6 Federal, State, Tribal, or local law. 

7 (2) LIABILITY.—Except as specifically provided 

8 in this Act, nothing in this Act, a Good Samaritan 

9 permit, or an investigative sampling permit limits 

10 the liability of any person (including a Good Samari11 tan or any cooperating person) under any provision 

12 of law. 

13 (r) TERMINATION OF PERMIT.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan permit 

15 shall terminate, as applicable— 

16 (A) on inspection and notice from the Ad17 ministrator to the recipient of the Good Samar18 itan permit that the permitted work has been 

19 completed in accordance with the terms of the 

20 Good Samaritan permit, as determined by the 

21 Administrator; 

22 (B) if the Administrator terminates a per23 mit under paragraph (4)(B); or 

24 (C) except as provided in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (i) on the date that is 18 months after 

2 the date on which the Administrator grant3 ed the Good Samaritan permit, if the per4 mitted work has not commenced by that 

5 date; or 

6 (ii) if the grant of the Good Samari7 tan permit was the subject of a petition for 

8 judicial review, on the date that is 18 

9 months after the date on which the judicial 

10 review, including any appeals, has con11 cluded, if the permitted work has not com12 menced by that date. 

13 (2) EXTENSION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator is 

15 otherwise required to terminate a Good Samari16 tan permit under paragraph (1)(C), the Admin17 istrator may grant an extension of the Good Sa18 maritan permit. 

19 (B) LIMITATION.—Any extension granted 

20 under subparagraph (A) shall be not more than 

21 180 days for each extension. 

22 (3) EFFECT OF TERMINATION.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

24 termination of a Good Samaritan permit or an 

25 investigative sampling permit under paragraph 


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1 (1), but subject to subparagraph (B), the provi2 sions of paragraphs (1) through (4) of sub3 section (n) shall continue to apply to the Good 

4 Samaritan and any cooperating persons after 

5 the termination, including to any long-term op6 erations and maintenance pursuant to the 

7 agreement under paragraph (5). 

8 (B) DEGRADATION OF SURFACE WATER

9 QUALITY.— 

10 (i) OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO

11 BASELINE.—If, at the time that 1 or more 

12 of the conditions described in paragraph 

13 (1) are met but before the Good Samaritan 

14 permit is terminated, actions by the Good 

15 Samaritan or cooperating person have 

16 caused surface water quality at the aban17 doned mine site to be measurably worse, as 

18 compared to baseline conditions described 

19 in subsection (c)(6), the Administrator 

20 shall, before terminating the Good Samari21 tan permit, provide the Good Samaritan or 

22 cooperating person, as applicable, the op23 portunity to return surface water quality 

24 to those baseline conditions. 


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1 (ii) EFFECT.—If, pursuant to clause 

2 (i), the applicable Good Samaritan or co3 operating person does not return the sur4 face water quality at the abandoned mine 

5 site to the baseline conditions described in 

6 subsection (c)(6), subparagraph (A) shall 

7 not apply to the Good Samaritan or any 

8 cooperating persons. 

9 (4) UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a cov11 ered permit may seek to modify or terminate 

12 the covered permit to take into account any 

13 event or condition that— 

14 (i) significantly reduces the feasibility 

15 or significantly increases the cost of com16 pleting the remediation project that is the 

17 subject of the covered permit; 

18 (ii) was not— 

19 (I) reasonably contemplated by 

20 the recipient of the permit; or 

21 (II) taken into account in the re22 mediation plan of the recipient of the 

23 permit; and 


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1 (iii) is beyond the control of the re2 cipient of the permit, as determined by the 

3 Administrator. 

4 (B) TERMINATION.—The Administrator 

5 shall terminate a covered permit if— 

6 (i) the recipient of the permit seeks 

7 termination of the permit under subpara8 graph (A); 

9 (ii) the factors described in subpara10 graph (A) are satisfied; and 

11 (iii) the Administrator determines 

12 that remediation activities conducted by 

13 the Good Samaritan or cooperating person 

14 pursuant to the covered permit may result 

15 in surface water quality conditions, or any 

16 other environmental conditions, that will be 

17 worse than the baseline conditions, as de18 scribed in subsection (c)(6), as applicable. 

19 (5) LONG-TERM OPERATIONS AND MAINTE20 NANCE.—In the case of a project that involves long21 term operations and maintenance at an abandoned 

22 mine site located on land owned by the United 

23 States, the project may be considered complete and 

24 the Administrator may terminate the Good Samari25 tan permit under this subsection if the applicable 


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1 Good Samaritan has entered into an agreement with 

2 the applicable Federal land management agency or 

3 a cooperating person for the long-term operations 

4 and maintenance that includes sufficient funding for 

5 the long-term operations and maintenance. 

6 (s) REGULATIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

8 not later than 18 months after the date of enact9 ment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation 

10 with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

11 of Agriculture, and appropriate State, Tribal, and 

12 local officials, shall promulgate regulations to estab13 lish— 

14 (A) requirements for remediation plans de15 scribed in subsection (c); and 

16 (B) any other requirement that the Admin17 istrator determines to be necessary to carry out 

18 this Act. 

19 (2) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS BEFORE PROMUL20 GATION.—Before the date on which the Adminis21 trator promulgates regulations under paragraph (1), 

22 the Administrator may establish, on a case-by-case 

23 basis, specific requirements that the Administrator 

24 determines would facilitate the implementation of 


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1 this section with respect to a Good Samaritan per2 mitting program. 

3 SEC. 5. SPECIAL ACCOUNTS. 

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

5 Treasury of the United States a Good Samaritan Mine 

6 Remediation Fund (referred to in this section as a 

7 ‘‘Fund’’) for— 

8 (1) each Federal land management agency that 

9 authorizes a Good Samaritan to conduct a project 

10 on Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Fed11 eral land management agency under a Good Samari12 tan permit; and 

13 (2) the Environmental Protection Agency. 

14 (b) DEPOSITS.—Each Fund shall consist of— 

15 (1) amounts provided in appropriation Acts; 

16 (2) any proceeds from reprocessing deposited 

17 under section 4(f)(4)(B)(iv); 

18 (3) any financial assurance funds collected from 

19 an agreement described in section 

20 4(m)(1)(A)(vi)(V)(bb); 

21 (4) any funds collected for long-term operations 

22 and maintenance under an agreement under section 

23 4(r)(5); 

24 (5) any interest earned under an investment 

25 under subsection (c); 


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1 (6) any proceeds from the sale or redemption of 

2 investments held in the Fund; and 

3 (7) any amounts donated to the Fund by any 

4 person. 

5 (c) UNUSED FUNDS.—Amounts in each Fund not 

6 currently needed to carry out this Act shall be— 

7 (1) maintained as readily available or on de8 posit; 

9 (2) invested in obligations of the United States 

10 or guaranteed by the United States; or 

11 (3) invested in obligations, participations, or 

12 other instruments that are lawful investments for a 

13 fiduciary, a trust, or public funds. 

14 (d) RETAIN AND USE AUTHORITY.—The Adminis15 trator and each head of a Federal land management agen16 cy, as appropriate, may, notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law, retain and use money deposited in the applica18 ble Fund without fiscal year limitation for the purpose of 

19 carrying out this Act. 

20 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 8 years after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con23 sultation with the heads of Federal land management 

24 agencies, shall submit to the Committee on Environment 

25 and Public Works of the Senate and the Committees on 


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1 Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and Com2 merce, and Natural Resources of the House of Represent3 atives a report evaluating the Good Samaritan pilot pro4 gram under this Act. 

5 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The report under subsection (a) 

6 shall include— 

7 (1) a description of— 

8 (A) the number, types, and objectives of 

9 Good Samaritan permits granted pursuant to 

10 this Act; and 

11 (B) each remediation project authorized by 

12 those Good Samaritan permits; 

13 (2) qualitative and quantitative data on the re14 sults achieved under the Good Samaritan permits 

15 before the date of issuance of the report; 

16 (3) a description of— 

17 (A) any problems encountered in admin18 istering this Act; and 

19 (B) whether the problems have been or can 

20 be remedied by administrative action (including 

21 amendments to existing law); 

22 (4) a description of progress made in achieving 

23 the purposes of this Act; and 

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1 tinued, including a description of any modifications 

2 (including amendments to existing law) required to 

3 continue administering this Act. 

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan Reme6 diation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE SITE.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘abandoned 

11 hardrock mine site’’ means an abandoned or in12 active hardrock mine site and any facility asso13 ciated with an abandoned or inactive hardrock 

14 mine site— 

15 (i) that was used for the production of 

16 a mineral other than coal conducted on 

17 Federal land under sections 2319 through 

18 2352 of the Revised Statutes (commonly 

19 known as the ‘‘Mining Law of 1872’’; 30 

20 U.S.C. 22 et seq.) or on non-Federal land; 

21 and 

22 (ii) for which, based on information 

23 supplied by the Good Samaritan after re24 view of publicly available data and after re25 view of other information in the possession 


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1 of the Administrator, the Administrator or, 

2 in the case of a site on land owned by the 

3 United States, the Federal land manage4 ment agency, determines that no responsible 

5 owner or operator has been identified— 

6 (I) who is potentially liable for, or 

7 has been required to perform or pay 

8 for, environmental remediation activi9 ties under applicable law; and 

10 (II) other than, in the case of a 

11 mine site located on land owned by the 

12 United States, a Federal land manage13 ment agency that has not been involved 

14 in mining activity on that land, except 

15 that the approval of a plan of oper16 ations under the hardrock mining reg17 ulations of the applicable Federal land 

18 management agency shall not be con19 sidered involvement in the mining ac20 tivity. 

21 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘abandoned 

22 hardrock mine site’’ includes a hardrock mine 

23 site (including associated facilities) that was 

24 previously the subject of a completed response ac25 tion under the Comprehensive Environmental 


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1 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

2 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) or a similar Fed3 eral and State reclamation or cleanup program, 

4 including the remediation of mine-scarred land 

5 under the brownfields revitalization program 

6 under section 104(k) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 9604(k)). 

8 (C) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘abandoned 

9 hardrock mine site’’ does not include a mine site 

10 (including associated facilities)— 

11 (i) in a temporary shutdown or ces12 sation; 

13 (ii) included on the National Priorities 

14 List developed by the President in accord15 ance with section 105(a)(8)(B) of the Com16 prehensive Environmental Response, Com17 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

18 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)) or proposed for in19 clusion on that list; 

20 (iii) that is the subject of a planned or 

21 ongoing response action under the Com22 prehensive Environmental Response, Com23 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

24 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) or a similar Federal 

25 and State reclamation or cleanup program; 


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1 (iv) that has a responsible owner or 

2 operator; or 

3 (v) that actively mined or processed 

4 minerals after December 11, 1980. 

5 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis6 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ7 mental Protection Agency. 

8 (3) APPLICABLE WATER QUALITY STANDARDS.— 

9 The term ‘‘applicable water quality standards’’ means 

10 the water quality standards promulgated by the Ad11 ministrator or adopted by a State or Indian tribe 

12 and approved by the Administrator pursuant to the 

13 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 

14 et seq.). 

15 (4) BASELINE CONDITIONS.—The term ‘‘baseline 

16 conditions’’ means the concentrations, locations, and 

17 releases of any hazardous substances, pollutants, or 

18 contaminants, as described in the Good Samaritan 

19 permit, present at an abandoned hardrock mine site 

20 prior to undertaking any action under this Act. 

21 (5) COOPERATING PERSON.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘cooperating 

23 person’’ means any person that is named by the 

24 Good Samaritan in the permit application as a 

25 cooperating entity. 


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1 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘cooperating 

2 person’’ does not include— 

3 (i) a responsible owner or operator 

4 with respect to the abandoned hardrock 

5 mine site described in the permit applica6 tion; 

7 (ii) a person that had a role in the cre8 ation of historic mine residue at the aban9 doned hardrock mine site described in the 

10 permit application; or 

11 (iii) a Federal agency. 

12 (6) COVERED PERMIT.—The term ‘‘covered per13 mit’’ means— 

14 (A) a Good Samaritan permit; and 

15 (B) an investigative sampling permit. 

16 (7) FEDERAL LAND MANAGEMENT AGENCY.—The 

17 term ‘‘Federal land management agency’’ means any 

18 Federal agency authorized by law or executive order 

19 to exercise jurisdiction, custody, or control over land 

20 owned by the United States. 

21 (8) GOOD SAMARITAN.—The term ‘‘Good Samar22 itan’’ means a person that, with respect to historic 

23 mine residue, as determined by the Administrator— 

24 (A) is not a past or current owner or oper25 ator of— 


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1 (i) the abandoned hardrock mine site 

2 at which the historic mine residue is lo3 cated; or 

4 (ii) a portion of that abandoned 

5 hardrock mine site; 

6 (B) had no role in the creation of the his7 toric mine residue; and 

8 (C) is not potentially liable under any Fed9 eral, State, Tribal, or local law for the remedi10 ation, treatment, or control of the historic mine 

11 residue. 

12 (9) GOOD SAMARITAN PERMIT.—The term ‘‘Good 

13 Samaritan permit’’ means a permit granted by the 

14 Administrator under section 4(a)(1). 

15 (10) HISTORIC MINE RESIDUE.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘historic mine 

17 residue’’ means mine residue or any condition at 

18 an abandoned hardrock mine site resulting from 

19 hardrock mining activities. 

20 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘historic mine 

21 residue’’ includes— 

22 (i) previously mined ores and minerals 

23 other than coal that contribute to acid mine 

24 drainage or other pollution; 


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1 (ii) equipment (including materials in 

2 equipment); 

3 (iii) any tailings facilities, heap leach 

4 piles, dump leach piles, waste rock, overbur5 den, slag piles, or other waste or material 

6 resulting from any extraction, beneficiation, 

7 or other processing activity that occurred 

8 during the active operation of an aban9 doned hardrock mine site; 

10 (iv) any acidic or otherwise polluted 

11 flow in surface water or groundwater that 

12 originates from, or is pooled and contained 

13 in, an inactive or abandoned hardrock mine 

14 site, such as underground workings, open 

15 pits, in-situ leaching operations, ponds, or 

16 impoundments; 

17 (v) any hazardous substance (as de18 fined in section 101 of the Comprehensive 

19 Environmental Response, Compensation, 

20 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

21 9601)); 

22 (vi) any pollutant or contaminant (as 

23 defined in section 101 of the Comprehensive 

24 Environmental Response, Compensation, 


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1 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

2 9601)); and 

3 (vii) any pollutant (as defined in sec4 tion 502 of the Federal Water Pollution 

5 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)). 

6 (11) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

7 has the meaning given the term in— 

8 (A) section 518(h) of the Federal Water Pol9 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1377(h)); or 

10 (B) section 101 of the Comprehensive Envi11 ronmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil12 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601). 

13 (12) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING PERMIT.—The 

14 term ‘‘investigative sampling permit’’ means a permit 

15 granted by the Administrator under section 4(d)(1). 

16 (13) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means any 

17 entity described in— 

18 (A) section 502(5) of the Federal Water Pol19 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362(5)); or 

20 (B) section 101(21) of the Comprehensive 

21 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Li22 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601(21)). 

23 (14) REMEDIATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘remediation’’ 

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1 terize, or cleanup, in whole or in part, a dis2 charge, release, or threat of release of a haz3 ardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant into 

4 the environment at or from an abandoned 

5 hardrock mine site, or to otherwise protect and 

6 improve human health and the environment. 

7 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘remediation’’ 

8 includes any action to remove, treat, or contain 

9 historic mine residue to prevent, minimize, or 

10 reduce— 

11 (i) the release or threat of release of a 

12 hazardous substance, pollutant, or contami13 nant that would harm human health or the 

14 environment; or 

15 (ii) a migration or discharge of a haz16 ardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant 

17 that would harm human health or the envi18 ronment. 

19 (C) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘remediation’’ 

20 does not include any action that requires plug21 ging, opening, or otherwise altering the portal or 

22 adit of the abandoned hardrock mine site. 

23 (15) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘reservation’’ has 

24 the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian country’’ in sec25 tion 1151 of title 18, United States Code. 


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1 (16) RESPONSIBLE OWNER OR OPERATOR.—The 

2 term ‘‘responsible owner or operator’’ means a person 

3 that is— 

4 (A)(i) legally responsible under section 301 

5 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

6 U.S.C. 1311) for a discharge that originates from 

7 an abandoned hardrock mine site; and 

8 (ii) financially able to comply with each re9 quirement described in that section; or 

10 (B)(i) a present or past owner or operator 

11 or other person that is liable with respect to a 

12 release or threat of release of a hazardous sub13 stance, pollutant, or contaminant associated 

14 with the historic mine residue at or from an 

15 abandoned hardrock mine site under section 104, 

16 106, 107, or 113 of the Comprehensive Environ17 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

18 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604, 9606, 9607, 9613); 

19 and 

20 (ii) financially able to comply with each re21 quirement described in those sections, as applica22 ble. 

23 SEC. 3. SCOPE. 

24 Nothing in this Act— 


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1 (1) except as provided in section 4(n), reduces 

2 any existing liability under Federal, State, or local 

3 law; 

4 (2) except as provided in section 4(n), releases 

5 any person from liability under Federal, State, or 

6 local law, except in compliance with this Act; 

7 (3) authorizes the conduct of any mining or 

8 processing other than the conduct of any processing of 

9 previously mined ores, minerals, wastes, or other ma10 terials that is authorized by a Good Samaritan per11 mit; 

12 (4) imposes liability on the United States or a 

13 Federal land management agency pursuant to section 

14 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

15 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

16 9607) or section 301 of the Federal Water Pollution 

17 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311); or 

18 (5) relieves the United States or any Federal 

19 land management agency from any liability under 

20 section 107 of the Comprehensive Environmental Re21 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

22 U.S.C. 9607) or section 301 of the Federal Water Pol23 lution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311) that exists apart 

24 from any action undertaken pursuant to this Act. 


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1 SEC. 4. ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE SITE GOOD SAMARI2 TAN PILOT PROJECT AUTHORIZATION. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es5 tablish a pilot program under which the Adminis6 trator shall grant not more than 15 Good Samaritan 

7 permits to carry out projects to remediate historic 

8 mine residue at any portions of abandoned hardrock 

9 mine sites in accordance with this Act. 

10 (2) OVERSIGHT OF PERMITS.—The Adminis11 trator may oversee the remediation project under 

12 paragraph (1), and any action taken by the applica13 ble Good Samaritan or any cooperating person under 

14 the applicable Good Samaritan permit, for the dura15 tion of the Good Samaritan permit, as the Adminis16 trator determines to be necessary to review the status 

17 of the project. 

18 (3) SUNSET.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

20 subparagraph (B), the pilot program described 

21 in paragraph (1) shall terminate on the date 

22 that is 7 years after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act. 

24 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub25 paragraph (A), the Administrator may grant a 

26 Good Samaritan permit pursuant to this Act 


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1 after the date identified in subparagraph (A) if 

2 the application for the Good Samaritan per3 mit— 

4 (i) was submitted not later than 180 

5 days before that date; and 

6 (ii) was completed in accordance with 

7 subsection (c) by not later than 7 years 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 (C) EFFECT ON CERTAIN PERMITS.—Any 

10 Good Samaritan permit granted by the deadline 

11 prescribed in subparagraph (A) or (B), as appli12 cable, that is in effect on the date that is 7 years 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act shall re14 main in effect after that date in accordance 

15 with— 

16 (i) the terms and conditions of the 

17 Good Samaritan permit; and 

18 (ii) this Act. 

19 (b) GOOD SAMARITAN PERMIT ELIGIBILITY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

21 Good Samaritan permit to carry out a project to re22 mediate an abandoned hardrock mine site, a person 

23 shall demonstrate that, as determined by the Admin24 istrator— 


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1 (A) the abandoned hardrock mine site that 

2 is the subject of the application for a Good Sa3 maritan permit is located in the United States; 

4 (B) the purpose of the proposed project is 

5 the remediation at that abandoned hardrock 

6 mine site of historic mine residue; 

7 (C) the proposed activities are designed to 

8 result in the partial or complete remediation of 

9 historic mine residue at the abandoned hardrock 

10 mine site within the term of the Good Samaritan 

11 permit; 

12 (D) the proposed project poses a low risk to 

13 the environment, as determined by the Adminis14 trator; 

15 (E) to the satisfaction of the Administrator, 

16 the person— 

17 (i) possesses, or has the ability to se18 cure, the financial and other resources nec19 essary— 

20 (I) to complete the permitted 

21 work, as determined by the Adminis22 trator; and 

23 (II) to address any contingencies 

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1 mit application described in subsection 

2 (c); 

3 (ii) possesses the proper and appro4 priate experience and capacity to complete 

5 the permitted work; and 

6 (iii) will complete the permitted work; 

7 and 

8 (F) the person is a Good Samaritan with 

9 respect to the historic mine residue proposed to 

10 be covered by the Good Samaritan permit. 

11 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF ALL RESPONSIBLE OWN12 ERS OR OPERATORS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan shall 

14 make reasonable and diligent efforts to identify, 

15 from a review of publicly available information 

16 in land records or on internet websites of Fed17 eral, State, and local regulatory authorities, all 

18 responsible owners or operators of an abandoned 

19 hardrock mine site proposed to be remediated by 

20 the Good Samaritan under this section. 

21 (B) EXISTING RESPONSIBLE OWNER OR OP22 ERATOR.—If the Administrator determines, 

23 based on information provided by a Good Sa24 maritan or otherwise, that a responsible owner 

25 or operator exists for an abandoned hardrock 


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1 mine site proposed to be remediated by the Good 

2 Samaritan, the Administrator shall deny the ap3 plication for a Good Samaritan permit. 

4 (c) APPLICATION FOR PERMITS.—To obtain a Good 

5 Samaritan permit, a person shall submit to the Adminis6 trator an application, signed by the person and any cooper7 ating person, that provides, to the extent known or reason8 ably discoverable by the person on the date on which the 

9 application is submitted— 

10 (1) a description of the abandoned hardrock 

11 mine site (including the boundaries of the abandoned 

12 hardrock mine site) proposed to be covered by the 

13 Good Samaritan permit; 

14 (2) a description of all parties proposed to be in15 volved in the remediation project, including any co16 operating person and each member of an applicable 

17 corporation, association, partnership, consortium, 

18 joint venture, commercial entity, or nonprofit associa19 tion; 

20 (3) evidence that the person has or will acquire 

21 all legal rights or the authority necessary to enter the 

22 relevant abandoned hardrock mine site and perform 

23 the remediation described in the application; 

24 (4) a detailed description of the historic mine 

25 residue to be remediated; 


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1 (5) a detailed description of the expertise and ex2 perience of the person and the resources available to 

3 the person to successfully implement and complete the 

4 remediation plan under paragraph (7); 

5 (6) to the satisfaction of the Administrator and 

6 subject to subsection (d), a description of the baseline 

7 conditions caused by the historic mine residue to be 

8 remediated that includes— 

9 (A) the nature and extent of any adverse 

10 impact on the water quality of any body of 

11 water caused by the drainage of historic mine 

12 residue or other discharges from the abandoned 

13 hardrock mine site; 

14 (B) the flow rate and concentration of any 

15 drainage of historic mine residue or other dis16 charge from the abandoned hardrock mine site in 

17 any body of water that has resulted in an ad18 verse impact described in subparagraph (A); and 

19 (C) any other release or threat of release of 

20 historic mine residue that has resulted in an ad21 verse impact to human health or the environ22 ment; 

23 (7) subject to subsection (d), a remediation plan 

24 for the abandoned hardrock mine site that describes— 


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1 (A) the nature and scope of the proposed re2 mediation activities, including— 

3 (i) any historic mine residue to be ad4 dressed by the remediation plan; and 

5 (ii) a description of the goals of the re6 mediation including, if applicable, with re7 spect to— 

8 (I) the reduction or prevention of 

9 a release, threat of release, or discharge 

10 to surface waters; or 

11 (II) other appropriate goals relat12 ing to water or soil; 

13 (B) each activity that the person proposes to 

14 take that is— 

15 (i) designed to— 

16 (I) improve or enhance water 

17 quality or site-specific soil or sediment 

18 quality relevant to the historic mine 

19 residue addressed by the remediation 

20 plan, including making measurable 

21 progress toward achieving applicable 

22 water quality standards; or 

23 (II) otherwise protect human 

24 health and the environment (including 

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1 charge, or threat of release to water, 

2 sediment, or soil); and 

3 (ii) otherwise necessary to carry out an 

4 activity described in subclause (I) or (II) of 

5 clause (i); 

6 (C) a plan describing the monitoring or 

7 other forms of assessment that will be undertaken 

8 by the person to evaluate the success of the ac9 tivities described in subparagraph (A) during 

10 and after the remediation, with respect to the 

11 baseline conditions, as described in paragraph 

12 (6); 

13 (D) to the satisfaction of the Administrator, 

14 detailed engineering plans for the project; 

15 (E) detailed plans for any proposed recy16 cling or reprocessing of historic mine residue to 

17 be conducted by the person (including a descrip18 tion of how all proposed recycling or reprocess19 ing activities contribute to the remediation of the 

20 abandoned hardrock mine site); and 

21 (F) identification of any proposed con22 tractor that will perform any remediation activ23 ity; 

24 (8) subject to subsection (d), a schedule for the 

25 work to be carried out under the project, including a 


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1 schedule for periodic reporting by the person on the 

2 remediation of the abandoned hardrock mine site; 

3 (9) a health and safety plan that is specifically 

4 designed for mining remediation work; 

5 (10) a specific contingency plan that— 

6 (A) includes provisions on response and no7 tification to Federal, State, Tribal, and local au8 thorities with jurisdiction over downstream 

9 waters that have the potential to be impacted by 

10 an unplanned release or discharge of hazardous 

11 substances, pollutants, or contaminants; and 

12 (B) is designed to respond to unplanned ad13 verse events (such as adverse weather events or a 

14 potential fluid release that may result from ad15 dressing pooled water or hydraulic pressure situ16 ations), including the sudden release of historic 

17 mine residue; 

18 (11) subject to subsection (d), a project budget 

19 and description of financial resources that dem20 onstrate that the permitted work, including any oper21 ation and maintenance, will be completed; 

22 (12) subject to subsection (d), information dem23 onstrating that the applicant has the financial re24 sources to carry out the remediation (including any 

25 long-term monitoring that may be required by the 


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1 Good Samaritan permit) or the ability to secure an 

2 appropriate third-party financial assurance, as deter3 mined by the Administrator, to ensure completion of 

4 the permitted work, including any long-term oper5 ations and maintenance of remediation activities that 

6 may be— 

7 (A) proposed in the application for the 

8 Good Samaritan permit; or 

9 (B) required by the Administrator as a con10 dition of granting the permit; 

11 (13) subject to subsection (d), a detailed plan for 

12 any required operation and maintenance of any re13 mediation, including a timeline, if necessary; 

14 (14) subject to subsection (d), a description of 

15 any planned post-remediation monitoring, if nec16 essary; and 

17 (15) subject to subsection (d), any other appro18 priate information, as determined by the Adminis19 trator or the applicant. 

20 (d) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING.— 

21 (1) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING PERMITS.—The 

22 Administrator may grant an investigative sampling 

23 permit for a period determined by the Administrator 

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1 tive sampling of historic mine residue, soil, sediment, 

2 or water to determine— 

3 (A) baseline conditions; and 

4 (B) whether the Good Samaritan— 

5 (i) is willing to perform further reme6 diation to address the historic mine residue; 

7 and 

8 (ii) will proceed with a permit conver9 sion under subsection (e)(1). 

10 (2) NUMBER OF PERMITS.— 

11 (A) LIMITATION.— Subject to subparagraph 

12 (B), the Administrator may grant not more than 

13 15 investigative sampling permits. 

14 (B) APPLICABILITY TO CONVERTED PER15 MITS.—An investigative sampling permit that is 

16 not converted to a Good Samaritan permit pur17 suant to paragraph (5) may be eligible for 

18 reissuance by the Administrator subject to the 

19 overall total of not more than 15 investigative 

20 sampling permits allowed at any 1 time de21 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

22 (3) APPLICATION.—If a Good Samaritan pro23 poses to conduct investigative sampling, the Good Sa24 maritan shall submit to the Administrator an invesVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 tigative sampling permit application that contains, 

2 to the satisfaction of the Administrator— 

3 (A) each description required under para4 graphs (1), (2), and (5) of subsection (c); 

5 (B) to the extent reasonably known to the 

6 applicant, any previously documented water 

7 quality data describing conditions at the aban8 doned hardrock mine site; 

9 (C) the evidence required under subsection 

10 (c)(3); 

11 (D) each plan required under paragraphs 

12 (9) and (10) of subsection (c); and 

13 (E) a detailed plan of the investigative sam14 pling. 

15 (4) REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a person submits an 

17 application that proposes only investigative sam18 pling of historic mine residue, soil, sediment, or 

19 water that only includes the requirements de20 scribed in paragraph (1), the Administrator may 

21 grant an investigative sampling permit that au22 thorizes the person only to carry out the plan of 

23 investigative sampling of historic mine residue, 

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1 vestigative sampling permit application under 

2 paragraph (3). 

3 (B) REPROCESSING.—An investigative sam4 pling permit— 

5 (i) shall not authorize a Good Samari6 tan or cooperating person to conduct any 

7 reprocessing of material; and 

8 (ii) may authorize metallurgical test9 ing of historic mine residue to determine 

10 whether reprocessing under subsection 

11 (f)(4)(B) is feasible. 

12 (C) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO SAM13 PLES.—In conducting investigative sampling of 

14 historic mine residue, soil, sediment, or water, a 

15 Good Samaritan shall— 

16 (i) collect samples that are representa17 tive of the conditions present at the aban18 doned hardrock mine site that is the subject 

19 of the investigative sampling permit; and 

20 (ii) retain publicly available records of 

21 all sampling events for a period of not less 

22 than 3 years. 

23 (5) PERMIT CONVERSION.—Not later than 1 year 

24 after the date on which the investigative sampling 

25 under the investigative sampling permit concludes, a 


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1 Good Samaritan to whom an investigative sampling 

2 permit is granted under paragraph (1) may apply to 

3 convert an investigative sampling permit into a Good 

4 Samaritan permit under subsection (e)(1). 

5 (6) PERMIT NOT CONVERTED.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph 

7 (B)(ii)(I), a Good Samaritan who obtains an in8 vestigative sampling permit may decline— 

9 (i) to apply to convert the investigative 

10 sampling permit into a Good Samaritan 

11 permit under paragraph (5); and 

12 (ii) to undertake remediation activities 

13 on the site where investigative sampling 

14 was conducted on conclusion of investigative 

15 sampling. 

16 (B) EFFECT OF LACK OF CONVERSION.— 

17 (i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding a 

18 refusal by a Good Samaritan to convert an 

19 investigative sampling permit into a Good 

20 Samaritan permit under subparagraph (A), 

21 but subject to clause (ii), the provisions of 

22 paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (n) 

23 shall continue to apply to the Good Samari24 tan and any cooperating persons after the 

25 refusal to convert. 


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1 (ii) DEGRADATION OF SURFACE WATER

2 QUALITY.— 

3 (I) OPPORTUNITY TO CORRECT.— 

4 If, before the date on which a Good Sa5 maritan refuses to convert an inves6 tigative sampling permit under sub7 paragraph (A), actions by the Good 

8 Samaritan or any cooperating person 

9 have caused conditions at the aban10 doned hardrock mine site to be measur11 ably worse, as determined by the Ad12 ministrator, when compared to condi13 tions described pursuant to paragraph 

14 (3)(B), if applicable, the Administrator 

15 shall provide the Good Samaritan or 

16 cooperating person, as applicable, the 

17 opportunity to return the conditions at 

18 the abandoned hardrock mine site to 

19 those conditions. 

20 (II) EFFECT.—If, pursuant to 

21 subclause (I), the applicable Good Sa22 maritan or cooperating person does not 

23 return the surface water quality at the 

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1 graph (3)(B), if applicable, as deter2 mined by the Administrator, clause (i) 

3 shall not apply to the Good Samaritan 

4 or any cooperating persons. 

5 (e) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING CONVERSION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—A person to which an inves7 tigative sampling permit was granted may submit to 

8 the Administrator an application in accordance with 

9 paragraph (2) to convert the investigative sampling 

10 permit into a Good Samaritan permit. 

11 (2) APPLICATION.— 

12 (A) INVESTIGATIVE SAMPLING.—An appli13 cation for the conversion of an investigative sam14 pling permit under paragraph (1) shall include 

15 any requirement described in subsection (c) that 

16 was not included in full in the application sub17 mitted under subsection (d)(3). 

18 (B) PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENT.—An 

19 application for permit conversion under this 

20 paragraph shall be subject to— 

21 (i) environmental review and public 

22 comment procedures required by subsection 

23 (l); and 

24 (ii) a public hearing, if requested. 

25 (f) CONTENT OF PERMITS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan permit 

2 shall contain— 

3 (A) the information described in subsection 

4 (c), including any modification required by the 

5 Administrator; 

6 (B)(i) a provision that states that the Good 

7 Samaritan is responsible for securing, for all ac8 tivities authorized under the Good Samaritan 

9 permit, all authorizations, licenses, and permits 

10 that are required under applicable law except 

11 for— 

12 (I) section 301, 302, 306, 307, 402, or 

13 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

14 Act (33 U.S.C. 1311, 1312, 1316, 1317, 

15 1342, 1344); and 

16 (II) authorizations, licenses, and per17 mits that would not need to be obtained if 

18 the remediation was conducted pursuant to 

19 section 121 of the Comprehensive Environ20 mental Response, Compensation, and Li21 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9621); or 

22 (ii) in the case of an abandoned hardrock 

23 mine site in a State that is authorized to imple24 ment State law pursuant to section 402 or 404 

25 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 


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1 U.S.C. 1342, 1344) or on land of an Indian tribe 

2 that is authorized to implement Tribal law pur3 suant to that section, a provision that states that 

4 the Good Samaritan is responsible for securing, 

5 for all activities authorized under the Good Sa6 maritan permit, all authorizations, licenses, and 

7 permits that are required under applicable law, 

8 except for— 

9 (I) the State or Tribal law, as applica10 ble; and 

11 (II) authorizations, licenses, and per12 mits that would not need to be obtained if 

13 the remediation was conducted pursuant to 

14 section 121 of the Comprehensive Environ15 mental Response, Compensation, and Li16 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9621); 

17 (C) specific public notification require18 ments, including the contact information for all 

19 appropriate response centers in accordance with 

20 subsection (o); 

21 (D) in the case of a project on land owned 

22 by the United States, a notice that the Good Sa23 maritan permit serves as an agreement for use 

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1 able by the applicable Federal land management 

2 agency; and 

3 (E) any other terms and conditions deter4 mined to be appropriate by the Administrator or 

5 the Federal land management agency, as appli6 cable. 

7 (2) FORCE MAJEURE.—A Good Samaritan per8 mit may include, at the request of the Good Samari9 tan, a provision that a Good Samaritan may assert 

10 a claim of force majeure for any violation of the Good 

11 Samaritan permit caused solely by— 

12 (A) an act of God; 

13 (B) an act of war; 

14 (C) negligence on the part of the United 

15 States; 

16 (D) an act or omission of a third party, if 

17 the Good Samaritan— 

18 (i) exercises due care with respect to 

19 the actions of the Good Samaritan under 

20 the Good Samaritan permit, as determined 

21 by the Administrator; 

22 (ii) took precautions against foreseeable 

23 acts or omissions of the third party, as de24 termined by the Administrator; and 

25 (iii) uses reasonable efforts— 


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1 (I) to anticipate any potential 

2 force majeure; and 

3 (II) to address the effects of any 

4 potential force majeure; or 

5 (E) a public health emergency declared by 

6 the Federal Government or a global government, 

7 such as a pandemic or an epidemic. 

8 (3) MONITORING.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Good Samaritan 

10 shall take such actions as the Good Samaritan 

11 permit requires to ensure appropriate baseline 

12 conditions monitoring, monitoring during the re13 mediation project, and post-remediation moni14 toring of the environment under paragraphs (7) 

15 and (14) of subsection (c). 

16 (B) MULTIPARTY MONITORING.—The Ad17 ministrator may approve in a Good Samaritan 

18 permit the monitoring by multiple cooperating 

19 persons if, as determined by the Administrator— 

20 (i) the multiparty monitoring will ef21 fectively accomplish the goals of this section; 

22 and 

23 (ii) the Good Samaritan remains re24 sponsible for compliance with the terms of 

25 the Good Samaritan permit. 


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1 (4) OTHER DEVELOPMENT.— 

2 (A) NO AUTHORIZATION OF MINING ACTIVI3 TIES.—No mineral exploration, processing, 

4 beneficiation, or mining shall be— 

5 (i) authorized by this Act; or 

6 (ii) covered by any waiver of liability 

7 provided by this Act from applicable law. 

8 (B) REPROCESSING OF MATERIALS.—A 

9 Good Samaritan may reprocess materials recov10 ered during the implementation of a remediation 

11 plan only if— 

12 (i) the project under the Good Samari13 tan permit is on land owned by the United 

14 States; 

15 (ii) the applicable Federal land man16 agement agency has signed a decision docu17 ment under subsection (l)(2)(G) approving 

18 reprocessing as part of a remediation plan; 

19 (iii) the proceeds from the sale or use 

20 of the materials are used— 

21 (I) to defray the costs of the reme22 diation; and 

23 (II) to the extent required by the 

24 Good Samaritan permit, to reimburse 

25 the Administrator or the head of a 


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1 Federal land management agency for 

2 the purpose of carrying out this Act; 

3 (iv) any remaining proceeds are depos4 ited into the appropriate Good Samaritan 

5 Mine Remediation Fund established by sec6 tion 5(a); and 

7 (v) the materials only include historic 

8 mine residue. 

9 (C) CONNECTION WITH OTHER ACTIVI10 TIES.—The commingling or association of any 

11 other discharge of water or historic mine residue 

12 or any activity, project, or operation conducted 

13 on or after the date of enactment of this Act with 

14 any aspect of a project subject to a Good Samar15 itan permit shall not limit or reduce the liability 

16 of any person associated with the other discharge 

17 of water or historic mine residue or activity, 

18 project, or operation. 

19 (g) ADDITIONAL WORK.—A Good Samaritan permit 

20 may (subject to subsection (r)(5) in the case of a project 

21 located on Federal land) allow the Good Samaritan to re22 turn to the abandoned hardrock mine site after the comple23 tion of the remediation to perform operations and mainte24 nance or other work— 


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1 (1) to ensure the functionality of completed re2 mediation activities at the abandoned hardrock mine 

3 site; or 

4 (2) to protect public health and the environment. 

5 (h) TIMING.—Work authorized under a Good Samari6 tan permit— 

7 (1) shall commence, as applicable— 

8 (A) not later than the date that is 18 

9 months after the date on which the Adminis10 trator granted the Good Samaritan permit, un11 less the Administrator grants an extension under 

12 subsection (r)(2)(A); or 

13 (B) if the grant of the Good Samaritan per14 mit is the subject of a petition for judicial re15 view, not later than the date that is 18 months 

16 after the date on which the judicial review, in17 cluding any appeals, has concluded; and 

18 (2) shall continue until completed, with tem19 porary suspensions permitted during adverse weather 

20 or other conditions specified in the Good Samaritan 

21 permit. 

22 (i) TRANSFER OF PERMITS.—A Good Samaritan per23 mit may be transferred to another person only if— 

24 (1) the Administrator determines that the trans25 feree qualifies as a Good Samaritan; 


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1 (2) the transferee signs, and agrees to be bound 

2 by the terms of, the permit; 

3 (3) the Administrator includes in the transferred 

4 permit any additional conditions necessary to meet 

5 the goals of this section; and 

6 (4) in the case of a project under the Good Sa7 maritan permit on land owned by the United States, 

8 the head of the applicable Federal land management 

9 agency approves the transfer. 

10 (j) ROLE OF ADMINISTRATOR AND FEDERAL LAND

11 MANAGEMENT AGENCIES.—In carrying out this section— 

12 (1) the Administrator shall— 

13 (A) consult with prospective applicants; 

14 (B) convene, coordinate, and lead the appli15 cation review process; 

16 (C) maintain all records relating to the 

17 Good Samaritan permit and the permit process; 

18 (D) in the case of a proposed project on 

19 State, Tribal, or private land, provide an oppor20 tunity for cooperating persons and the public to 

21 participate in the Good Samaritan permit proc22 ess, including— 

23 (i) carrying out environmental review 

24 and public comment procedures pursuant to 

25 subsection (l); and 


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1 (ii) a public hearing, if requested; and 

2 (E) enforce and otherwise carry out this sec3 tion; and 

4 (2) the head of an applicable Federal land man5 agement agency shall— 

6 (A) in the case of a proposed project on 

7 land owned by the United States, provide an op8 portunity for cooperating persons and the public 

9 to participate in the Good Samaritan permit 

10 process, including— 

11 (i) carrying out environmental review 

12 and public comment procedures pursuant to 

13 subsection (l); and 

14 (ii) a public hearing, if requested; and 

15 (B) in coordination with the Administrator, 

16 enforce Good Samaritan permits issued under 

17 this section for projects on land owned by the 

18 United States. 

19 (k) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS.—As 

20 soon as practicable, but not later than 14 days after the 

21 date on which the Administrator receives an application 

22 for the remediation of an abandoned hardrock mine site 

23 under this section that, as determined by the Administrator, 

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1 section (c), the Administrator shall provide notice and a 

2 copy of the application to— 

3 (1) each local government with jurisdiction over 

4 a drinking water utility, and each Indian tribe with 

5 reservation or off-reservation treaty rights to land or 

6 water, located downstream from or otherwise near a 

7 proposed remediation project that is reasonably an8 ticipated to be impacted by the remediation project or 

9 a potential release of contaminants from the aban10 doned hardrock mine site, as determined by the Ad11 ministrator; 

12 (2) each Federal, State, and Tribal agency that 

13 may have an interest in the application; and 

14 (3) in the case of an abandoned hardrock mine 

15 site that is located partially or entirely on land 

16 owned by the United States, the Federal land man17 agement agency with jurisdiction over that land. 

18 (l) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PUBLIC COM19 MENT.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the issuance of a Good 

21 Samaritan permit to carry out a project for the reme22 diation of an abandoned hardrock mine site, the Ad23 ministrator shall ensure that environmental review 

24 and public comment procedures are carried out with 

25 respect to the proposed project. 


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1 (2) RELATION TO NEPA.— 

2 (A) MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION.—Subject to 

3 subparagraph (F), the issuance or modification 

4 of a Good Samaritan permit by the Adminis5 trator shall be considered a major Federal action 

6 for purposes of section 102 of the National Envi7 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

8 (B) LEAD AGENCY.—The lead agency for 

9 purposes of an environmental assessment and 

10 public comment under this subsection shall be— 

11 (i) in the case of a proposed project on 

12 land owned by the United States that is 

13 managed by only 1 Federal land manage14 ment agency, the applicable Federal land 

15 management agency; 

16 (ii) in the case of a proposed project 

17 entirely on State, Tribal, or private land, 

18 the Administrator; 

19 (iii) in the case of a proposed project 

20 partially on land owned by the United 

21 States and partially on State, Tribal, or 

22 private land, the applicable Federal land 

23 management agency; and 

24 (iv) in the case of a proposed project 

25 on land owned by the United States that is 


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1 managed by more than 1 Federal land 

2 management agency, the Federal land man3 agement agency selected by the Adminis4 trator to be the lead agency, after consulta5 tion with the applicable Federal land man6 agement agencies. 

7 (C) COORDINATION.—To the maximum ex8 tent practicable, the lead agency described in 

9 subparagraph (B) shall coordinate procedures 

10 under the National Environmental Policy Act of 

11 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) with State, Tribal, 

12 and Federal cooperating agencies, as applicable. 

13 (D) COOPERATING AGENCY.—In the case of 

14 a proposed project on land owned by the United 

15 States, the Administrator shall be a cooperating 

16 agency for purposes of an environmental assess17 ment and public comment under this subsection. 

18 (E) SINGLE NEPA DOCUMENT.—The lead 

19 agency described in subparagraph (B) may con20 duct a single environmental assessment for— 

21 (i) the issuance of a Good Samaritan 

22 permit; 

23 (ii) any activities authorized by a 

24 Good Samaritan permit; and 


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1 (iii) any applicable permits required 

2 by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec3 retary of Agriculture. 

4 (F) NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan 

6 permit may only be issued if, after an envi7 ronmental assessment, the head of the lead 

8 agency issues a finding of no significant 

9 impact (as defined in section 111 of the Na10 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

11 (42 U.S.C. 4336e)). 

12 (ii) SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.—If the head 

13 of the lead agency is unable to issue a find14 ing of no significant impact (as so defined), 

15 the head of the lead agency shall not issue 

16 a Good Samaritan permit for the proposed 

17 project. 

18 (G) DECISION DOCUMENT.—An approval or 

19 denial of a Good Samaritan permit may be 

20 issued as a single decision document that is 

21 signed by— 

22 (i) the Administrator; and 

23 (ii) in the case of a project on land 

24 owned by the United States, the head of the 


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1 applicable Federal land management agen2 cy. 

3 (H) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this para4 graph exempts the Secretary of Agriculture or 

5 the Secretary of the Interior, as applicable, from 

6 any other requirements of section 102 of the Na7 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

8 U.S.C. 4332). 

9 (m) PERMIT GRANT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may grant 

11 a Good Samaritan permit to carry out a project for 

12 the remediation of an abandoned hardrock mine site 

13 only if— 

14 (A) the Administrator determines that— 

15 (i) the person seeking the permit is a 

16 Good Samaritan; 

17 (ii) the application described in sub18 section (c) is complete; 

19 (iii) the project is designed to reme20 diate historic mine residue at the aban21 doned hardrock mine site to protect human 

22 health and the environment; 

23 (iv) the proposed project is designed to 

24 meet all other goals, as determined by the 

25 Administrator, including any goals set forth 


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1 in the application for the Good Samaritan 

2 permit that are accepted by the Adminis3 trator; 

4 (v) the proposed activities, as com5 pared to the baseline conditions described in 

6 the permit, will make measurable progress 

7 toward achieving— 

8 (I) applicable water quality 

9 standards; 

10 (II) improved soil quality; 

11 (III) improved sediment quality; 

12 (IV) other improved environ13 mental or safety conditions; or 

14 (V) reductions in threats to soil, 

15 sediment, or water quality or other en16 vironmental or safety conditions; 

17 (vi) the applicant has— 

18 (I) demonstrated that the appli19 cant has the proper and appropriate 

20 experience and capacity to complete 

21 the permitted work; 

22 (II) demonstrated that the appli23 cant will complete the permitted work; 

24 (III) the financial and other re25 sources to address any contingencies 


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1 identified in the Good Samaritan per2 mit application described in sub3 sections (b) and (c); 

4 (IV) granted access and provided 

5 the authority to review the records of 

6 the applicant relevant to compliance 

7 with the requirements of the Good Sa8 maritan permit; and 

9 (V) demonstrated, to the satisfac10 tion of the Administrator, that— 

11 (aa) the applicant has, or 

12 has access to, the financial re13 sources to complete the project de14 scribed in the Good Samaritan 

15 permit application, including any 

16 long-term monitoring and oper17 ations and maintenance that the 

18 Administrator may require the 

19 applicant to perform in the Good 

20 Samaritan permit; or 

21 (bb) the applicant has estab22 lished a third-party financial as23 surance mechanism, such as a 

24 corporate guarantee from a parent 

25 or other corporate affiliate, letter 


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1 of credit, trust, surety bond, or in2 surance to assure that funds are 

3 available to complete the per4 mitted work, including for oper5 ations and maintenance and to 

6 address potential contingencies, 

7 that— 

8 (AA) establishes the Ad9 ministrator or the head of the 

10 Federal land management 

11 agency as the beneficiary of 

12 the third-party financial as13 surance mechanism; and 

14 (BB) allows the Admin15 istrator to retain and use the 

16 funds from the financial as17 surance mechanism in the 

18 event the Good Samaritan 

19 does not complete the remedi20 ation under the Good Samar21 itan permit; and 

22 (vii) the project meets the requirements 

23 of this Act; 

24 (B) the State or Indian tribe with jurisdic25 tion over land on which the abandoned hardrock 


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1 mine site is located has been given an oppor2 tunity to review and, if necessary, comment on 

3 the grant of the Good Samaritan permit; 

4 (C) in the case of a project proposed to be 

5 carried out under the Good Samaritan permit 

6 partially or entirely on land owned by the 

7 United States, pursuant to subsection (l), the 

8 head of the applicable Federal land management 

9 agency has signed a decision document approv10 ing the proposed project; and 

11 (D) the Administrator or head of the Fed12 eral land management agency, as applicable, has 

13 provided— 

14 (i) environmental review and public 

15 comment procedures required by subsection 

16 (l); and 

17 (ii) a public hearing under that sub18 section, if requested. 

19 (2) DEADLINE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

21 grant or deny a Good Samaritan permit by not 

22 later than— 

23 (i) the date that is 180 days after the 

24 date of receipt by the Administrator of an 

25 application for the Good Samaritan permit 


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1 that, as determined by the Administrator, is 

2 complete and meets all applicable require3 ments of subsection (c); or 

4 (ii) such later date as may be deter5 mined by the Administrator with notifica6 tion provided to the applicant. 

7 (B) CONSTRUCTIVE DENIAL.—If the Admin8 istrator fails to grant or deny a Good Samaritan 

9 permit by the applicable deadline described in 

10 subparagraph (A), the application shall be con11 sidered to be denied. 

12 (3) DISCRETIONARY ACTION.—The issuance of a 

13 permit by the Administrator and the approval of a 

14 project by the head of an applicable Federal land 

15 management agency shall be considered to be discre16 tionary actions taken in the public interest. 

17 (n) EFFECT OF PERMITS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan and any 

19 cooperating person undertaking remediation activities 

20 identified in, carried out pursuant to, and in compli21 ance with, a covered permit— 

22 (A) shall be considered to be in compliance 

23 with all requirements (including permitting re24 quirements) under the Federal Water Pollution 

25 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) (including 


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1 any law or regulation implemented by a State or 

2 Indian tribe under section 402 or 404 of that Act 

3 (33 U.S.C. 1342, 1344)) and the Comprehensive 

4 Environmental Response, Compensation, and Li5 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) dur6 ing the term of the covered permit, after the ter7 mination of the Good Samaritan permit, and 

8 after declining to convert an investigative sam9 pling permit into a Good Samaritan permit, as 

10 applicable; 

11 (B) shall not be required to obtain a permit 

12 under, or to comply with, section 301, 302, 306, 

13 307, 402, or 404 of the Federal Water Pollution 

14 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311, 1312, 1316, 1317, 

15 1342, 1344), or any State or Tribal standards or 

16 regulations approved by the Administrator under 

17 those sections of that Act, during the term of the 

18 covered permit, after the termination of the Good 

19 Samaritan permit, and after declining to con20 vert an investigative sampling permit into a 

21 Good Samaritan permit, as applicable; and 

22 (C) shall not be required to obtain any au23 thorizations, licenses, or permits that would oth24 erwise not need to be obtained if the remediation 

25 was conducted pursuant to section 121 of the 


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1 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com2 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

3 9621). 

4 (2) UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any person (including a 

6 Good Samaritan or any cooperating person) that 

7 carries out any activity, including activities re8 lating to mineral exploration, processing, 

9 beneficiation, or mining, including development, 

10 that is not authorized by the applicable covered 

11 permit shall be subject to all applicable law. 

12 (B) LIABILITY.—Any activity not author13 ized by a covered permit, as determined by the 

14 Administrator, may be subject to liability and 

15 enforcement under all applicable law, includ16 ing— 

17 (i) the Federal Water Pollution Control 

18 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and 

19 (ii) the Comprehensive Environmental 

20 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

21 of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 

22 (3) NO ENFORCEMENT OR LIABILITY FOR GOOD

23 SAMARITANS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graphs (D) and (E), a Good Samaritan or coVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 operating person that is conducting a remedi2 ation activity identified in, pursuant to, and in 

3 compliance with a covered permit shall not be 

4 subject to enforcement or liability described in 

5 subparagraph (B) for— 

6 (i) any actions undertaken that are 

7 authorized by the covered permit; or 

8 (ii) any past, present, or future re9 leases, threats of releases, or discharges of 

10 hazardous substances, pollutants, or con11 taminants at or from the abandoned 

12 hardrock mine site that is the subject of the 

13 covered permit (including any releases, 

14 threats of releases, or discharges that oc15 curred prior to the grant of the covered per16 mit). 

17 (B) ENFORCEMENT OR LIABILITY DE18 SCRIBED.—Enforcement or liability referred to 

19 in subparagraph (A) is enforcement, civil or 

20 criminal penalties, citizen suits and any liabil21 ities for response costs, natural resource damage, 

22 or contribution under— 

23 (i) the Federal Water Pollution Control 

24 Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) (including 

25 under any law or regulation administered 


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1 by a State or Indian tribe under that Act); 

2 or 

3 (ii) the Comprehensive Environmental 

4 Response, Compensation, and Liability Act 

5 of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.). 

6 (C) DURATION OF APPLICABILITY.—Sub7 paragraph (A) shall apply during the term of the 

8 covered permit, after the termination of the Good 

9 Samaritan permit, and after declining to con10 vert an investigative sampling permit into a 

11 Good Samaritan permit, as applicable. 

12 (D) OTHER PARTIES.—Nothing in subpara13 graph (A) limits the liability of any person that 

14 is not described in that subparagraph. 

15 (E) DECLINE IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONDI16 TIONS.—Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if a 

17 Good Samaritan or cooperating person fails to 

18 comply with any term, condition, or limitation 

19 of a covered permit and that failure results in 

20 surface water quality or other environmental 

21 conditions that the Administrator determines are 

22 measurably worse than the baseline conditions as 

23 described in the permit (in the case of a Good 

24 Samaritan permit) or the conditions as de25 scribed pursuant to subsection (d)(3)(B), if apVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 plicable (in the case of an investigative sampling 

2 permit), at the abandoned hardrock mine site, 

3 the Administrator shall— 

4 (i) notify the Good Samaritan or co5 operating person, as applicable, of the fail6 ure to comply; and 

7 (ii) require the Good Samaritan or the 

8 cooperating person, as applicable, to under9 take reasonable measures, as determined by 

10 the Administrator, to return surface water 

11 quality or other environmental conditions to 

12 those conditions. 

13 (F) FAILURE TO CORRECT.—Subparagraph 

14 (A) shall not apply to a Good Samaritan or co15 operating person that fails to take any actions 

16 required under subparagraph (E)(ii) within a 

17 reasonable period of time, as established by the 

18 Administrator. 

19 (G) MINOR OR CORRECTED PERMIT VIOLA20 TIONS.—For purposes of this paragraph, the fail21 ure to comply with a term, condition, or limita22 tion of a Good Samaritan permit or investiga23 tive sampling permit shall not be considered a 

24 permit violation or noncompliance with that 

25 permit if— 


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1 (i) that failure or noncompliance does 

2 not result in a measurable adverse impact, 

3 as determined by the Administrator, on 

4 water quality or other environmental condi5 tions; or 

6 (ii) the Good Samaritan or cooper7 ating person complies with subparagraph 

8 (E)(ii). 

9 (o) PUBLIC NOTIFICATION OF ADVERSE EVENT.—A 

10 Good Samaritan shall notify all appropriate Federal, 

11 State, Tribal, and local entities of any unplanned or pre12 viously unknown release of historic mine residue caused by 

13 the actions of the Good Samaritan or any cooperating per14 son in accordance with— 

15 (1) section 103 of the Comprehensive Environ16 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

17 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9603); 

18 (2) section 304 of the Emergency Planning and 

19 Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 

20 11004); 

21 (3) the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

22 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

23 (4) any other applicable provision of Federal 

24 law; and 


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1 (5) any other applicable provision of State, Trib2 al, or local law. 

3 (p) GRANT ELIGIBILITY.—A remediation project con4 ducted under a Good Samaritan permit shall be eligible for 

5 funding pursuant to— 

6 (1) section 319 of the Federal Water Pollution 

7 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1329), for activities that are 

8 eligible for funding under that section; and 

9 (2) section 104(k) of the Comprehensive Environ10 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

11 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9604(k)), subject to the condition 

12 that the recipient of the funding is otherwise eligible 

13 under that section to receive a grant to assess or re14 mediate contamination at the site covered by the 

15 Good Samaritan permit. 

16 (q) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY AND LIABILITY.— 

17 (1) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

18 section affects the authority of— 

19 (A) the Administrator to take any respon20 sive action authorized by law; or 

21 (B) a Federal, State, Tribal, or local agency 

22 to carry out any emergency authority, including 

23 an emergency authority provided under Federal, 

24 State, Tribal, or local law. 


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1 (2) LIABILITY.—Except as specifically provided 

2 in this Act, nothing in this Act, a Good Samaritan 

3 permit, or an investigative sampling permit limits 

4 the liability of any person (including a Good Samari5 tan or any cooperating person) under any provision 

6 of law. 

7 (r) TERMINATION OF GOOD SAMARITAN PERMIT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan permit 

9 shall terminate, as applicable— 

10 (A) on inspection and notice from the Ad11 ministrator to the recipient of the Good Samari12 tan permit that the permitted work has been 

13 completed in accordance with the terms of the 

14 Good Samaritan permit, as determined by the 

15 Administrator; 

16 (B) if the Administrator terminates a per17 mit under paragraph (4)(B); or 

18 (C) except as provided in paragraph (2)— 

19 (i) on the date that is 18 months after 

20 the date on which the Administrator grant21 ed the Good Samaritan permit, if the per22 mitted work has not commenced by that 

23 date; or 

24 (ii) if the grant of the Good Samaritan 

25 permit was the subject of a petition for juVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00114 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 dicial review, on the date that is 18 months 

2 after the date on which the judicial review, 

3 including any appeals, has concluded, if the 

4 permitted work has not commenced by that 

5 date. 

6 (2) EXTENSION.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator is 

8 otherwise required to terminate a Good Samari9 tan permit under paragraph (1)(C), the Admin10 istrator may grant an extension of the Good Sa11 maritan permit. 

12 (B) LIMITATION.—Any extension granted 

13 under subparagraph (A) shall be not more than 

14 180 days for each extension. 

15 (3) EFFECT OF TERMINATION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the ter17 mination of a Good Samaritan permit under 

18 paragraph (1), but subject to subparagraph (B), 

19 the provisions of paragraphs (1) through (4) of 

20 subsection (n) shall continue to apply to the 

21 Good Samaritan and any cooperating persons 

22 after the termination, including to any long-term 

23 operations and maintenance pursuant to the 

24 agreement under paragraph (5). 


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1 (B) DEGRADATION OF SURFACE WATER

2 QUALITY.— 

3 (i) OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO BASE4 LINE CONDITIONS.—If, at the time that 1 or 

5 more of the conditions described in para6 graph (1) are met but before the Good Sa7 maritan permit is terminated, actions by 

8 the Good Samaritan or cooperating person 

9 have caused surface water quality at the 

10 abandoned hardrock mine site to be measur11 ably worse, as determined by the Adminis12 trator, when compared to baseline condi13 tions described in the permit, the Adminis14 trator shall, before terminating the Good 

15 Samaritan permit, provide the Good Sa16 maritan or cooperating person, as applica17 ble, the opportunity to return surface water 

18 quality to those baseline conditions. 

19 (ii) EFFECT.—If, pursuant to clause 

20 (i), the applicable Good Samaritan or co21 operating person does not return the surface 

22 water quality at the abandoned hardrock 

23 mine site to the baseline conditions de24 scribed in the permit, as determined by the 

25 Administrator, subparagraph (A) shall not 


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1 apply to the Good Samaritan or any co2 operating persons. 

3 (4) UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a Good 

5 Samaritan permit may seek to modify or termi6 nate the Good Samaritan permit to take into ac7 count any event or condition that— 

8 (i) significantly reduces the feasibility 

9 or significantly increases the cost of com10 pleting the remediation project that is the 

11 subject of the Good Samaritan permit; 

12 (ii) was not— 

13 (I) reasonably contemplated by 

14 the recipient of the Good Samaritan 

15 permit; or 

16 (II) taken into account in the re17 mediation plan of the recipient of the 

18 Good Samaritan permit; and 

19 (iii) is beyond the control of the recipi20 ent of the Good Samaritan permit, as deter21 mined by the Administrator. 

22 (B) TERMINATION.—The Administrator 

23 shall terminate a Good Samaritan permit if— 


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1 (i) the recipient of the Good Samari2 tan permit seeks termination of the permit 

3 under subparagraph (A); 

4 (ii) the factors described in subpara5 graph (A) are satisfied; and 

6 (iii) the Administrator determines that 

7 remediation activities conducted by the 

8 Good Samaritan or cooperating person pur9 suant to the Good Samaritan permit may 

10 result in surface water quality conditions, 

11 or any other environmental conditions, that 

12 will be worse than the baseline conditions, 

13 as described in the Good Samaritan permit, 

14 as applicable. 

15 (5) LONG-TERM OPERATIONS AND MAINTE16 NANCE.—In the case of a project that involves long17 term operations and maintenance at an abandoned 

18 hardrock mine site located on land owned by the 

19 United States, the project may be considered complete 

20 and the Administrator, in coordination with the ap21 plicable Federal land management agency, may ter22 minate the Good Samaritan permit under this sub23 section if the applicable Good Samaritan has entered 

24 into an agreement with the applicable Federal land 

25 management agency or a cooperating person for the 


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1 long-term operations and maintenance that includes 

2 sufficient funding for the long-term operations and 

3 maintenance. 

4 (s) REGULATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), the 

6 Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary of 

7 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, and ap8 propriate State, Tribal, and local officials, may pro9 mulgate any regulations that the Administrator deter10 mines to be necessary to carry out this Act. 

11 (2) GUIDANCE IF NO REGULATIONS PROMUL12 GATED.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator 

14 does not initiate a regulatory process to promul15 gate regulations under paragraph (1) within 180 

16 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

17 Administrator, in consultation with the Sec18 retary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, 

19 and appropriate State, Tribal, and local offi20 cials, shall issue guidance establishing specific 

21 requirements that the Administrator determines 

22 would facilitate the implementation of this sec23 tion. 

24 (B) PUBLIC COMMENTS.—Before finalizing 

25 any guidance issued under subparagraph (A), 


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1 the Administrator shall hold a 30-day public 

2 comment period. 

3 SEC. 5. SPECIAL ACCOUNTS. 

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

5 Treasury of the United States a Good Samaritan Mine Re6 mediation Fund (referred to in this section as a ‘‘Fund’’) 

7 for— 

8 (1) each Federal land management agency that 

9 authorizes a Good Samaritan to conduct a project on 

10 Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Federal 

11 land management agency under a Good Samaritan 

12 permit; and 

13 (2) the Environmental Protection Agency. 

14 (b) DEPOSITS.—Each Fund shall consist of— 

15 (1) amounts provided in appropriation Acts; 

16 (2) any proceeds from reprocessing deposited 

17 under section 4(f)(4)(B)(iv); 

18 (3) any financial assurance funds collected from 

19 an agreement described in section 

20 4(m)(1)(A)(vi)(V)(bb); 

21 (4) any funds collected for long-term operations 

22 and maintenance under an agreement under section 

23 4(r)(5); 

24 (5) any interest earned under an investment 

25 under subsection (c); 


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1 (6) any proceeds from the sale or redemption of 

2 investments held in the Fund; and 

3 (7) any amounts donated to the Fund by any 

4 person. 

5 (c) UNUSED FUNDS.—Amounts in each Fund not cur6 rently needed to carry out this Act shall be— 

7 (1) maintained as readily available or on de8 posit; 

9 (2) invested in obligations of the United States 

10 or guaranteed by the United States; or 

11 (3) invested in obligations, participations, or 

12 other instruments that are lawful investments for a fi13 duciary, a trust, or public funds. 

14 (d) RETAIN AND USE AUTHORITY.—The Adminis15 trator and each head of a Federal land management agency, 

16 as appropriate, may, notwithstanding any other provision 

17 of law, retain and use money deposited in the applicable 

18 Fund without fiscal year limitation for the purpose of car19 rying out this Act. 

20 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 8 years after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con23 sultation with the heads of Federal land management agen24 cies, shall submit to the Committee on Environment and 

25 Public Works of the Senate and the Committees on TransVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00121 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 portation and Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce, and 

2 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report 

3 evaluating the Good Samaritan pilot program under this 

4 Act. 

5 (b) INCLUSIONS.—The report under subsection (a) 

6 shall include— 

7 (1) a description of— 

8 (A) the number, types, and objectives of 

9 Good Samaritan permits granted pursuant to 

10 this Act; and 

11 (B) each remediation project authorized by 

12 those Good Samaritan permits; 

13 (2) interim or final qualitative and quantitative 

14 data on the results achieved under the Good Samari15 tan permits before the date of issuance of the report; 

16 (3) a description of— 

17 (A) any problems encountered in admin18 istering this Act; and 

19 (B) whether the problems have been or can 

20 be remedied by administrative action (including 

21 amendments to existing law); 

22 (4) a description of progress made in achieving 

23 the purposes of this Act; and 

24 (5) recommendations on whether the Good Sa25 maritan pilot program under this Act should be conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:38 Jan 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00122 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2781.RS S2781

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1 tinued, including a description of any modifications 

2 (including amendments to existing law) required to 

3 continue administering this Act. 


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Calendar No. 312 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2781 

A BILL 

To promote remediation of abandoned hardrock 

mines, and for other purposes. 

JANUARY 25, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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