II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 590

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the percentage

depletion allowance for certain hardrock mines, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 11, 1999

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal

the percentage depletion allowance for certain 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Elimination of Double

5 Subsidies for the Hardrock Mining Industry Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF PERCENTAGE DEPLETION ALLOWANCE

7 FOR CERTAIN HARDROCK MINES.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 613(a) of the Internal

9 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to percentage depletion)

10 is amended by inserting ‘‘(other than hardrock mines lo-
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1 cated on lands subject to the general mining laws or on

2 land patented under the general mining laws)’’ after ‘‘In

3 the case of the mines’’.

4 (b) GENERAL MINING LAWS DEFINED.—Section 613

5 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add6 ing at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(f) GENERAL MINING LAWS.—For purposes of sub8 section (a), the term ‘general mining laws’ means those

9 Acts which generally comprise chapters 2, 12A, and 16,

10 and sections 161 and 162 of title 30 of the United States

11 Code.’’

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

14 December 31, 1998.

15 SEC. 3. ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION FUND.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter A of chapter 98 of the

17 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to establishment

18 of trust funds) is amended by adding at the end the follow19 ing:

20 ‘‘SEC. 9511. ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION FUND.

21 ‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab22 lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund

23 to be known as the ‘Abandoned Mine Reclamation Trust

24 Fund’ (in this section referred to as ‘Trust Fund’), con25 sisting of such amounts as may be appropriated or cred-
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1 ited to the Trust Fund as provided in this section or sec2 tion 9602(b).

3 ‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—There are here4 by appropriated to the Trust Fund amounts equivalent to

5 25 percent of the additional revenues received in the

6 Treasury by reason of the amendments made by section

7 2 of the Elimination of Double Subsidies for the Hardrock

8 Mining Industry Act of 1999.

9 ‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES FROM TRUST FUND.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Amounts in the Trust

11 Fund shall be available, as provided in appropriation

12 Acts, to the Secretary of the Interior for—

13 ‘‘(A) the reclamation and restoration of

14 lands and water resources described in para15 graph (2) adversely affected by mineral (other

16 than coal and fluid minerals) and mineral mate17 rial mining, including—

18 ‘‘(i) reclamation and restoration of

19 abandoned surface mine areas and aban20 doned milling and processing areas,

21 ‘‘(ii) sealing, filling, and grading

22 abandoned deep mine entries,

23 ‘‘(iii) planting on lands adversely af24 fected by mining to prevent erosion and

25 sedimentation,
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1 ‘‘(iv) prevention, abatement, treat2 ment, and control of water pollution cre3 ated by abandoned mine drainage, and

4 ‘‘(v) control of surface subsidence due

5 to abandoned deep mines, and

6 ‘‘(B) the expenses necessary to accomplish

7 the purposes of this section.

8 ‘‘(2) LANDS AND WATER RESOURCES.—

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The lands and water

10 resources described in this paragraph are lands

11 within States that have land and water re12 sources subject to the general mining laws or

13 lands patented under the general mining laws—

14 ‘‘(i) which were mined or processed

15 for minerals and mineral materials or

16 which were affected by such mining or

17 processing, and abandoned or left in an in18 adequate reclamation status before the

19 date of the enactment of this section,

20 ‘‘(ii) for which the Secretary of the

21 Interior makes a determination that there

22 is no continuing reclamation responsibility

23 under State or Federal law, and

24 ‘‘(iii) for which it can be established

25 to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the
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1 Interior that such lands or resources do

2 not contain minerals which could economi3 cally be extracted through remining of

4 such lands or resources.

5 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN SITES AND AREAS EX6 CLUDED.—The lands and water resources de7 scribed in this paragraph shall not include sites

8 and areas which are designated for remedial ac9 tion under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation

10 Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.)

11 or which are listed for remedial action under

12 the Comprehensive Environmental Response

13 Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (42

14 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.).

15 ‘‘(3) GENERAL MINING LAWS.—For purposes of

16 paragraph (2), the term ‘general mining laws’ means

17 those Acts which generally comprise chapters 2,

18 12A, and 16, and sections 161 and 162 of title 30

19 of the United States Code.’’

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec21 tions for subchapter A of chapter 98 of the Internal Reve22 nue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the

23 following:

‘‘Sec. 9511. Abandoned Mine Reclamation Trust Fund.’’

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