I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1266

To facilitate the reclamation of abandoned hardrock mines, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 10, 2005

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL

To facilitate the reclamation 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Facilitation 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Through various laws and policies, including 

9 the Act of May 10, 1872 (commonly known as the 

10 General Mining Law of 1872; 30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.), 
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1 the Federal Government has encouraged the develop2 ment of gold, silver, and other mineral resources, es3 pecially in the western States, and development of 

4 these resources has helped create a strong economy 

5 and provided needed materials for many critical 

6 products and services. 

7 (2) However, historically mining activities have 

8 occurred in recurrent cycles of ‘‘boom’’ followed by 

9 ‘‘bust’’, with many mines left inactive or abandoned 

10 at the end of each cycle. 

11 (3) As a result of this history, the United 

12 States has been left an unwelcome legacy of inactive 

13 or abandoned mines, including thousands of such 

14 mines in the western States. 

15 (4) Many of these inactive or abandoned mines 

16 pose safety hazards to the public, and the drainage 

17 and runoff from such mines has damaged thousands 

18 of stream miles to the detriment of water quality, 

19 particularly in several western States. 

20 (5) The environmental cleanup of these inactive 

21 or abandoned mines is hampered by the fact that in 

22 many cases, a responsible party for the mine site 

23 cannot be identified or lacks the economic resources 

24 to respond to the adverse environmental effects of a 

25 site, while other parties have been reluctant to un-
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1 dertake remedial actions because of the possibility 

2 that they would be considered to have assumed li3 ability with regard to the site. 

4 (6) It is in the national interest to facilitate the 

5 cleanup of inactive or abandoned mines through ap6 propriate legislation that reduces this obstacle. 

7 (c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili8 tate cleanup of inactive and abandoned mine sites by lim9 iting the potential liability of parties undertaking to carry 

10 out such cleanup. 

11 (d) SCOPE.—Nothing in this Act is intended to facili12 tate new mining activities or any reduction in liability as13 sociated with any current or new mining or processing ac14 tivities. 

15 SEC. 2. ABANDONED OR INACTIVE MINED LAND WASTE RE16 MEDIATION PERMITS. 

17 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

18 Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is amended by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(r) ABANDONED OR INACTIVE MINED LAND WASTE

21 REMEDIATION PERMITS.—

22 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the fol23 lowing definitions apply: 
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1 ‘‘(A) IDENTIFIABLE OWNER OR OPER2 ATOR.—The term ‘identifiable owner or oper3 ator’ means a person or entity—

4 ‘‘(i) that is the current owner or oper5 ator or that is or was responsible for the 

6 activities at abandoned or inactive mined 

7 land that created conditions that cause or 

8 contribute to the discharge of pollutants 

9 from the abandoned or inactive mined 

10 land; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) that is financially capable of 

12 compliance with requirements of this sec13 tion and sections 301 and 302. 

14 ‘‘(B) PERMIT.—The term ‘permit’ means 

15 an abandoned or inactive mined land waste re16 mediation permit described under paragraph 

17 (2). 

18 ‘‘(C) REMEDIATING PARTY.—The term ‘re19 mediating party’ means—

20 ‘‘(i) the United States, except with re21 spect to abandoned or inactive mined land 

22 located on Federal land; 

23 ‘‘(ii) a State or political subdivision 

24 thereof; or 

25 ‘‘(iii) an Indian tribe. 
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1 ‘‘(D) COOPERATING PARTY.—The term 

2 ‘cooperating party’ means any person or entity, 

3 including the Federal Government with respect 

4 to abandoned or inactive mined land located on 

5 non-Federal land, that implements the practices 

6 described in paragraph (3)(B)(viii). 

7 ‘‘(2) PERMITS.—

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

9 with the concurrence of the State in which an 

10 abandoned or inactive mine remediation project 

11 is proposed or the Indian tribe which owns or 

12 has jurisdiction over the land on which a reme13 diation project is proposed, may issue an aban14 doned or inactive mined land waste remediation 

15 permit to a remediating party for discharges as16 sociated with remediation activity at any eligible 

17 area under this subsection, that modifies the 

18 otherwise applicable requirements of any other 

19 subsection of this section and of sections 301 

20 and 302. 

21 ‘‘(B) DELEGATION.—The Administrator 

22 may delegate the authority for issuance of 

23 abandoned or inactive mined land waste rec24 lamation permits for discharges associated with 

25 remediation activities at any eligible area under 
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1 this subsection to a State that is exercising del2 egated authority under this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) PERMIT PROCESS.—

4 ‘‘(A) SCOPE.—A remediating party may 

5 apply for a permit for remediation activities at 

6 abandoned or inactive mined land from which 

7 there is or may be a discharge of pollutants to 

8 waters of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(B) REMEDIATION PLAN.—A remediating 

10 party that seeks a permit shall submit an appli11 cation for the permit that includes a remedi12 ation plan that—

13 ‘‘(i) identifies the remediating party 

14 and any cooperating party with respect to 

15 the plan; 

16 ‘‘(ii) identifies the abandoned or inac17 tive mined land addressed by the plan, in18 cluding a verification that the land is eligi19 ble under this Act; 

20 ‘‘(iii) identifies the waters of the 

21 United States affected by past mining ac22 tivities at the abandoned or inactive mined 

23 land; 

24 ‘‘(iv) describes the baseline condition 

25 of the waters at the time of the permit ap-
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1 plication (including the nature and extent 

2 of any adverse water quality impact and, 

3 as applicable, the levels of any pollutant 

4 causing the impact); 

5 ‘‘(v) describes the conditions at the 

6 abandoned or inactive mined land that are 

7 causing adverse water quality impacts; 

8 ‘‘(vi) describes the applicant’s reason9 able efforts to identify—

10 ‘‘(I) current owners, lessees, and 

11 claimants of the abandoned or inactive 

12 mined land addressed by the plan; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) other persons, including 

15 mine operators, if any, whose activi16 ties at the abandoned or inactive 

17 mined land after October 18, 1972, 

18 created conditions that cause or con19 tribute to the discharge of pollutants 

20 from the abandoned or inactive mined 

21 land; 

22 ‘‘(vii) describes the remediation goals 

23 and objectives, including the pollutant or 

24 pollutants to be addressed by the plan, in25 cluding actions taken to meet the applica-
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1 ble water quality standards to the max2 imum extent practicable, but in no cir3 cumstances worse than the baseline water 

4 condition as described pursuant to clause 

5 (iv); 

6 ‘‘(viii) describes the practices, includ7 ing a schedule and estimated completion 

8 date for implementing the practices, that 

9 are proposed to meet the applicable water 

10 quality standards to the maximum extent 

11 practicable, but in no circumstances worse 

12 than the baseline water quality as deter13 mined under clause (iv), including—

14 ‘‘(I) in the case of a new remedi15 ation project, the preliminary system 

16 design and construction, operation, 

17 and maintenance plans; and 

18 ‘‘(II) in the case of an existing 

19 remediation project, available system 

20 design and construction, operation, 

21 and maintenance plans and any 

22 planned improvements to the projects; 

23 ‘‘(ix) explains how the practices de24 scribed in clause (viii) are expected to re25 sult in the attainment of applicable water 
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1 quality standards to the maximum extent 

2 practicable, but in no circumstances worse 

3 than the baseline water quality as deter4 mined under clause (iv); 

5 ‘‘(x) describes the monitoring or other 

6 forms of assessment that will be under7 taken to evaluate the success of the prac8 tices during and after implementation, rel9 ative to baseline conditions; 

10 ‘‘(xi) describes contingency plans, in11 cluding the practices to be implemented to 

12 achieve the remediation goals and objec13 tives described in clause (vii), for respond14 ing to unplanned adverse events; 

15 ‘‘(xii) provides a schedule for periodic 

16 reporting on progress in implementing the 

17 plan; 

18 ‘‘(xiii) provides a budget for the plan 

19 and identifies the funding sources that will 

20 support the implementation of the plan, in21 cluding practices described in clauses (viii), 

22 (x), and (xi); 

23 ‘‘(xiv) describes the applicant’s legal 

24 authority to enter and conduct activities at 
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1 the abandoned or inactive mined land ad2 dressed by the plan; 

3 ‘‘(xv) demonstrates that there is a 

4 covenant obligating future landowners to 

5 operate and maintain the property so that 

6 all environmental benefits of the project 

7 authorized by the permit will be fully real8 ized; 

9 ‘‘(xvi) contains any other additional 

10 information requested by the Adminis11 trator to clarify the plan and the activities 

12 covered by the plan; and 

13 ‘‘(xvii) is signed by the applicant. 

14 ‘‘(C) REVIEW OF APPLICATION.—

15 ‘‘(i) The Administrator or the dele16 gated State shall—

17 ‘‘(I) review each application for 

18 an abandoned or inactive mined land 

19 waste remediation permit; 

20 ‘‘(II) provide to the public notice 

21 of and reasonable opportunity to com22 ment on the application; 

23 ‘‘(III) provide an opportunity for 

24 a public hearing on the application; 

25 and 
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1 ‘‘(IV) determine whether the ap2 plication meets the requirements of 

3 subparagraph (B). 

4 ‘‘(ii) If the Administrator or the dele5 gated State determines that an application 

6 does not meet the requirements of sub7 paragraph (B), the Administrator or the 

8 delegated State shall—

9 ‘‘(I) notify the applicant that the 

10 application is disapproved and explain 

11 the reasons for the disapproval; and 

12 ‘‘(II) allow the applicant to sub13 mit a revised application. 

14 ‘‘(iii) If the Administrator or the dele15 gated State determines that an application 

16 meets the requirements of subparagraph 

17 (B), the Administrator or the delegated 

18 State shall notify the applicant that the 

19 application is accepted. 

20 ‘‘(D) ISSUANCE.—

21 ‘‘(i) After notice and opportunity for 

22 public comment on a permit proposed to be 

23 issued, including any additional require24 ments that the Administrator or the dele25 gated State determines would facilitate im-
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1 plementation of this subsection, the Ad2 ministrator or the delegated State may 

3 issue an abandoned or inactive mined land 

4 waste remediation permit to the applicant 

5 if the Administrator or the delegated State 

6 determines that—

7 ‘‘(I) relative to the resources 

8 available to the remediating party for 

9 the proposed remediation activity, the 

10 remediating party has made a reason11 able effort to identify persons under 

12 subparagraph (B)(vi); 

13 ‘‘(II) no identifiable owner or op14 erator exists, except a permit can be 

15 issued on Federal land where the only 

16 identifiable owner or operator is the 

17 Federal Government; and 

18 ‘‘(III) the remediation plan dem19 onstrates with reasonable certainty 

20 that the implementation of the plan 

21 will meet applicable water quality 

22 standards to the maximum extent 

23 practicable, but in no circumstances 

24 worse than the baseline water condi25 tion as described pursuant to subpara-
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1 graph (B)(iv), taking into consider2 ation the resources available to the re3 mediating party for the proposed re4 mediation activity. 

5 ‘‘(ii) If the Administrator or the dele6 gated State decides not to issue an aban7 doned or inactive mined land waste remedi8 ation permit to the applicant, the Adminis9 trator shall notify the applicant of the rea10 sons for not issuing the permit. 

11 ‘‘(E) MODIFICATION.—

12 ‘‘(i) Not later than 120 days after the 

13 receipt of a written request by a permittee, 

14 the Administrator or the delegated State 

15 shall approve or disapprove a modification 

16 of a permit. 

17 ‘‘(ii) A permit modification approved 

18 by the Administrator or the delegated 

19 State under this subsection shall be—

20 ‘‘(I) by agreement of the per21 mittee and the Administrator or the 

22 delegated State; 

23 ‘‘(II) after providing the public 

24 notice of, and opportunity for com-
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1 ment and a hearing on, a proposed 

2 modification of a permit; 

3 ‘‘(III) in accordance with the 

4 standards in subparagraph 

5 (D)(i)(III); and 

6 ‘‘(IV) immediately reflected in 

7 and applicable to the remediation per8 mit. 

9 ‘‘(4) CONTENTS OF PERMIT.—

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A permit—

11 ‘‘(i) shall include a remediation plan 

12 approved by the Administrator or the dele13 gated State and any additional require14 ments that the Administrator or the dele15 gated State establishes under paragraph 

16 (9); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) shall provide for compliance with 

18 and implementation of the remediation 

19 plan and any other requirements described 

20 under clause (i). 

21 ‘‘(B) REVIEW.—A permit shall establish a 

22 schedule for review, by the Administrator or the 

23 delegated State, of compliance with the condi24 tions and limitations of the permit. The Admin25 istration or the delegated State shall inspect 
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1 each site subject to a remediation permit at 

2 least annually. 

3 ‘‘(C) COMPLIANCE WITH OTHER LIMITA4 TIONS.—A permit shall require the remediating 

5 party to comply with any applicable provisions 

6 of this subsection and other subsections of this 

7 section and with sections 301 or 302 to the 

8 maximum extent practicable in a manner speci9 fied in the permit. 

10 ‘‘(5) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—Failure of a reme11 diating party operating under an approved permit to 

12 comply with any condition or limit of the permit re13 lated to water quality shall be considered a violation 

14 subject to enforcement pursuant to sections 309 and 

15 505 of this Act. 

16 ‘‘(6) TERMINATION.—

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator or 

18 the delegated State shall terminate a permit 

19 if—

20 ‘‘(i) the remediating party successfully 

21 completes the implementation of the reme22 diation plan; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) the discharges covered by the 

24 permit—
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1 ‘‘(I) become subject to a permit 

2 issued under the other subsections of 

3 this section for development that is 

4 not part of the implementation of the 

5 remediation plan; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the remediating party seek7 ing termination of coverage, and any 

8 party cooperating with the remedi9 ating party with respect to the plan, 

10 is not a participant in the develop11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(B) UNFORESEEN CONDITION.—The Ad13 ministrator or the delegated State shall termi14 nate a permit if—

15 ‘‘(i) an event or condition is encoun16 tered that was not contemplated or de17 signed for by the remediation plan and is 

18 beyond the control of the remediating 

19 party; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the Administrator or the dele21 gated State determines that remediation 

22 activities under the permit have resulted in 

23 surface water quality conditions, taken as 

24 a whole and with reference to the des25 ignated uses of the waters, that are not 
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1 worse than the baseline water condition as 

2 described pursuant to paragraph 

3 (3)(B)(iv). 

4 ‘‘(C) NO ENFORCEMENT LIABILITY.—

5 ‘‘(i) Subject to clause (ii), if a permit 

6 is terminated under subparagraph (A) or 

7 (B), the remediating party, or a cooper8 ating party with respect to the plan, shall 

9 not be subject to enforcement under sec10 tion 309 or 505 for any remaining dis11 charges from the abandoned or inactive 

12 mined land described in the permit. 

13 ‘‘(ii) This subparagraph does not limit 

14 any liability of any person, other than the 

15 remediating party or a cooperating party. 

16 ‘‘(7) LIMITATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY POWERS.—Nothing in 

18 this subsection limits the authority of the Ad19 ministrator under section 504. 

20 ‘‘(B) PRIOR VIOLATIONS.—

21 ‘‘(i) Nothing in this subsection pre22 cludes actions under section 309 or 505 or 

23 affects the relief available in actions under 

24 those sections, with respect to violations of 

25 this section, or sections 301(a) or 302, 
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1 that occurred prior to the issuance of a 

2 permit under this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(ii) If a permit covers remediation 

4 activities implemented by the permit holder 

5 prior to the issuance of the permit, clause 

6 (i) shall not apply to an action that is 

7 based on conditions resulting from those 

8 remediation activities. 

9 ‘‘(C) OBLIGATION OF STATES AND INDIAN

10 TRIBES.—Except as expressly provided, nothing 

11 in this subsection limits any obligation of a 

12 State or Indian tribe under section 303. 

13 ‘‘(D) OTHER DEVELOPMENT.—Any devel14 opment of abandoned or inactive mined land 

15 (including mineral exploration, processing, 

16 beneficiation, or mining), including development 

17 by a remediating party or any cooperating 

18 party with respect to the plan, not specifically 

19 described in a permit issued by the Adminis20 trator or the delegated State under this sub21 section shall be subject to this Act (other than 

22 this subsection). The commingling of any other 

23 discharges or waters with the discharges or wa24 ters subject to the remediation permit cannot 
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1 limit or reduce the liability of persons associ2 ated with the other waters or discharges. 

3 ‘‘(E) RECOVERABLE VALUE.—A remedi4 ating party may sell or use materials recovered 

5 during the implementation of the plan, but the 

6 proceeds of any such sale must be used to de7 fray the costs of remediation of the site ad8 dressed in the permit or the costs of remedi9 ation of other abandoned or inactive sites used 

10 for mining hardrock minerals. 

11 ‘‘(F) STATE CERTIFICATION.—In so far as 

12 this subsection may relate to water quality 

13 standards, section 401 certification shall not 

14 apply to permits under this section; except that, 

15 in any case in which section 401 certification 

16 would otherwise be required, no permit shall be 

17 issued under this subsection without the con18 currence of the State in which the discharge is 

19 located. 

20 ‘‘(8) LIABILITY OF OTHER PARTIES.—Nothing 

21 in this subsection, including any result caused by 

22 any action taken by the remediating party or a co23 operating party, limits the liability of any person 

24 other than the remediating party or a cooperating 

25 party, under this Act or any other law. 
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1 ‘‘(9) REGULATIONS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

5 Administrator, in consultation with Secretary of 

6 the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

7 and State, tribal, and local officials and after 

8 providing the public with notice of, and oppor9 tunity for comment and a hearing on, regula10 tions proposed to be promulgated, shall promul11 gate regulations establishing generally applica12 ble requirements for—

13 ‘‘(i) remediation plans described in 

14 paragraph (3)(B); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) as considered to be necessary by 

16 the Administrator, other paragraphs of 

17 this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS BEFORE

19 PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Before pro20 mulgation of regulation pursuant to subpara21 graph (A), the Administrator may establish, on 

22 a case-by-case basis, after notice and oppor23 tunity for public comment, specific require24 ments that the Administrator determines would 

25 facilitate implementation of this subsection in 
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1 an individual permit issued to the remediating 

2 party. 

3 ‘‘(10) FUNDING.—

4 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY FOR SECTION 319

5 GRANTS.—Implementation of a remediation 

6 plan under a permit issued under this sub7 section shall be eligible for grants under section 

8 319(h). 

9 ‘‘(B) OTHER GRANT FOR IMPLEMENTA10 TION OF REMEDIATION PLANS.—Subject to the 

11 availability of appropriated funds, the Adminis12 trator also may make a grant, without regard 

13 to any requirements in section 319(h) con14 cerning the availability of State or other match15 ing funds, to any remediating party for imple16 mentation of a remediation plan under a permit 

17 issued under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(11) REPORT.—

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

20 before the date of the termination of permitting 

21 authority specified in paragraph (12), the Ad22 ministrator shall submit to Congress a report 

23 on the activities authorized by this subsection. 

24 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report required 

25 under subparagraph (A), at a minimum, shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) identify each permit, and associ2 ated remediating party, issued under this 

3 subsection; 

4 ‘‘(ii) identify the abandoned or inac5 tive mine land addressed by each permit 

6 (including the waterbodies and baseline 

7 water quality of the waterbodies affected 

8 by the land); 

9 ‘‘(iii) summarize the remediation plan 

10 associated with each permit issued under 

11 this subsection, including—

12 ‘‘(I) the goals and objectives of 

13 the plan; 

14 ‘‘(II) the plan budget; and 

15 ‘‘(III) the practices to be em16 ployed according to the plan to re17 duce, control, mitigate, or eliminate 

18 adverse water quality impacts; 

19 ‘‘(iv) identify the status of the 

20 implementation of each remediation 

21 plan associated with each permit 

22 issued under this subsection (includ23 ing specific progress that permitted 

24 remediation activities have made to-
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1 ward achieving the goals and objec2 tives of the remediation plan); 

3 ‘‘(v) identify and describe any en4 forcement action taken by the Admin5 istrator or any civil action brought by 

6 a citizen concerning a permit issued 

7 under this section (including the dis8 position of the legal action); and 

9 ‘‘(vi) include recommendations by 

10 the Administrator for any modifica11 tions to this subsection, or the regula12 tions promulgated under paragraph 

13 (9) to implement this subsection, that 

14 would facilitate the improvement of 

15 water quality through the remediation 

16 of abandoned or inactive mined land. 

17 ‘‘(12) TERMINATION OF PERMITTING AUTHOR18 ITY.—The authority granted to the Administrator or 

19 the delegated State under this subsection to issue an 

20 abandoned or inactive mined land waste remediation 

21 permit terminates on the date that is 10 years after 

22 the date of enactment of this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(13) ELIGIBLE AREAS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) SITES.—Permits under this sub2 section shall be issued only for reclamation of 

3 lands and waters—

4 ‘‘(i) located in States that include 

5 lands subject to the general mining laws; 

6 ‘‘(ii) that were but are no longer ac7 tively mined for hardrock minerals (and 

8 not in temporary shutdown) as of the date 

9 of enactment of this subsection; 

10 ‘‘(iii) that are not identified for reme11 dial action under the Comprehensive Envi12 ronmental Response, Compensation, and 

13 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et 

14 seq.) and for which there is no identifiable 

15 owner or operator for the mine or mine fa16 cilities; 

17 ‘‘(iv) that are not designated for re18 medial action pursuant to the Uranium 

19 Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 

20 1978 (42 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.); and 

21 ‘‘(v) for which no evidence exists that 

22 the lands contain minerals which could 

23 economically be extracted through the min24 ing, reprocessing, or remining of such 

25 lands. 
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1 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, 

2 the following definitions apply: 

3 ‘‘(i) The term ‘hardrock minerals’ 

4 means any mineral other than a mineral 

5 that would be subject to any of the fol6 lowing if located on land subject to the 

7 general mining laws: 

8 ‘‘(I) The Mineral Leasing Act 

9 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.). 

10 ‘‘(II) The Geothermal Steam Act 

11 of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 100 et seq.). 

12 ‘‘(III) The Act of July 31, 1947, 

13 commonly known as the Materials Act 

14 of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 

15 ‘‘(IV) The Mineral Leasing Act 

16 for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et 

17 seq.). 

18 ‘‘(ii) The term ‘general mining laws’ 

19 means those provisions of law that gen20 erally comprise chapters 2, 12A, and 16 

21 and sections 161 and 162 of title 30, 

22 United States Code.’’.

Æ