I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5370 

To provide for the conveyance of certain public land in and around historic 

mining townsites located in the State of Nevada, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2010 

Mr. HELLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the conveyance of certain public land in and 

around historic mining townsites located in the State 

of Nevada, 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 ‘‘Nevada Mining Town5 site Conveyance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISPOSAL OF PUBLIC LAND IN MINING TOWNSITES, 

7 ESMERALDA AND NYE COUNTIES, NEVADA. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Federal Government owns real property 

2 in and around historic mining townsites in the coun3 ties of Esmeralda and Nye in the State of Nevada; 

4 (2) while the real property described in para5 graph (1) is under the jurisdiction of the Secretary, 

6 some of the real property has been occupied for dec7 ades by individuals— 

8 (A) who took possession by purchase or 

9 other documented and putatively legal trans10 actions; and 

11 (B) the continued occupation by whom 

12 constitutes a trespass on the title held by the 

13 Federal Government; 

14 (3) as a result of the confused and conflicting 

15 ownership claims, the real property described in 

16 paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) is difficult to manage under multiple 

18 use policies; and 

19 (B) creates a continuing source of friction 

20 and unease between the Federal Government 

21 and local residents; 

22 (4)(A) all of the real property described in 

23 paragraph (1) is appropriate for disposal for the 

24 purpose of promoting administrative efficiency and 

25 effectiveness; and 


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1 (B) as of the date of enactment of this Act, the 

2 Bureau of Land Management has identified the min3 ing townsites for disposal; and 

4 (5) to promote the responsible resource man5 agement of the real property described in paragraph 

6 (1), certain parcels should be conveyed to the county 

7 in which the property is situated in accordance with 

8 land use management plans of the Bureau of Land 

9 Management so that the county may, in addition to 

10 other actions, dispose of the property to individuals 

11 residing on or otherwise occupying the real property. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

13 (1) CONVEYANCE MAPS.—The term ‘‘convey14 ance maps’’ means— 

15 (A) the map entitled ‘‘Original Mining 

16 Townsite Ione Nevada’’ and dated October 17, 

17 2005; and 

18 (B) the map entitled ‘‘Original Mining 

19 Townsite Gold Point’’ and dated October 17, 

20 2005. 

21 (2) MINING TOWNSITE.—The term ‘‘mining 

22 townsite’’ means real property— 

23 (A) located in the Gold Point and Ione 

24 townsites within the counties of Esmeralda and 


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1 Nye, Nevada, as depicted on the conveyance 

2 maps; 

3 (B) that is owned by the Federal Govern4 ment; and 

5 (C) on which improvements were con6 structed based on the belief that— 

7 (i) the property had been or would be 

8 acquired from the Federal Government by 

9 the entity that operated the mine; or 

10 (ii) the individual or entity that made 

11 the improvement had a valid claim for ac12 quiring the property from the Federal Gov13 ernment. 

14 (D) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

15 means the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

16 through the Bureau of Land Management. 

17 (c) MINING CLAIM VALIDITY REVIEW.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

20 shall carry out an expedited program to examine 

21 each unpatented mining claim (including each 

22 unpatented mining claim for which a patent applica23 tion has been filed) within each mining townsite. 

24 (2) DETERMINATION OF VALIDITY.—With re25 spect to a mining claim, if the Secretary determines 


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1 that the elements of a contest are present, the Sec2 retary shall immediately determine the validity of 

3 the mining claim. 

4 (3) DECLARATION BY SECRETARY.—If the Sec5 retary determines a mining claim to be invalid, as 

6 soon as practicable after the date of the determina7 tion, the Secretary shall declare the mining claim to 

8 be null and void. 

9 (4) TREATMENT OF VALID MINING CLAIMS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each mining claim that 

11 the Secretary determines to be valid shall be 

12 maintained in compliance with the general min13 ing laws and subsection (d)(2)(B). 

14 (B) EFFECT ON HOLDERS.—A holder of a 

15 mining claim described in subparagraph (A) 

16 shall not be entitled to a patent. 

17 (5) ABANDONMENT OF CLAIM.—The Secretary 

18 shall provide— 

19 (A) public notice that each mining claim 

20 holder may affirmatively abandon the claim of 

21 the mining claim holder prior to the validity re22 view; and 

23 (B) to each mining claim holder an oppor24 tunity to abandon the claim of the mining claim 


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1 holder before the date on which the land that 

2 is subject to the mining claim is conveyed. 

3 (d) CONVEYANCE AUTHORITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—After completing a validity 

5 review under subsection (c) and notwithstanding sec6 tions 202 and 203 of the Federal Land Policy and 

7 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712, 1713), 

8 the Secretary shall convey to the appropriate county, 

9 without consideration, all right, title, and interest of 

10 the United States in and to mining townsites (in11 cluding improvements on the mining townsites)— 

12 (A) identified for conveyance on the con13 veyance maps; and 

14 (B) that are not subject to valid mining 

15 claims. 

16 (2) VALID MINING CLAIMS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 

18 parcel of land located in a mining townsite sub19 ject to a valid mining claim, the Secretary shall 

20 reserve the mineral rights and otherwise convey, 

21 without consideration, the remaining right, title, 

22 and interest of the United States in and to the 

23 mining townsite (including improvements on the 

24 mining townsite) that is identified for convey25 ance on a conveyance map. 


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1 (B) PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 Each valid mining claim shall be subject to each 

3 procedure and requirement described in section 

4 9 of the Act of December 29, 1916 (43 U.S.C. 

5 299) (commonly known as the ‘‘Stockraising 

6 Homestead Act of 1916’’) (including regula7 tions). 

8 (3) AVAILABILITY OF CONVEYANCE MAPS.—The 

9 conveyance maps shall be on file and available for 

10 public inspection in the appropriate offices of the 

11 Bureau of Land Management. 

12 (e) RECIPIENTS.— 

13 (1) ORIGINAL RECIPIENT.—Subject to para14 graph (2), the conveyance of a mining townsite 

15 under subsection (d) shall be made to the county in 

16 which the mining townsite is situated. 

17 (2) RECONVEYANCE TO OCCUPANTS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a mining 

19 townsite conveyed under subsection (d) for 

20 which a valid interest is proven by 1 or more 

21 individuals, under the provisions of Nevada Re22 vised Statutes Chapter 244, the county that re23 ceives the mining townsite under paragraph (1) 

24 shall reconvey the property to the 1 or more inVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:12 May 25, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5370.IH H5370

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1 dividuals by appropriate deed or other legal 

2 conveyance as provided in that chapter. 

3 (B) AUTHORITY OF COUNTY.—A county 

4 described in subparagraph (A) is not required 

5 to recognize a claim under this paragraph that 

6 is submitted on a date that is later than 5 years 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 (f) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—The conveyance of a 

9 mining townsite under subsection (d) shall be subject to 

10 valid existing rights, including any easement or other 

11 right-of-way or lease in existence as of the date of the con12 veyance. 

13 (g) WITHDRAWALS.—Subject to valid rights in exist14 ence on the date of enactment of this Act, and except as 

15 otherwise provided in this Act, the mining townsites are 

16 withdrawn from— 

17 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 

18 under the public land laws; 

19 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 

20 laws; and 

21 (3) disposition under all laws pertaining to min22 eral and geothermal leasing or mineral materials. 

23 (h) SURVEY.—A mining townsite to be conveyed by 

24 the United States under subsection (d) shall be sufficiently 


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1 surveyed as a whole to legally describe the land for patent 

2 conveyance. 

3 (i) CONVEYANCE OF TERMINATED MINING

4 CLAIMS.—If a mining claim determined by the Secretary 

5 to be valid under subsection (c) is abandoned, invalidated, 

6 or otherwise returned to the Bureau of Land Manage7 ment, the mining claim shall be— 

8 (1) withdrawn in accordance with subsection 

9 (g); and 

10 (2) conveyed to the owner of the surface rights 

11 covered by the mining claim. 

12 (j) RELEASE.—On completion of the conveyance of 

13 a mining townsite under subsection (d), the United States 

14 shall be relieved from liability for, and shall be held harm15 less from, any and all claims arising from the presence 

16 of improvements and materials on the conveyed property. 

17 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such 

19 sums as are necessary to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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