IB 

Union Calendar No. 783 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5347 

[Report No. 115–1002] 

To facilitate resolution of environmental remediation and reclamation, resolve 

potential liability of the United States, and promote economic development in Lyon County, Nevada, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2018 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 20, 2018] 


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A BILL 

To facilitate resolution of environmental remediation and reclamation, resolve potential liability of the United States, 

and promote economic development in Lyon County, Nevada, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Lyon County Economic Development and Environmental 

6 Remediation Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this 

8 Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Conveyance of land; resolution of Federal liability. 

Sec. 5. General provisions relating to the conveyance. 

9 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this Act: 

11 (1) ATLANTIC RICHFIELD.—The term ‘‘Atlantic 

12 Richfield’’ means the Atlantic Richfield Company, a 

13 Delaware corporation, or its successors or assigns. 

14 (2) BLM.—The term ‘‘BLM’’ means the Bureau 

15 of Land Management. 

16 (3) CERCLA.—The term ‘‘CERCLA’’ means the 

17 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa18 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et 

19 seq.). 

20 (4) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means Lyon 

21 County, Nevada. 

22 (5) FEDERAL SELECTED LANDS.—The term 

23 ‘‘Federal selected lands’’ means the approximately 


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1 2,062 acres of land managed by the BLM, located in 

2 five distinct parcels in Lyon County, Nevada, and 

3 generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Anaconda 

4 Copper Mine Site—Federal Parcels Proposed to be 

5 Acquired’’ and dated September 7, 2017. 

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

7 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the In8 dian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

9 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

10 (7) MAP.—The term ‘‘Map’’ means the map enti11 tled ‘‘Anaconda Copper Mine Site—Federal Parcels 

12 Proposed to be Acquired’’ and dated September 7, 

13 2017. 

14 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 (9) SITE.—The term ‘‘Site’’ means the Anaconda 

17 Copper Mine Site located in Lyon County, Nevada. 

18 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

19 of Nevada. 

20 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

21 Congress finds that— 

22 (1) Atlantic Richfield is performing environ23 mental response actions under CERCLA at the Site 

24 with the State’s Division of Environmental Protection 

25 in the lead oversight role; 


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1 (2) to comprehensively and efficiently facilitate 

2 the environmental remediation and reclamation at 

3 the Site, Atlantic Richfield requires access to land 

4 that is owned by the Federal Government; 

5 (3) more than half of the acreage located within 

6 the Site’s boundaries is owned by the Federal Govern7 ment and managed by the BLM, and, therefore, at8 tempting to implement a CERCLA remedy on BLM9 managed lands requires extensive coordination and 

10 can involve substantial delays and increased costs; 

11 (4) because the historic releases and elements of 

12 the remedy do not follow existing property bound13 aries, reducing any inconsistent treatment based on 

14 land ownership will benefit cost management, effi15 ciency of operations and maintenance, and long-term 

16 protectiveness; 

17 (5) the United States may be designated as a po18 tentially responsible party under CERCLA and ac19 cordingly could be assigned a significant liability 

20 share for CERCLA response costs; 

21 (6) at the time of conveyance, the Federal se22 lected lands will be unburdened by mining claims; 

23 (7) the conveyance of the Federal selected lands 

24 will promote economic development within the County 


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1 by consolidating private land for future mining ac2 tivities; 

3 (8) the BLM has routinely conveyed lands to po4 tentially responsible parties to facilitate remedial ac5 tions; 

6 (9) a legislated land conveyance is necessary to 

7 meet the remediation goals of the Site, promote eco8 nomic development in the County, and for BLM and 

9 the United States to receive a covenant not to sue and 

10 indemnity for certain potential liabilities relating to 

11 the Site; 

12 (10) the Federal selected lands contain contami13 nation and hazardous waste, and therefore the fair 

14 market value of such lands is minimal; 

15 (11) the United States potential CERCLA liabil16 ity at the Site is substantially greater than the fair 

17 market value of the Federal selected lands; and 

18 (12) the BLM and Atlantic Richfield have con19 cluded that conveyance of the Federal selected lands to 

20 Atlantic Richfield in exchange for resolution of cer21 tain United States liabilities is reasonable, logical, 

22 advisable, and in the public interest. 


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1 SEC. 4. CONVEYANCE OF LAND; RESOLUTION OF FEDERAL 

2 LIABILITY. 

3 (a) FEDERAL SELECTED LANDS.—Notwithstanding 

4 section 120(h) of CERCLA (42 U.S.C. 9620(h)), not later 

5 than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 the Secretary shall convey all right, title, and interest (in7 cluding mineral rights) of the United States in and to the 

8 Federal selected lands to Atlantic Richfield. 

9 (b) COVENANT NOT TO SUE AND INDEMNITY.—Upon 

10 conveyance of the Federal selected lands under subsection 

11 (a), and for full and complete compensation for those lands, 

12 Atlantic Richfield shall— 

13 (1) covenant not to sue and agree not to assert 

14 any claims or causes of action against the BLM or 

15 its contractors or employees with respect to CERCLA 

16 response costs that Atlantic Richfield has incurred or 

17 will incur at or relating to the Site; and 

18 (2) indemnify the United States against future 

19 liabilities that result from Atlantic Richfield’s activi20 ties on the Federal selected lands after the conveyance. 

21 (c) EQUAL VALUE.—The value of the Federal selected 

22 lands is deemed to be equal to or less than the United States 

23 portion of the CERCLA response costs at the Site and no 

24 further valuation is required for the purposes of this Act 

25 or the conveyance of the Federal selected lands under this 

26 Act. 


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1 SEC. 5. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE CONVEY2 ANCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The conveyance authorized by this 

4 Act shall be subject to the following terms and conditions: 

5 (1) EXISTING ENCUMBRANCES.—In the United 

6 States patent to be issued pursuant to this Act, the 

7 Secretary shall describe any existing known encum8 brances in the patent. The terms of such encum9 brances shall be prescribed by the Secretary not later 

10 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act. 

12 (2) RIGHT OF RESCISSION.—This Act shall not 

13 be binding on either the United States or Atlantic 

14 Richfield if, not later than 45 days after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act, Atlantic Richfield submits 

16 to the Secretary a duly authorized and executed reso17 lution of the Company stating its intention not to 

18 enter into the conveyance authorized by this Act. 

19 (b) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, ef20 fective on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal 

21 selected lands are hereby withdrawn from all forms of ap22 propriation under the public land laws (including the min23 ing laws) and from disposition under all laws pertaining 

24 to mineral leasing. 

25 (c) PATENT.—The conveyance of the Federal selected 

26 lands under this Act shall be by United States patent acVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:33 Nov 02, 2018 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5347.RH H5347

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1 ceptable to the Secretary and in conformity with applicable 

2 title standards of the Attorney General. 

3 (d) TRIBAL RIGHTS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall initiate 

5 in government-to-government consultation with any Indian 

6 Tribe affected by the conveyance of the Federal selected 

7 lands regarding issues of concern to the affected Indian 

8 Tribe related to the land conveyance. Such consultation 

9 shall conclude within 90 days of its initiation. After the 

10 consultation under this subsection, the Secretary shall con11 sult with Atlantic Richfield and seek to find mutually ac12 ceptable measures to address any identified concerns of the 

13 affected Indian Tribe. 

14 (e) TRIBAL RIGHTS UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this 

15 Act alters or diminishes the treaty rights of any Indian 

16 Tribe. 

17 (f) STATE LAW UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this Act 

18 modifies, expands, diminishes, amends, or otherwise affects 

19 any State law relating to the imposition, application, tim20 ing, or collection of a State tax. 

21 (g) COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.—The land 

22 transfer directed by this Act, and all determinations, au23 thorizations, and actions taken by the Secretary pursuant 

24 to this Act, are deemed to be non-discretionary actions au25 thorized and directed by Congress, and to comply with all 


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1 applicable procedural and other requirements of the laws 

2 of the United States. 

3 (h) USE OF FEDERAL SELECTED LANDS.—Notwith4 standing the former ownership of the Federal selected lands 

5 by the United States, such land shall be treated as non6 Federal land after the conveyance of such lands to Atlantic 

7 Richfield. 

8 (i) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE.—After the convey9 ance, Atlantic Richfield shall perform all response actions 

10 determined by the State Division of Environmental Protec11 tion to be necessary to protect human health and the envi12 ronment with respect to any hazardous substance stored, re13 leased, or disposed of on the Federal selected lands. Response 

14 actions on the Federal selected lands shall be conducted in 

15 accordance with applicable Federal, State, and local laws 

16 pertaining to response, mining, and related activities on 

17 land in private ownership. 

18 (j) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be on file 

19 and available for public inspection in the appropriate of20 fices of the BLM. 


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Union Calendar No. 783 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5347 

[Report No. 115–1002] 

A BILL 

To facilitate resolution of environmental remediother purposes. velopment in Lyon County, Nevada, and for of the United States, and promote economic de- ation and reclamation, resolve potential liability 

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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