I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5060 

To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals on public domain 

lands, consistent with the principles of self-initiation of mining claims, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2014 

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. BORDALLO, 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 

Mr. LEVIN, Mr. MORAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. SLAUGHTER, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. QUIGLEY, and Mr. 

MCDERMOTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals 

on public domain lands, consistent with the principles 

of self-initiation of mining claims, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2014’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions and references. 

Sec. 3. Application rules. 

TITLE I—MINERAL EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 101. Limitation on patents. 

Sec. 102. Royalty. 

Sec. 103. Hardrock mining claim maintenance fee. 

Sec. 104. Effect of payments for use and occupancy of claims. 

TITLE II—PROTECTION OF SPECIAL PLACES 

Sec. 201. Lands open to location. 

Sec. 202. Withdrawal petitions by States, political subdivisions, and Indian 

tribes. 

TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS OF MINERAL 

EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 301. General standard for hardrock mining on Federal land. 

Sec. 302. Permits. 

Sec. 303. Exploration permit. 

Sec. 304. Operations permit. 

Sec. 305. Persons ineligible for permits. 

Sec. 306. Financial assurance. 

Sec. 307. Operation and reclamation. 

Sec. 308. State law and regulation. 

Sec. 309. Limitation on the issuance of permits. 

TITLE IV—MINING MITIGATION 

Subtitle A—Hardrock Minerals Fund 

Sec. 401. Definitions. 

Sec. 402. Establishment of Fund. 

Sec. 403. Contents of Fund. 

Sec. 404. Subaccounts. 

Sec. 405. Displaced material reclamation fee. 

Subtitle B—Use of Hardrock Reclamation Account 

Sec. 411. Use and objectives of the account. 

Sec. 412. Eligible lands and waters. 

Sec. 413. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle C—Use of Hardrock Community Impact Assistance Account 


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Sec. 421. Use and objectives of the account. 

Sec. 422. Allocation of funds. 

TITLE V—ADMINISTRATIVE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

Subtitle A—Administrative Provisions 

Sec. 501. Policy functions. 

Sec. 502. User fees. 

Sec. 503. Inspection and monitoring. 

Sec. 504. Citizens suits. 

Sec. 505. Administrative and judicial review. 

Sec. 506. Enforcement. 

Sec. 507. Regulations. 

Sec. 508. Effective date. 

Subtitle B—Miscellaneous Provisions 

Sec. 511. Oil shale claims. 

Sec. 512. Purchasing power adjustment. 

Sec. 513. Savings clause. 

Sec. 514. Availability of public records. 

Sec. 515. Miscellaneous powers. 

Sec. 516. Multiple mineral development and surface resources. 

Sec. 517. Mineral materials. 

TITLE VI—GOOD SAMARITAN CLEANUP OF ABANDONED 

HARDROCK MINES 

Sec. 601. Short title. 

Sec. 602. Findings; purposes. 

Sec. 603. Scope. 

Sec. 604. Good samaritan discharge permits. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—As used in this Act: 

3 (1) The term ‘‘affiliate’’ means with respect to 

4 any person, any of the following: 

5 (A) Any person who controls, is controlled 

6 by, or is under common control with such per7 son. 

8 (B) Any partner of such person. 

9 (C) Any person owning at least 10 percent 

10 of the voting shares of such person. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘applicant’’ means any person ap2 plying for a permit under this Act or a modification 

3 to or a renewal of a permit under this Act. 

4 (3) The term ‘‘beneficiation’’ means the crush5 ing and grinding of locatable mineral ore and such 

6 processes as are employed to free the mineral from 

7 other constituents, including but not necessarily lim8 ited to, physical and chemical separation techniques. 

9 (4) The term ‘‘casual use’’— 

10 (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

11 means mineral activities that do not ordinarily 

12 result in any disturbance of public lands and re13 sources; 

14 (B) includes collection of geochemical, 

15 rock, soil, or mineral specimens using 

16 handtools, hand panning, or nonmotorized sluic17 ing; and 

18 (C) does not include— 

19 (i) the use of mechanized earth-mov20 ing equipment, suction dredging, or explo21 sives; 

22 (ii) the use of motor vehicles in areas 

23 closed to off-road vehicles; 

24 (iii) the construction of roads or drill 

25 pads; and 


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1 (iv) the use of toxic or hazardous ma2 terials. 

3 (5) The term ‘‘claim holder’’ means a person 

4 holding a mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel site 

5 claim located under the general mining laws and 

6 maintained in compliance with such laws and this 

7 Act. Such term may include an agent of a claim 

8 holder. 

9 (6) The term ‘‘control’’ means having the abil10 ity, directly or indirectly, to determine (without re11 gard to whether exercised through one or more cor12 porate structures) the manner in which an entity 

13 conducts mineral activities, through any means, in14 cluding without limitation, ownership interest, au15 thority to commit the entity’s real or financial as16 sets, position as a director, officer, or partner of the 

17 entity, or contractual arrangement. 

18 (7) The term ‘‘exploration’’— 

19 (A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

20 means creating surface disturbance other than 

21 casual use, to evaluate the type, extent, quan22 tity, or quality of minerals present; 

23 (B) includes mineral activities associated 

24 with sampling, drilling, and analyzing locatable 

25 mineral values; and 


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1 (C) does not include extraction of mineral 

2 material for commercial use or sale. 

3 (8) The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means any land, 

4 and any interest in land, that is owned by the 

5 United States and open to location of mining claims 

6 under the general mining laws and title II of this 

7 Act. 

8 (9) The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ means lands held 

9 in trust for the benefit of an Indian tribe or indi10 vidual or held by an Indian tribe or individual sub11 ject to a restriction by the United States against 

12 alienation. 

13 (10) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian 

14 tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized group 

15 or community, including any Alaska Native village 

16 or regional corporation as defined in or established 

17 pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement 

18 Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), that is recognized as 

19 eligible for the special programs and services pro20 vided by the United States to Indians because of 

21 their status as Indians. 

22 (11) The term ‘‘locatable mineral’’— 

23 (A) subject to subparagraph (B), means 

24 any mineral, the legal and beneficial title to 


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1 which remains in the United States and that is 

2 not subject to disposition under any of— 

3 (i) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

4 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); 

5 (ii) the Geothermal Steam Act of 

6 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 

7 (iii) the Act of July 31, 1947, com8 monly known as the Materials Act of 1947 

9 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or 

10 (iv) the Mineral Leasing for Acquired 

11 Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); and 

12 (B) does not include any mineral that is 

13 subject to a restriction against alienation im14 posed by the United States and is— 

15 (i) held in trust by the United States 

16 for any Indian or Indian tribe, as defined 

17 in section 2 of the Indian Mineral Develop18 ment Act of 1982 (25 U.S.C. 2101); or 

19 (ii) owned by any Indian or Indian 

20 tribe, as defined in that section. 

21 (12) The term ‘‘mineral activities’’ means any 

22 activity on a mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel 

23 site claim for, related to, or incidental to, mineral 

24 exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, or rec25 lamation activities for any locatable mineral. 


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1 (13) The term ‘‘National Conservation System 

2 unit’’ means any unit of the National Park System, 

3 National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and 

4 Scenic Rivers System, or National Trails System, or 

5 a National Conservation Area, a National Recreation 

6 Area, a National Monument, or any unit of the Na7 tional Wilderness Preservation System. 

8 (14) The term ‘‘operator’’ means any person 

9 proposing or authorized by a permit issued under 

10 this Act to conduct mineral activities and any agent 

11 of such person. 

12 (15) The term ‘‘person’’ means an individual, 

13 Indian tribe, partnership, association, society, joint 

14 venture, joint stock company, firm, company, cor15 poration, cooperative, or other organization and any 

16 instrumentality of State or local government includ17 ing any publicly owned utility or publicly owned cor18 poration of State or local government. 

19 (16) The term ‘‘processing’’ means processes 

20 downstream of beneficiation employed to prepare 

21 locatable mineral ore into the final marketable prod22 uct, including but not limited to smelting and elec23 trolytic refining. 

24 (17) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

25 of the Interior, unless otherwise specified. 


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1 (18) The term ‘‘temporary cessation’’ means a 

2 halt in mine-related production activities for a con3 tinuous period of no longer than 5 years. 

4 (19) The term ‘‘undue degradation’’ means ir5 reparable harm to significant scientific, cultural, or 

6 environmental resources on public lands that cannot 

7 be effectively mitigated. 

8 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—As used in this Act, 

9 the term ‘‘valid existing rights’’ means a mining claim or 

10 millsite claim located on lands described in section 201(b), 

11 that— 

12 (1) was properly located and maintained under 

13 the general mining laws prior to the date of enact14 ment of this Act; 

15 (2) was supported by a discovery of a valuable 

16 mineral deposit within the meaning of the general 

17 mining laws on the date of enactment of this Act, 

18 or satisfied the limitations under existing law for 

19 millsite claims; and 

20 (3) continues to be valid under this Act. 

21 (c) REFERENCES TO OTHER LAWS.—(1) Any ref22 erence in this Act to the term general mining laws is a 

23 reference to those Acts that generally comprise chapters 

24 2, 12A, and 16, and sections 161 and 162, of title 30, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (2) Any reference in this Act to the Act of July 23, 

2 1955, is a reference to the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to amend 

3 the Act of July 31, 1947 (61 Stat. 681) and the mining 

4 laws to provide for multiple use of the surface of the same 

5 tracts of the public lands, and for other purposes’’ (30 

6 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 

7 (d) REFERENCES TO THIS ACT.—Except as other8 wise expressly provided, any reference to ‘‘this Act’’ con9 tained in this section, section 3, or titles I through V shall 

10 be treated as referring only to the provisions of this sec11 tion, section 3, and titles I through V. 

12 SEC. 3. APPLICATION RULES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act applies to any mining 

14 claim, millsite claim, or tunnel site claim located under 

15 the general mining laws, before, on, or after the date of 

16 enactment of this Act, except as provided in subsection 

17 (b). 

18 (b) PREEXISTING CLAIMS.—(1) Any unpatented min19 ing claim or millsite claim located under the general min20 ing laws before the date of enactment of this Act for which 

21 a plan of operation has not been approved or a notice filed 

22 prior to the date of enactment shall, upon the effective 

23 date of this Act, be subject to the requirements of this 

24 Act, except as provided in paragraph (2). 


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1 (2)(A) If a plan of operations is approved for mineral 

2 activities on any claim or site referred to in paragraph 

3 (1) prior to the date of enactment of this Act but such 

4 operations have not commenced prior to the date of enact5 ment of this Act— 

6 (i) during the 10-year period beginning on the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, mineral activities at 

8 such claim or site shall be subject to such plan of 

9 operations; 

10 (ii) during such 10-year period, modifications of 

11 any such plan may be made in accordance with the 

12 provisions of law applicable prior to the enactment 

13 of this Act if such modifications are deemed minor 

14 by the Secretary concerned; and 

15 (iii) the operator shall bring such mineral ac16 tivities into compliance with this Act by the end of 

17 such 10-year period. 

18 (B) Where an application for modification of a plan 

19 of operations referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) has been 

20 timely submitted and an approved plan expires prior to 

21 Secretarial action on the application, mineral activities 

22 and reclamation may continue in accordance with the 

23 terms of the expired plan until the Secretary makes an 

24 administrative decision on the application. 


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1 (c) FEDERAL LANDS SUBJECT TO EXISTING PER2 MIT.—(1) Any Federal land shall be subject to the require3 ments of section 102(a)(2) if the land is— 

4 (A) subject to an operations permit; and 

5 (B) producing valuable locatable minerals in 

6 commercial quantities prior to the date of enactment 

7 of this Act. 

8 (2) Any Federal land added through a plan modifica9 tion to an operations permit on Federal land that is sub10 mitted after the date of enactment of this Act shall be 

11 subject to the terms of section 102(a)(3). 

12 (d) APPLICATION OF ACT TO BENEFICIATION AND

13 PROCESSING OF NON-FEDERAL MINERALS ON FEDERAL

14 LANDS.—The provisions of this Act (including the envi15 ronmental protection requirements of title III) shall apply 

16 in the same manner and to the same extent to mining 

17 claims, millsite claims, and tunnel site claims used for 

18 beneficiation or processing activities for any mineral with19 out regard to whether or not the legal and beneficial title 

20 to the mineral is held by the United States. This sub21 section applies only to minerals that are locatable minerals 

22 or minerals that would be locatable minerals if the legal 

23 and beneficial title to such minerals were held by the 

24 United States. 


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1 TITLE I—MINERAL EXPLO2 RATION AND DEVELOPMENT 

3 SEC. 101. LIMITATION ON PATENTS. 

4 (a) MINING CLAIMS.— 

5 (1) DETERMINATIONS REQUIRED.—After the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, no patent shall be 

7 issued by the United States for any mining claim lo8 cated under the general mining laws unless the Sec9 retary determines that, for the claim concerned— 

10 (A) a patent application was filed with the 

11 Secretary on or before September 30, 1994; 

12 and 

13 (B) all requirements established under sec14 tions 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes 

15 (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or lode claims 

16 and sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of 

17 the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and 

18 37) for placer claims were fully complied with 

19 by that date. 

20 (2) RIGHT TO PATENT.—If the Secretary makes 

21 the determinations referred to in subparagraphs (A) 

22 and (B) of paragraph (1) for any mining claim, the 

23 holder of the claim shall be entitled to the issuance 

24 of a patent in the same manner and degree to which 

25 such claim holder would have been entitled to prior 


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1 to the enactment of this Act, unless and until such 

2 determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the 

3 Secretary or by a court of the United States. 

4 (b) MILLSITE CLAIMS.— 

5 (1) DETERMINATIONS REQUIRED.—After the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, no patent shall be 

7 issued by the United States for any millsite claim lo8 cated under the general mining laws unless the Sec9 retary determines that for the millsite concerned— 

10 (A) a patent application for such land was 

11 filed with the Secretary on or before September 

12 30, 1994; and 

13 (B) all requirements applicable to such 

14 patent application were fully complied with by 

15 that date. 

16 (2) RIGHT TO PATENT.—If the Secretary makes 

17 the determinations referred to in subparagraphs (A) 

18 and (B) of paragraph (1) for any millsite claim, the 

19 holder of the claim shall be entitled to the issuance 

20 of a patent in the same manner and degree to which 

21 such claim holder would have been entitled to prior 

22 to the enactment of this Act, unless and until such 

23 determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the 

24 Secretary or by a court of the United States. 


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1 SEC. 102. ROYALTY. 

2 (a) RESERVATION OF ROYALTY.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para4 graph (2) and subject to paragraph (3), production 

5 of all locatable minerals from any mining claim lo6 cated under the general mining laws and maintained 

7 in compliance with this Act, or mineral concentrates 

8 or products derived from locatable minerals from 

9 any such mining claim, as the case may be, shall be 

10 subject to a royalty of 8 percent of the gross income 

11 from mining. The claim holder or any operator to 

12 whom the claim holder has assigned the obligation 

13 to make royalty payments under the claim and any 

14 person who controls such claim holder or operator 

15 shall be liable for payment of such royalties. 

16 (2) ROYALTY FOR FEDERAL LANDS SUBJECT

17 TO EXISTING PERMIT.—The royalty under para18 graph (1) shall be 4 percent in the case of any Fed19 eral land that— 

20 (A) is subject to an operations permit on 

21 the date of the enactment of this Act; and 

22 (B) produces valuable locatable minerals in 

23 commercial quantities on the date of enactment 

24 of this Act. 

25 (3) FEDERAL LAND ADDED TO EXISTING OPER26 ATIONS PERMIT.—Any Federal land added through 


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1 a plan modification to an operations permit that is 

2 submitted after the date of enactment of this Act 

3 shall be subject to the royalty that applies to Fed4 eral land under paragraph (1). 

5 (4) DEPOSIT.—Amounts received by the United 

6 States as royalties under this subsection shall be de7 posited into the account established under section 

8 401. 

9 (5) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Any royalty under this 

11 subsection shall not apply for a person for any 

12 tax year for which the person certifies to the 

13 Secretary in writing that the person and all re14 lated parties with respect to such person, in the 

15 aggregate, had annual gross income from min16 eral production in an amount less than 

17 $100,000. 

18 (B) AGGREGATION OF INCOME.—The dol19 lar amount in subparagraph (A) shall be ap20 plied, for a person, to the aggregate of all an21 nual gross income from mineral production 

22 under all mining claims held by or assigned to 

23 such person or any related parties with respect 

24 to such person, including mining claims located 


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1 or for which a patent was issued before the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act. 

3 (C) RELATED PARTIES DEFINED.—For the 

4 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘related 

5 parties’’ means, with respect to a person— 

6 (i) the spouse and all dependents (as 

7 defined in section 152 of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 152)) of the 

9 person; or 

10 (ii) another person who is affiliated 

11 with the person, including— 

12 (I) another person controlled by, 

13 controlling, or under common control 

14 with the person; and 

15 (II) a subsidiary or parent com16 pany or corporation of the person. 

17 (b) DUTIES OF CLAIM HOLDERS, OPERATORS, AND

18 TRANSPORTERS.—(1) A person— 

19 (A) who is required to make any royalty pay20 ment under this section shall make such payments 

21 to the United States at such times and in such man22 ner as the Secretary may by rule prescribe; and 

23 (B) shall notify the Secretary, in the time and 

24 manner as may be specified by the Secretary, of any 

25 assignment that such person may have made of the 


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1 obligation to make any royalty or other payment 

2 under a mining claim. 

3 (2) Any person paying royalties under this section 

4 shall file a written instrument, together with the first roy5 alty payment, affirming that such person is responsible for 

6 making proper payments for all amounts due for all time 

7 periods for which such person has a payment responsi8 bility. Such responsibility for the periods referred to in the 

9 preceding sentence shall include any and all additional 

10 amounts billed by the Secretary and determined to be due 

11 by final agency or judicial action. Any person liable for 

12 royalty payments under this section who assigns any pay13 ment obligation shall remain jointly and severally liable 

14 for all royalty payments due for the claim for the period. 

15 (3) A person conducting mineral activities shall— 

16 (A) develop and comply with the site security 

17 provisions in the operations permit designed to pro18 tect from theft the locatable minerals, concentrates 

19 or products derived therefrom which are produced or 

20 stored on a mining claim, and such provisions shall 

21 conform with such minimum standards as the Sec22 retary may prescribe by rule, taking into account the 

23 variety of circumstances on mining claims; and 

24 (B) not later than the 5th business day after 

25 production begins anywhere on a mining claim, or 


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1 production resumes after more than 90 days after 

2 production was suspended, notify the Secretary, in 

3 the manner prescribed by the Secretary, of the date 

4 on which such production has begun or resumed. 

5 (4) The Secretary may by rule require any person en6 gaged in transporting a locatable mineral, concentrate, or 

7 product derived therefrom to carry on his or her person, 

8 in his or her vehicle, or in his or her immediate control, 

9 documentation showing, at a minimum, the amount, ori10 gin, and intended destination of the locatable mineral, con11 centrate, or product derived therefrom in such cir12 cumstances as the Secretary determines is appropriate. 

13 (c) RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING REQUIRE14 MENTS.—(1) A claim holder, operator, or other person di15 rectly involved in developing, producing, processing, trans16 porting, purchasing, or selling locatable minerals, con17 centrates, or products derived therefrom, subject to this 

18 Act, through the point of royalty computation shall estab19 lish and maintain any records, make any reports, and pro20 vide any information that the Secretary may reasonably 

21 require for the purposes of implementing this section or 

22 determining compliance with rules or orders under this 

23 section. Such records shall include, but not be limited to, 

24 periodic reports, records, documents, and other data. Such 

25 reports may also include, but not be limited to, pertinent 


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1 technical and financial data relating to the quantity, qual2 ity, composition volume, weight, and assay of all minerals 

3 extracted from the mining claim. Upon the request of any 

4 officer or employee duly designated by the Secretary con5 ducting an audit or investigation pursuant to this section, 

6 the appropriate records, reports, or information that may 

7 be required by this section shall be made available for in8 spection and duplication by such officer or employee. Fail9 ure by a claim holder, operator, or other person referred 

10 to in the first sentence to cooperate with such an audit, 

11 provide data required by the Secretary, or grant access 

12 to information may, at the discretion of the Secretary, re13 sult in involuntary forfeiture of the claim. 

14 (2) Records required by the Secretary under this sec15 tion shall be maintained for 7 years after release of finan16 cial assurance under section 306 unless the Secretary noti17 fies the operator that the Secretary has initiated an audit 

18 or investigation involving such records and that such 

19 records must be maintained for a longer period. In any 

20 case when an audit or investigation is underway, records 

21 shall be maintained until the Secretary releases the oper22 ator of the obligation to maintain such records. 

23 (d) AUDITS.—The Secretary is authorized to conduct 

24 such audits of all claim holders, operators, transporters, 

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1 rectly involved in the production or sales of minerals cov2 ered by this Act, as the Secretary deems necessary for the 

3 purposes of ensuring compliance with the requirements of 

4 this section. For purposes of performing such audits, the 

5 Secretary shall, at reasonable times and upon request, 

6 have access to, and may copy, all books, papers and other 

7 documents that relate to compliance with any provision 

8 of this section by any person. 

9 (e) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—(1) The Secretary 

10 is authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with the 

11 Secretary of Agriculture to share information concerning 

12 the royalty management of locatable minerals, con13 centrates, or products derived therefrom, to carry out in14 spection, auditing, investigation, or enforcement (not in15 cluding the collection of royalties, civil or criminal pen16 alties, or other payments) activities under this section in 

17 cooperation with the Secretary, and to carry out any other 

18 activity described in this section. 

19 (2) Except as provided in paragraph (3)(A) of this 

20 subsection (relating to trade secrets), and pursuant to a 

21 cooperative agreement, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, 

22 upon request, have access to all royalty accounting infor23 mation in the possession of the Secretary respecting the 

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1 centrates, or products derived therefrom from claims on 

2 lands open to location under this Act. 

3 (3) Trade secrets, proprietary, and other confidential 

4 information protected from disclosure under section 552 

5 of title 5, United States Code, popularly known as the 

6 Freedom of Information Act, shall be made available by 

7 the Secretary to other Federal agencies as necessary to 

8 assure compliance with this Act and other Federal laws. 

9 The Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Adminis10 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and other 

11 Federal officials shall ensure that such information is pro12 vided protection in accordance with the requirements of 

13 that section. 

14 (f) INTEREST AND SUBSTANTIAL UNDERREPORTING

15 ASSESSMENTS.—(1) In the case of mining claims where 

16 royalty payments are not received by the Secretary on the 

17 date that such payments are due, the Secretary shall 

18 charge interest on such underpayments at the same inter19 est rate as the rate applicable under section 6621(a)(2) 

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. In the case of an 

21 underpayment, interest shall be computed and charged 

22 only on the amount of the deficiency and not on the total 

23 amount. 

24 (2) If there is any underreporting of royalty owed on 

25 production from a claim for any production month by any 


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1 person liable for royalty payments under this section, the 

2 Secretary shall assess a penalty of not greater than 25 

3 percent of the amount of that underreporting. 

4 (3) For the purposes of this subsection, the term 

5 ‘‘underreporting’’ means the difference between the roy6 alty on the value of the production that should have been 

7 reported and the royalty on the value of the production 

8 which was reported, if the value that should have been 

9 reported is greater than the value that was reported. 

10 (4) The Secretary may waive or reduce the assess11 ment provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection if the 

12 person liable for royalty payments under this section cor13 rects the underreporting before the date such person re14 ceives notice from the Secretary that an underreporting 

15 may have occurred, or before 90 days after the date of 

16 the enactment of this section, whichever is later. 

17 (5) The Secretary shall waive any portion of an as18 sessment under paragraph (2) of this subsection attrib19 utable to that portion of the underreporting for which the 

20 person responsible for paying the royalty demonstrates 

21 that— 

22 (A) such person had written authorization from 

23 the Secretary to report royalty on the value of the 

24 production on the basis on which it was reported; 


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1 (B) such person had substantial authority for 

2 reporting royalty on the value of the production on 

3 the basis on which it was reported; 

4 (C) such person previously had notified the Sec5 retary, in such manner as the Secretary may by rule 

6 prescribe, of relevant reasons or facts affecting the 

7 royalty treatment of specific production which led to 

8 the underreporting; or 

9 (D) such person meets any other exception 

10 which the Secretary may, by rule, establish. 

11 (6) All penalties collected under this subsection shall 

12 be deposited in the Locatable Minerals Fund established 

13 under title IV. 

14 (g) DELEGATION.—For the purposes of this section, 

15 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior 

16 acting through the Director of the Minerals Management 

17 Service. 

18 (h) EXPANDED ROYALTY OBLIGATIONS.—Each per19 son liable for royalty payments under this section shall 

20 be jointly and severally liable for royalty on all locatable 

21 minerals, concentrates, or products derived therefrom lost 

22 or wasted from a mining claim located under the general 

23 mining laws and maintained in compliance with this Act 

24 when such loss or waste is due to negligence on the part 


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1 of any person or due to the failure to comply with any 

2 rule, regulation, or order issued under this section. 

3 (i) GROSS INCOME FROM MINING DEFINED.—For 

4 the purposes of this section, for any locatable mineral, the 

5 term ‘‘gross income from mining’’ has the same meaning 

6 as the term ‘‘gross income’’ in section 613(c) of the Inter7 nal Revenue Code of 1986. 

8 (j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The royalty under this sec9 tion shall take effect with respect to the production of 

10 locatable minerals after the enactment of this Act, but any 

11 royalty payments attributable to production during the 

12 first 12 calendar months after the enactment of this Act 

13 shall be payable at the expiration of such 12-month period. 

14 (k) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ROYALTY REQUIRE15 MENTS.—Any person who fails to comply with the require16 ments of this section or any regulation or order issued to 

17 implement this section shall be liable for a civil penalty 

18 under section 109 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty 

19 Management Act (30 U.S.C. 1719) to the same extent as 

20 if the claim located under the general mining laws and 

21 maintained in compliance with this Act were a lease under 

22 that Act. 

23 SEC. 103. HARDROCK MINING CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE. 

24 (a) FEE.— 


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1 (1) Except as provided in section 2511(e)(2) of 

2 the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (relating to oil shale 

3 claims), for each unpatented mining claim, mill or 

4 tunnel site on federally owned lands, whether located 

5 before, on, or after enactment of this Act, each 

6 claimant shall pay to the Secretary, on or before Au7 gust 31 of each year, a claim maintenance fee of 

8 $200 per claim to hold such unpatented mining 

9 claim, mill or tunnel site for the assessment year be10 ginning at noon on the next day, September 1. Such 

11 claim maintenance fee shall be in lieu of the assess12 ment work requirement contained in the Mining Law 

13 of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 28 et seq.) and the related filing 

14 requirements contained in section 314 (a) and (c) of 

15 the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

16 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c)). 

17 (2)(A) The claim maintenance fee required 

18 under this subsection shall be waived for a claimant 

19 who certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the 

20 date the payment was due, the claimant and all re21 lated parties— 

22 (i) held not more than 10 mining claims, 

23 mill sites, or tunnel sites, or any combination 

24 thereof, on public lands; and 


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1 (ii) have performed assessment work re2 quired under the Mining Law of 1872 (30 

3 U.S.C. 28 et seq.) to maintain the mining 

4 claims held by the claimant and such related 

5 parties for the assessment year ending on noon 

6 of September 1 of the calendar year in which 

7 payment of the claim maintenance fee was due. 

8 (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), with re9 spect to any claimant, the term ‘‘all related parties’’ 

10 means— 

11 (i) the spouse and dependent children (as 

12 defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue 

13 Code of 1986), of the claimant; or 

14 (ii) a person affiliated with the claimant, 

15 including— 

16 (I) a person controlled by, controlling, 

17 or under common control with the claim18 ant; or 

19 (II) a subsidiary or parent company 

20 or corporation of the claimant. 

21 (3)(A) The Secretary shall adjust the fees re22 quired by this subsection to reflect changes in the 

23 Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of 

24 Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor every 

25 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, or 


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1 more frequently if the Secretary determines an ad2 justment to be reasonable. 

3 (B) The Secretary shall provide claimants no4 tice of any adjustment made under this paragraph 

5 not later than July 1 of any year in which the ad6 justment is made. 

7 (C) A fee adjustment under this paragraph 

8 shall begin to apply the calendar year following the 

9 calendar year in which it is made. 

10 (4) Moneys received under this subsection that 

11 are not otherwise allocated for the administration of 

12 the mining laws by the Department of the Interior 

13 shall be deposited in the Locatable Minerals Fund 

14 established by this Act. 

15 (b) LOCATION.— 

16 (1) Notwithstanding any provision of law, for 

17 every unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site 

18 located after the date of enactment of this Act and 

19 before September 30, 1998, the locator shall, at the 

20 time the location notice is recorded with the Bureau 

21 of Land Management, pay to the Secretary a loca22 tion fee, in addition to the fee required by subsection 

23 (a) of $50 per claim. 

24 (2) Moneys received under this subsection that 

25 are not otherwise allocated for the administration of 


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1 the mining laws by the Department of the Interior 

2 shall be deposited in the Locatable Minerals Fund 

3 established by this Act. 

4 (c) CO-OWNERSHIP.—The co-ownership provisions of 

5 the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 28 et seq.) will remain 

6 in effect except that the annual claim maintenance fee, 

7 where applicable, shall replace applicable assessment re8 quirements and expenditures. 

9 (d) FAILURE TO PAY.—Failure to pay the claim 

10 maintenance fee as required by subsection (a) shall conclu11 sively constitute a forfeiture of the unpatented mining 

12 claim, mill or tunnel site by the claimant and the claim 

13 shall be deemed null and void by operation of law. 

14 (e) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 (1) Nothing in this section shall change or mod16 ify the requirements of section 314(b) of the Federal 

17 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

18 U.S.C. 1744(b)), or the requirements of section 

19 314(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management 

20 Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(c)) related to filings 

21 required by section 314(b), which remain in effect. 

22 (2) Section 2324 of the Revised Statutes of the 

23 United States (30 U.S.C. 28) is amended by insert24 ing ‘‘or section 103(a) of the Hardrock Mining and 

25 Reclamation Act of 2014’’ after ‘‘Act of 1993’’. 


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1 SEC. 104. EFFECT OF PAYMENTS FOR USE AND OCCUPANCY 

2 OF CLAIMS. 

3 Timely payment of the claim maintenance fee re4 quired by section 103 of this Act or any related law relat5 ing to the use of Federal land, asserts the claimant’s au6 thority to use and occupy the Federal land concerned for 

7 prospecting and exploration, consistent with the require8 ments of this Act and other applicable law. 

9 TITLE II—PROTECTION OF 

10 SPECIAL PLACES 

11 SEC. 201. LANDS OPEN TO LOCATION. 

12 (a) LANDS OPEN TO LOCATION.—Except as provided 

13 in subsection (b), mining claims may be located under the 

14 general mining laws only on such lands and interests as 

15 were open to the location of mining claims under the gen16 eral mining laws immediately before the enactment of this 

17 Act. 

18 (b) LANDS NOT OPEN TO LOCATION.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of law and subject to valid 

20 existing rights, each of the following shall not be open to 

21 the location of mining claims under the general mining 

22 laws on or after the date of enactment of this Act: 

23 (1) Wilderness study areas. 

24 (2) Areas of critical environmental concern. 

25 (3) Areas designated for inclusion in the Na26 tional Wild and Scenic Rivers System pursuant to 


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1 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et 

2 seq.), areas designated for potential addition to such 

3 system pursuant to section 5(a) of that Act (16 

4 U.S.C. 1276(a)), and areas determined to be eligible 

5 for inclusion in such system pursuant to section 5(d) 

6 of such Act (16 U.S.C. 1276(d)). 

7 (4) Any area identified in the set of inventoried 

8 roadless areas maps contained in the Forest Service 

9 Roadless Area Conservation Final Environmental 

10 Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated November 2000. 

11 (c) EXISTING AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED.—Noth12 ing in this Act limits the authority granted the Secretary 

13 in section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage14 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714) to withdraw public 

15 lands. 

16 SEC. 202. WITHDRAWAL PETITIONS BY STATES, POLITICAL 

17 SUBDIVISIONS, AND INDIAN TRIBES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

19 any State or political subdivision of a State or an Indian 

20 tribe may submit a petition to the Secretary for the with21 drawal of a specific tract of Federal land from the oper22 ation of the general mining laws, in order to protect spe23 cific values identified in the petition that are important 

24 to the State or political subdivision or Indian tribe. Such 

25 values may include the value of a watershed to supply 


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1 drinking water, wildlife habitat value, cultural or historic 

2 resources, or value for scenic vistas important to the local 

3 economy, and other similar values. In the case of an In4 dian tribe, the petition may also identify religious or cul5 tural values that are important to the Indian tribe. The 

6 petition shall contain the information required by section 

7 204 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 

8 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1714). 

9 (b) CONSIDERATION OF PETITION.—The Secretary— 

10 (1) shall solicit public comment on the petition; 

11 (2) shall make a final decision on the petition 

12 within 180 days after receiving it; and 

13 (3) shall grant the petition subject to valid ex14 isting rights, unless the Secretary makes and pub15 lishes in the Federal Register specific findings why 

16 a decision to grant the petition would be against the 

17 national interest. 

18 TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL 

19 CONSIDERATIONS OF MIN20 ERAL EXPLORATION AND DE21 VELOPMENT 

22 SEC. 301. GENERAL STANDARD FOR HARDROCK MINING ON 

23 FEDERAL LAND. 

24 Notwithstanding section 302(b) of the Federal Land 

25 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1732(b)), 


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1 the first section of the Act of June 4, 1897 (chapter 2; 

2 30 Stat. 36; 16 U.S.C. 478), and the National Forest 

3 Management Act of 1976 (16 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.), and 

4 in accordance with this title and applicable law, unless ex5 pressly stated otherwise in this Act, the Secretary— 

6 (1) shall ensure that mineral activities on any 

7 Federal land that is subject to a mining claim, mill8 site claim, or tunnel site claim is carefully controlled 

9 to prevent undue degradation of public lands and re10 sources; and 

11 (2) shall not grant permission to engage in min12 eral activities if the Secretary, after considering the 

13 evidence, makes and publishes in the Federal Reg14 ister a determination that undue degradation would 

15 result from such activities. 

16 SEC. 302. PERMITS. 

17 (a) PERMITS REQUIRED.—No person may engage in 

18 mineral activities on Federal land that may cause a dis19 turbance of surface resources, including but not limited 

20 to land, air, ground water and surface water, and fish and 

21 wildlife, unless— 

22 (1) the claim was properly located under the 

23 general mining laws and maintained in compliance 

24 with such laws and this Act; and 


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1 (2) a permit was issued to such person under 

2 this title authorizing such activities. 

3 (b) NEGLIGIBLE DISTURBANCE.—Notwithstanding 

4 subsection (a)(2), a permit under this title shall not be 

5 required for mineral activities that are a casual use of the 

6 Federal land. 

7 (c) COORDINATION WITH NEPA PROCESS.—To the 

8 extent practicable, the Secretary and the Secretary of Ag9 riculture shall conduct the permit processes under this Act 

10 in coordination with the timing and other requirements 

11 under section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 

12 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

13 SEC. 303. EXPLORATION PERMIT. 

14 (a) AUTHORIZED EXPLORATION ACTIVITY.—Any 

15 claim holder may apply for an exploration permit for any 

16 mining claim authorizing the claim holder to remove a rea17 sonable amount of the locatable minerals from the claim 

18 for analysis, study and testing. Such permit shall not au19 thorize the claim holder to remove any mineral for sale 

20 nor to conduct any activities other than those required for 

21 exploration for locatable minerals and reclamation. 

22 (b) PERMIT APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An ap23 plication for an exploration permit under this section shall 

24 be submitted in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary 

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1 riculture, and shall contain an exploration plan, a reclama2 tion plan for the proposed exploration, and such docu3 mentation as necessary to ensure compliance with applica4 ble Federal and State environmental laws and regulations. 

5 (c) RECLAMATION PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The rec6 lamation plan required to be included in a permit applica7 tion under subsection (b) shall include such provisions as 

8 may be jointly prescribed by the Secretary and the Sec9 retary of Agriculture. 

10 (d) PERMIT ISSUANCE OR DENIAL.—The Secretary, 

11 or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary of Ag12 riculture, shall issue an exploration permit pursuant to an 

13 application under this section unless such Secretary makes 

14 any of the following determinations: 

15 (1) The permit application, the exploration plan 

16 and reclamation plan are not complete and accurate. 

17 (2) The applicant has not demonstrated that 

18 proposed reclamation can be accomplished. 

19 (3) The proposed exploration activities and con20 dition of the land after the completion of exploration 

21 activities and final reclamation would not conform 

22 with the land use plan applicable to the area subject 

23 to mineral activities. 


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1 (4) The area subject to the proposed permit is 

2 included within an area not open to location under 

3 section 201. 

4 (5) The applicant has not demonstrated that 

5 the exploration plan and reclamation plan will be in 

6 compliance with the requirements of this Act and all 

7 other applicable Federal requirements, and any 

8 State requirements agreed to by the Secretary of the 

9 Interior (or Secretary of Agriculture, as appro10 priate). 

11 (6) The applicant has not demonstrated that 

12 the requirements of section 306 (relating to financial 

13 assurance) will be met. 

14 (7) The applicant is eligible to receive a permit 

15 under section 305. 

16 (e) TERM OF PERMIT.—An exploration permit shall 

17 be for a stated term. The term shall be no greater than 

18 that necessary to accomplish the proposed exploration, 

19 and in no case for more than 10 years. 

20 (f) PERMIT MODIFICATION.—During the term of an 

21 exploration permit the permit holder may submit an appli22 cation to modify the permit. To approve a proposed modi23 fication to the permit, the Secretary concerned shall make 

24 the same determinations as are required in the case of 

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1 retary of Agriculture may specify by joint rule the extent 

2 to which requirements for initial exploration permits under 

3 this section shall apply to applications to modify an explo4 ration permit based on whether such modifications are 

5 deemed significant or minor. 

6 (g) TRANSFER, ASSIGNMENT, OR SALE OF

7 RIGHTS.—(1) No transfer, assignment, or sale of rights 

8 granted by a permit issued under this section shall be 

9 made without the prior written approval of the Secretary, 

10 or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary of Ag11 riculture. 

12 (2) Such Secretary shall allow a person holding a per13 mit to transfer, assign, or sell rights under the permit to 

14 a successor, if the Secretary finds, in writing, that the suc15 cessor— 

16 (A) is eligible to receive a permit in accordance 

17 with section 304(d); 

18 (B) has submitted evidence of financial assur19 ance satisfactory under section 306; and 

20 (C) meets any other requirements specified by 

21 the Secretary. 

22 (3) The successor in interest shall assume the liability 

23 and reclamation responsibilities established by the existing 

24 permit and shall conduct the mineral activities in full com25 pliance with this Act, and the terms and conditions of the 


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1 permit as in effect at the time of transfer, assignment, 

2 or sale. 

3 (4) Each application for approval of a permit trans4 fer, assignment, or sale pursuant to this subsection shall 

5 be accompanied by a fee payable to the Secretary of the 

6 Interior in such amount as may be established by such 

7 Secretary. Such amount shall be equal to the actual or 

8 anticipated cost to the Secretary or the Secretary of Agri9 culture, as appropriate, of reviewing and approving or dis10 approving such transfer, assignment, or sale, as deter11 mined by the Secretary of the Interior. 

12 SEC. 304. OPERATIONS PERMIT. 

13 (a) OPERATIONS PERMIT.—(1) Any claim holder that 

14 is in compliance with the general mining laws and section 

15 103 of this Act may apply to the Secretary, or for National 

16 Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, for an 

17 operations permit authorizing the claim holder to carry 

18 out mineral activities, other than casual use, on— 

19 (A) any valid mining claim, valid millsite claim, 

20 or valid tunnel site claim; and 

21 (B) such additional Federal land as the Sec22 retary may determine is necessary to conduct the 

23 proposed mineral activities, if the operator obtains a 

24 right-of-way permit for use of such additional lands 

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1 agement Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1761 et seq.) and 

2 agrees to pay all fees required under that title for 

3 the permit under that title. 

4 (2) If the Secretary decides to issue such permit, the 

5 permit shall include such terms and conditions as pre6 scribed by such Secretary to carry out this title. 

7 (b) PERMIT APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An ap8 plication for an operations permit under this section shall 

9 be submitted in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary 

10 concerned and shall contain site characterization data, an 

11 operations plan, a reclamation plan, monitoring plans, 

12 long-term maintenance plans, to the extent necessary, and 

13 such documentation as necessary to ensure compliance 

14 with applicable Federal and State environmental laws and 

15 regulations. If the proposed mineral activities will be car16 ried out in conjunction with mineral activities on adjacent 

17 non-Federal lands, information on the location and nature 

18 of such operations may be required by the Secretary. 

19 (c) PERMIT ISSUANCE OR DENIAL.—(1) After pro20 viding for public participation pursuant to subsection (i), 

21 the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands, the 

22 Secretary of Agriculture, shall issue an operations permit 

23 if such Secretary makes each of the following determina24 tions in writing, and shall deny a permit if such Secretary 


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1 finds that the application and applicant do not fully meet 

2 the following requirements: 

3 (A) The permit application, including the site 

4 characterization data, operations plan, and reclama5 tion plan, are complete and accurate and sufficient 

6 for developing a good understanding of the antici7 pated impacts of the mineral activities and the effec8 tiveness of proposed mitigation and control. 

9 (B) The applicant has demonstrated that the 

10 proposed reclamation in the operation and reclama11 tion plan can be and is likely to be accomplished by 

12 the applicant and will not cause undue degradation. 

13 (C) The condition of the land, including the fish 

14 and wildlife resources and habitat contained thereon, 

15 after the completion of mineral activities and final 

16 reclamation, will conform to the land use plan appli17 cable to the area subject to mineral activities and 

18 are returned to a productive use. 

19 (D) The area subject to the proposed plan is 

20 open to location for the types of mineral activities 

21 proposed. 

22 (E) The proposed operation has been designed 

23 to prevent material damage to the hydrologic bal24 ance outside the permit area. 


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1 (F) The applicant will fully comply with the re2 quirements of section 306 (relating to financial as3 surance) prior to the initiation of operations. 

4 (G) Neither the applicant nor operator, nor any 

5 subsidiary, affiliate, or person controlled by or under 

6 common control with the applicant or operator, is in7 eligible to receive a permit under section 305. 

8 (H) The reclamation plan demonstrates that 10 

9 years following mine closure, no treatment of surface 

10 or ground water for carcinogens or toxins will be re11 quired to meet water quality standards at the point 

12 of discharge. 

13 (2) With respect to any activities specified in the rec14 lamation plan referred to in subsection (b) that constitutes 

15 a removal or remedial action under section 101 of the 

16 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 

17 and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), the 

18 Secretary shall consult with the Administrator of the En19 vironmental Protection Agency prior to the issuance of an 

20 operations permit. The Administrator shall ensure that 

21 the reclamation plan does not require activities that would 

22 increase the costs or likelihood of removal or remedial ac23 tions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

24 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 


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1 et seq.) or corrective actions under the Solid Waste Dis2 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.). 

3 (d) TERM OF PERMIT; RENEWAL.— 

4 (1) An operations permit— 

5 (A) shall be for a term that is no longer 

6 than the shorter of— 

7 (i) the period necessary to accomplish 

8 the proposed mineral activities subject to 

9 the permit; and 

10 (ii) 20 years; and 

11 (B) shall be renewed for an additional 20- 

12 year period if the operation is in compliance 

13 with the requirements of this Act and other ap14 plicable law. 

15 (2) Failure by the operator to commence min16 eral activities within 2 years of the date scheduled 

17 in an operations permit shall require a modification 

18 of the permit if the Secretary concerned determines 

19 that modifications are necessary to comply with sec20 tion 201. 

21 (e) PERMIT MODIFICATION.— 

22 (1) During the term of an operations permit 

23 the operator may submit an application to modify 

24 the permit (including the operations plan or rec25 lamation plan, or both). 


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1 (2) The Secretary, or for National Forest Sys2 tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, may, at any 

3 time, require reasonable modification to any oper4 ations plan or reclamation plan upon a determina5 tion that the requirements of this Act cannot be met 

6 if the plan is followed as approved. Such determina7 tion shall be based on a written finding and subject 

8 to public notice and hearing requirements estab9 lished by the Secretary concerned. 

10 (3) A permit modification is required before 

11 changes are made to the approved plan of oper12 ations, or if unanticipated events or conditions exist 

13 on the mine site, including in the case of— 

14 (A) development of acid or toxic drainage; 

15 (B) loss of springs or water supplies; 

16 (C) water quantity, water quality, or other 

17 resulting water impacts that are significantly 

18 different than those predicted in the applica19 tion; 

20 (D) the need for long-term water treat21 ment; 

22 (E) significant reclamation difficulties or 

23 reclamation failure; 


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1 (F) the discovery of significant scientific, 

2 cultural, or biological resources that were not 

3 addressed in the original plan; or 

4 (G) the discovery of hazards to public safe5 ty. 

6 (f) TEMPORARY CESSATION OF OPERATIONS.—(1) 

7 An operator conducting mineral activities under an oper8 ations permit in effect under this title may not temporarily 

9 cease mineral activities for a period greater than 180 days 

10 unless the Secretary concerned has approved such tem11 porary cessation or unless the temporary cessation is per12 mitted under the original permit. Any operator tempo13 rarily ceasing mineral activities for a period greater than 

14 90 days under an operations permit issued before the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act shall submit, before the expi16 ration of such 90-day period, a complete application for 

17 temporary cessation of operations to the Secretary con18 cerned for approval unless the temporary cessation is per19 mitted under the original permit. 

20 (2) An application for approval of temporary ces21 sation of operations shall include such information re22 quired under subsection (b) and any other provisions pre23 scribed by the Secretary concerned to minimize impacts 

24 on the environment. After receipt of a complete applica25 tion for temporary cessation of operations such Secretary 


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1 shall conduct an inspection of the area for which tem2 porary cessation of operations has been requested. 

3 (3) To approve an application for temporary ces4 sation of operations, the Secretary concerned shall make 

5 each of the following determinations: 

6 (A) A determination that the methods for se7 curing surface facilities and restricting access to the 

8 permit area, or relevant portions thereof, will effec9 tively ensure against hazards to the health and safe10 ty of the public and fish and wildlife. 

11 (B) A determination that reclamation is in com12 pliance with the approved reclamation plan, except 

13 in those areas specifically designated in the applica14 tion for temporary cessation of operations for which 

15 a delay in meeting such standards is necessary to fa16 cilitate the resumption of operations. 

17 (C) A determination that the amount of finan18 cial assurance filed with the permit application is 

19 sufficient to assure completion of the reclamation ac20 tivities identified in the approved reclamation plan in 

21 the event of forfeiture. 

22 (D) A determination that any outstanding no23 tices of violation and cessation orders incurred in 

24 connection with the plan for which temporary ces25 sation is being requested are either stayed pursuant 


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1 to an administrative or judicial appeal proceeding or 

2 are in the process of being abated to the satisfaction 

3 of the Secretary concerned. 

4 (g) PERMIT REVIEWS.—The Secretary, or for Na5 tional Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

6 shall review each permit issued under this section every 

7 10 years during the term of such permit, shall provide 

8 public notice of the permit review, and, based upon a writ9 ten finding, such Secretary shall require the operator to 

10 take such actions as the Secretary deems necessary to as11 sure that mineral activities conform to the permit, includ12 ing adjustment of financial assurance requirements. 

13 (h) TRANSFER, ASSIGNMENT, OR SALE OF

14 RIGHTS.—(1) No transfer, assignment, or sale of rights 

15 granted by a permit under this section shall be made with16 out the prior written approval of the Secretary, or for Na17 tional Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (2) The Secretary, or for National Forest System 

19 lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, may allow a person 

20 holding a permit to transfer, assign, or sell rights under 

21 the permit to a successor, if such Secretary finds, in writ22 ing, that the successor— 

23 (A) has submitted information required and is 

24 eligible to receive a permit in accordance with sec25 tion 305; 


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1 (B) has submitted evidence of financial assur2 ance satisfactory under section 306; and 

3 (C) meets any other requirements specified by 

4 such Secretary. 

5 (3) The successor in interest shall assume the liability 

6 and reclamation responsibilities established by the existing 

7 permit and shall conduct the mineral activities in full com8 pliance with this Act, and the terms and conditions of the 

9 permit as in effect at the time of transfer, assignment, 

10 or sale. 

11 (4) Each application for approval of a permit trans12 fer, assignment, or sale pursuant to this subsection shall 

13 be accompanied by a fee payable to the Secretary of the 

14 Interior, or for National Forest System lands, the Sec15 retary of Agriculture, in such amount as may be estab16 lished by such Secretary, or for National Forest System 

17 lands, by the Secretary of Agriculture. Such amount shall 

18 be equal to the actual or anticipated cost to the Secretary 

19 or, for National Forest System lands, to the Secretary of 

20 Agriculture, of reviewing and approving or disapproving 

21 such transfer, assignment, or sale, as determined by such 

22 Secretary. 

23 (i) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—The Secretary of the 

24 Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly pro25 mulgate regulations to ensure transparency and public 


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1 participation in permit decisions required under this Act, 

2 consistent with any requirements that apply to such deci3 sions under section 102 of the National Environmental 

4 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332). 

5 SEC. 305. PERSONS INELIGIBLE FOR PERMITS. 

6 (a) CURRENT VIOLATIONS.—Unless corrective action 

7 has been taken in accordance with subsection (c), no per8 mit under this title shall be issued or transferred to an 

9 applicant if the applicant or any agent of the applicant, 

10 the operator (if different than the applicant) of the claim 

11 concerned, any claim holder (if different than the appli12 cant) of the claim concerned, or any affiliate or officer 

13 or director of the applicant is currently in violation of any 

14 of the following: 

15 (1) A provision of this Act or any regulation 

16 under this Act. 

17 (2) An applicable State or Federal toxic sub18 stance, solid waste, air, water quality, or fish and 

19 wildlife conservation law or regulation at any site 

20 where mining, beneficiation, or processing activities 

21 are occurring or have occurred. 

22 (3) The Surface Mining Control and Reclama23 tion Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.) or any 

24 regulation implementing that Act at any site where 


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1 surface coal mining operations have occurred or are 

2 occurring. 

3 (b) SUSPENSION.—The Secretary, or for National 

4 Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall 

5 suspend an operations permit, in whole or in part, if such 

6 Secretary determines that any of the entities described in 

7 subsection (a) were in violation of any requirement listed 

8 in subsection (a) at the time the permit was issued. 

9 (c) CORRECTION.—(1) The Secretary, or for National 

10 Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, may 

11 issue or reinstate a permit under this title if the applicant 

12 submits proof that the violation referred to in subsection 

13 (a) or (b) has been corrected or is in the process of being 

14 corrected to the satisfaction of such Secretary and the reg15 ulatory authority involved or if the applicant submits proof 

16 that the violator has filed and is presently pursuing, a di17 rect administrative or judicial appeal to contest the exist18 ence of the violation. For purposes of this section, an ap19 peal of any applicant’s relationship to an affiliate shall not 

20 constitute a direct administrative or judicial appeal to con21 test the existence of the violation. 

22 (2) Any permit which is issued or reinstated based 

23 upon proof submitted under this subsection shall be condi24 tionally approved or conditionally reinstated, as the case 

25 may be. If the violation is not successfully abated or the 


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1 violation is upheld on appeal, the permit shall be sus2 pended or revoked. 

3 (d) PATTERN OF WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—No permit 

4 under this Act may be issued to any applicant if there 

5 is a demonstrated pattern of willful violations of the envi6 ronmental protection requirements of this Act by the ap7 plicant, any affiliate of the applicant, or the operator or 

8 claim holder if different than the applicant. 

9 SEC. 306. FINANCIAL ASSURANCE. 

10 (a) FINANCIAL ASSURANCE REQUIRED.—(1) After a 

11 permit is issued under this title and before any exploration 

12 or operations begin under the permit, the operator shall 

13 file with the Secretary, or for National Forest System 

14 lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, evidence of financial 

15 assurance payable to the United States. The financial as16 surance shall be provided in the form of a surety bond, 

17 a trust fund, letters of credits, government securities, cer18 tificates of deposit, cash, or an equivalent form approved 

19 by such Secretary. 

20 (2) The financial assurance shall cover all lands with21 in the initial permit area and all affected waters that may 

22 require restoration, treatment, or other management as a 

23 result of mineral activities, and shall be extended to cover 

24 all lands and waters added pursuant to any permit modi25 fication made under section 303(f) (relating to exploration 


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1 permits) or section 304(e) (relating to operations per2 mits), or affected by mineral activities. 

3 (b) AMOUNT.—The amount of the financial assur4 ance required under this section shall be sufficient to as5 sure the completion of reclamation and restoration satis6 fying the requirements of this Act if the work were to be 

7 performed by the Secretary concerned in the event of for8 feiture, including the construction and maintenance costs 

9 for any treatment facilities necessary to meet Federal and 

10 State environmental requirements. The calculation of such 

11 amount shall take into account the maximum level of fi12 nancial exposure which shall arise during the mineral ac13 tivity and administrative costs associated with a govern14 ment agency reclaiming the site. 

15 (c) DURATION.—The financial assurance required 

16 under this section shall be held for the duration of the 

17 mineral activities and for an additional period to cover the 

18 operator’s responsibility for reclamation, restoration, and 

19 long-term maintenance, and effluent treatment as speci20 fied in subsection (g). 

21 (d) ADJUSTMENTS.—The amount of the financial as22 surance and the terms of the acceptance of the assurance 

23 may be adjusted by the Secretary concerned from time to 

24 time as the area requiring coverage is increased or de25 creased, or where the costs of reclamation or treatment 


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1 change, or pursuant to section 304(f) (relating to tem2 porary cessation of operations), but the financial assur3 ance shall otherwise be in compliance with this section. 

4 The Secretary concerned shall review the financial guar5 antee every 3 years and as part of the permit application 

6 review under section 304(c). 

7 (e) RELEASE.—Upon request, and after notice and 

8 opportunity for public comment, and after inspection by 

9 the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands, the 

10 Secretary of Agriculture, such Secretary may, after con11 sultation with the Administrator of the Environmental 

12 Protection Agency, release in whole or in part the financial 

13 assurance required under this section if the Secretary 

14 makes both of the following determinations: 

15 (1) A determination that reclamation or res16 toration covered by the financial assurance has been 

17 accomplished as required by this Act. 

18 (2) A determination that the terms and condi19 tions of any other applicable Federal requirements, 

20 and State requirements applicable pursuant to coop21 erative agreements under section 308, have been ful22 filled. 

23 (f) RELEASE SCHEDULE.—The release referred to in 

24 subsection (e) shall be according to the following schedule: 


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1 (1) After the operator has completed any re2 quired backfilling, regrading, and drainage control of 

3 an area subject to mineral activities and covered by 

4 the financial assurance, and has commenced revege5 tation on the regraded areas subject to mineral ac6 tivities in accordance with the approved plan, that 

7 portion of the total financial assurance secured for 

8 the area subject to mineral activities attributable to 

9 the completed activities may be released except that 

10 sufficient assurance must be retained to address 

11 other required reclamation and restoration needs 

12 and to assure the long-term success of the revegeta13 tion. 

14 (2) After the operator has completed success15 fully all remaining mineral activities and reclamation 

16 activities and all requirements of the operations plan 

17 and the reclamation plan, and all other requirements 

18 of this Act have been fully met, the remaining por19 tion of the financial assurance may be released. 

20 During the period following release of the financial assur21 ance as specified in paragraph (1), until the remaining 

22 portion of the financial assurance is released as provided 

23 in paragraph (2), the operator shall be required to comply 

24 with the permit issued under this title. 


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1 (g) EFFLUENT.—Notwithstanding section 307(b)(4), 

2 where any discharge or other water-related condition re3 sulting from the mineral activities requires treatment in 

4 order to meet the applicable effluent limitations and water 

5 quality standards, the financial assurance shall include the 

6 estimated cost of maintaining such treatment for the pro7 jected period that will be needed after the cessation of 

8 mineral activities. The portion of the financial assurance 

9 attributable to such estimated cost of treatment shall not 

10 be released until the discharge has ceased for a period of 

11 5 years, as determined by ongoing monitoring and testing, 

12 or, if the discharge continues, until the operator has met 

13 all applicable effluent limitations and water quality stand14 ards for 5 full years without treatment. 

15 (h) ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS.—If the Secretary, 

16 or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary of Ag17 riculture, determines, after final release of financial assur18 ance, that an environmental hazard resulting from the 

19 mineral activities exists, or the terms and conditions of 

20 the explorations or operations permit of this Act were not 

21 fulfilled in fact at the time of release, such Secretary shall 

22 issue an order under section 506 requiring the claim hold23 er or operator (or any person who controls the claim hold24 er or operator) to correct the condition such that applicaVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5060.IH H5060

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1 ble laws and regulations and any conditions from the plan 

2 of operations are met. 

3 SEC. 307. OPERATION AND RECLAMATION. 

4 (a) GENERAL RULE.—(1) The operator shall restore 

5 lands subject to mineral activities carried out under a per6 mit issued under this title to a condition capable of sup7 porting— 

8 (A) the uses which such lands were capable of 

9 supporting prior to surface disturbance by the oper10 ator, or 

11 (B) other beneficial uses which conform to ap12 plicable land use plans as determined by the Sec13 retary, or for National Forest System lands, the 

14 Secretary of Agriculture. 

15 (2) Reclamation shall proceed as contemporaneously 

16 as practicable with the conduct of mineral activities. In 

17 the case of a cessation of mineral activities beyond that 

18 provided for as a temporary cessation under this Act, rec19 lamation activities shall begin immediately. 

20 (b) OPERATION AND RECLAMATION STANDARDS.— 

21 The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agri22 culture shall jointly promulgate regulations that establish 

23 operation and reclamation standards for mineral activities 

24 permitted under this Act. The Secretaries may determine 

25 whether outcome-based performance standards or techVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00055 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5060.IH H5060

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1 nology-based design standards are most appropriate. The 

2 regulations shall address the following: 

3 (1) Segregation, protection, and replacement of 

4 topsoil or other suitable growth medium, and the 

5 prevention, where possible, of soil contamination. 

6 (2) Maintenance of the stability of all surface 

7 areas. 

8 (3) Control of sediments to prevent erosion and 

9 manage drainage. 

10 (4) Minimization of the formation and migra11 tion of acidic, alkaline, metal-bearing, or other dele12 terious leachate. 

13 (5) Reduction of the visual impact of mineral 

14 activities to the surrounding topography, including 

15 as necessary pit backfill. 

16 (6) Establishment of a diverse, effective, and 

17 permanent vegetative cover of the same seasonal va18 riety native to the area affected by mineral activities, 

19 and equal in extent of cover to the natural vegeta20 tion of the area. 

21 (7) Design and maintenance of leach oper22 ations, impoundments, and excess waste according to 

23 standard engineering standards to achieve and main24 tain stability and reclamation of the site. 


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1 (8) Removal of structures and roads and seal2 ing of drill holes. 

3 (9) Restoration of, or mitigation for, fish and 

4 wildlife habitat disturbed by mineral activities. 

5 (10) Preservation of cultural, paleontological, 

6 and cave resources. 

7 (11) Prevention and suppression of fire in the 

8 area of mineral activities. 

9 (c) SURFACE OR GROUNDWATER WITHDRAWALS.— 

10 The Secretary shall work with State and local govern11 ments with authority over the allocation and use of surface 

12 and groundwater in the area around the mine site as nec13 essary to ensure that any surface or groundwater with14 drawals made as a result of mining activities approved 

15 under this section do not cause undue degradation. 

16 (d) SPECIAL RULE.—Reclamation activities for a 

17 mining claim that has been forfeited, relinquished, or 

18 lapsed, or a plan that has expired or been revoked or sus19 pended, shall continue subject to review and approval by 

20 the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands, the 

21 Secretary of Agriculture. 

22 SEC. 308. STATE LAW AND REGULATION. 

23 (a) STATE LAW.—(1) Any reclamation, land use, en24 vironmental, or public health protection standard or re25 quirement in State law or regulation that meets or exceeds 


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1 the requirements of this Act shall not be construed to be 

2 inconsistent with any such standard. 

3 (2) Any bonding standard or requirement in State 

4 law or regulation that meets or exceeds the requirements 

5 of this Act shall not be construed to be inconsistent with 

6 such requirements. 

7 (3) Any inspection standard or requirement in State 

8 law or regulation that meets or exceeds the requirements 

9 of this Act shall not be construed to be inconsistent with 

10 such requirements. 

11 (b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER STATE REQUIRE12 MENTS.—(1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as af13 fecting any toxic substance, solid waste, or air or water 

14 quality, standard or requirement of any State, county, 

15 local, or tribal law or regulation, which may be applicable 

16 to mineral activities on lands subject to this Act. 

17 (2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting 

18 in any way the right of any person to enforce or protect, 

19 under applicable law, such person’s interest in water re20 sources affected by mineral activities on lands subject to 

21 this Act. 

22 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—(1) Any State 

23 may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Sec24 retary, or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary 

25 of Agriculture, for the purposes of such Secretary applying 


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1 such standards and requirements referred to in subsection 

2 (a) and subsection (b) to mineral activities or reclamation 

3 on lands subject to this Act. 

4 (2) In such instances where the proposed mineral ac5 tivities would affect lands not subject to this Act in addi6 tion to lands subject to this Act, in order to approve a 

7 plan of operations the Secretary concerned shall enter into 

8 a cooperative agreement with the State that sets forth a 

9 common regulatory framework consistent with the require10 ments of this Act for the purposes of such plan of oper11 ations. Any such common regulatory framework shall not 

12 negate the authority of the Federal Government to inde13 pendently inspect mines and operations and bring enforce14 ment actions for violations. 

15 (3) The Secretary concerned shall not enter into a 

16 cooperative agreement with any State under this section 

17 until after notice in the Federal Register and opportunity 

18 for public comment and hearing. 

19 (d) PRIOR AGREEMENTS.—Any cooperative agree20 ment or such other understanding between the Secretary 

21 concerned and any State, or political subdivision thereof, 

22 relating to the management of mineral activities on lands 

23 subject to this Act that was in existence on the date of 

24 enactment of this Act may only continue in force until 1 

25 year after the date of enactment of this Act. During such 


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1 1-year period, the State and the Secretary shall review the 

2 terms of the agreement and make changes that are nec3 essary to be consistent with this Act. 

4 SEC. 309. LIMITATION ON THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS. 

5 No permit shall be issued under this title that author6 izes mineral activities that would impair the land or re7 sources of a National Park or a National Monument. For 

8 purposes of this section, the term ‘‘impair’’ shall include 

9 any diminution of the affected land including wildlife, sce10 nic assets, water resources, air quality, and acoustic quali11 ties, or other changes that would impair a citizen’s experi12 ence at the National Park or National Monument. 

13 TITLE IV—MINING MITIGATION 

14 Subtitle A—Hardrock Minerals 

15 Fund 

16 SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 

17 As used in this title: 

18 (1) The term ‘‘crude ore’’ means ore in its un19 processed form, containing profitable amounts of the 

20 target mineral. 

21 (2) The term ‘‘displaced material’’ means any 

22 crude ore and waste dislodged from its location at 

23 the time hardrock mining operations begin at a sur24 face, underground, or in-situ mine. 


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1 (3) The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means any land, 

2 including mineral interests, owned by the United 

3 States without regard to how the United States ac4 quired ownership of the land and without regard to 

5 the agency having responsibility for management 

6 thereof, except Indian lands. 

7 (4) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 

8 Hardrock Minerals Fund established by section 402. 

9 (5) The term ‘‘hardrock mineral’’ means— 

10 (A) any mineral mined under the Mining 

11 Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.); and 

12 (B) with respect to State, Indian, and pri13 vate lands, any mineral on those lands that 

14 would be considered hardrock mineral under 

15 subparagraph (A) if such mineral had been 

16 mined under the Mining Law of 1872. 

17 (6) The term ‘‘hardrock mining operation’’ 

18 means— 

19 (A) any activity or operation conducted to 

20 mine a mineral under the Mining Law of 1872 

21 (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.); 

22 (B) with respect to State, Indian, and pri23 vate lands, any activity or operation conducted 

24 on such lands to mine a mineral that would be 

25 considered hardrock mineral if such mineral 


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1 had been mined under the Mining Law of 1872; 

2 and 

3 (C) any activities or operations to mine 

4 any other mineral the mining of which, at any 

5 time on or after the date of the enactment of 

6 this Act, is or was subject to the Mining Law 

7 of 1872. 

8 (7) The term ‘‘mineral activity’’ means any ac9 tivity on a mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel 

10 site claim for, related to, or incidental to, any min11 eral exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, or 

12 reclamation activity for any hardrock mineral. 

13 (8) The term ‘‘operator’’ means any person that 

14 conducts a mineral activity and any agent of such 

15 person. 

16 (9) The term ‘‘ton’’ means 2,000 pounds avoir17 dupois (.90718 metric ton). 

18 (10) The term ‘‘waste’’ means rock that must 

19 be fractured and removed in order to gain access to 

20 crude ore. 

21 SEC. 402. ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established on the 

23 books of the Treasury a separate account to be known as 

24 the Hardrock Minerals Fund. 


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1 (b) INVESTMENT.—The Secretary shall notify the 

2 Secretary of the Treasury as to what portion of the Fund 

3 is not, in the Secretary’s judgment, required to meet cur4 rent withdrawals. The Secretary of the Treasury shall in5 vest such portion of the Fund in public debt securities 

6 with maturities suitable for the needs of such Fund and 

7 bearing interest at rates determined by the Secretary of 

8 the Treasury, taking into consideration current market 

9 yields on outstanding marketplace obligations of the 

10 United States of comparable maturities. 

11 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—In addition to other uses au12 thorized by this title, the Secretary may use amounts in 

13 the Fund as necessary for the administrative expenses of 

14 the United States, Indian tribes, and the States to imple15 ment this title. 

16 SEC. 403. CONTENTS OF FUND. 

17 The following amounts shall be credited to the Fund: 

18 (1) All moneys collected pursuant to section 

19 506 and section 504. 

20 (2) All fees received under section 

21 304(a)(1)(B). 

22 (3) All donations by persons, corporations, as23 sociations, and foundations for the purposes of this 

24 subtitle. 


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1 (4) All amounts deposited in the Fund under 

2 section 102. 

3 (5) All amounts received by the United States 

4 from issuance of patents based on a determination 

5 under section 101. 

6 (6) All amounts received by the United States 

7 pursuant to section 103 as claim maintenance and 

8 location fees, other than the moneys allocated for 

9 administration of the mining laws by the Depart10 ment of the Interior. 

11 (7) All income on investments under section 

12 402(b). 

13 (8) All amounts deposited in the Fund under 

14 section 405. 

15 SEC. 404. SUBACCOUNTS. 

16 There shall be in the Fund 2 subaccounts, as follows: 

17 (1) The Hardrock Reclamation Account, which 

18 shall consist of two-thirds of the amounts credited to 

19 the Fund under section 403 and which shall be ad20 ministered by the Secretary acting through the Di21 rector of the Office of Surface Mining and Enforce22 ment. 

23 (2) The Hardrock Community Impact Assist24 ance Account, which shall consist of one-third of the 

25 amounts credited to the Fund under section 403 and 


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1 which shall be administered by the Secretary acting 

2 through the Director of the Bureau of Land Man3 agement. 

4 SEC. 405. DISPLACED MATERIAL RECLAMATION FEE. 

5 (a) IMPOSITION OF FEE.—Except as provided in sub6 section (g), each operator of a hardrock mining operation 

7 shall pay to the Secretary, for deposit in the Hardrock 

8 Minerals Fund established by section 402, a displaced ma9 terial reclamation fee of 7 cents per ton of displaced mate10 rial. 

11 (b) PAYMENT DEADLINE.—Such reclamation fee 

12 shall be paid not later than 60 days after the end of each 

13 calendar year beginning with the first calendar year occur14 ring after the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (c) SUBMISSION OF STATEMENT.—Together with 

16 such reclamation fee, all operators of hardrock mining op17 erations shall submit to the Secretary a statement of the 

18 amount of displaced material produced during mineral ac19 tivities during the previous calendar year, the accuracy of 

20 which shall be sworn to by the operator and notarized. 

21 (d) PENALTY.—Any corporate officer, agent, or di22 rector of a person conducting a hardrock mining oper23 ation, and any other person acting on behalf of such a 

24 person, who knowingly makes any false statement, rep25 resentation, or certification, or knowingly fails to make 


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1 any statement, representation, or certification, required 

2 under this section with respect to such operation shall, 

3 upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than 

4 $10,000. 

5 (e) CIVIL ACTION TO RECOVER FEE.—Any portion 

6 of such reclamation fee not properly or promptly paid pur7 suant to this section shall be recoverable, with statutory 

8 interest, from the hardrock mining operations operator, in 

9 any court of competent jurisdiction in any action at law 

10 to compel payment of debts. 

11 (f) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section requires a re12 duction in, or otherwise affects, any similar fee required 

13 under any law (including regulations) of any State. 

14 (g) EXEMPTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The fee under this section 

16 shall not apply for a person for any tax year for 

17 which the person certifies to the Secretary in writing 

18 that the person and all related parties with respect 

19 to such person, in the aggregate, had annual gross 

20 income from mineral production in an amount less 

21 than $100,000. 

22 (2) AGGREGATION OF INCOME.—The dollar 

23 amount in paragraph (1) shall be applied for a per24 son to the aggregate of all annual gross income from 

25 mineral production under all mining claims held by 


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1 or assigned to such person or any related parties 

2 with respect to such person, including mining claims 

3 located or for which a patent was issued before the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act. 

5 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this 

6 paragraph, the term ‘‘related parties’’ means, with 

7 respect to a person— 

8 (A) the spouse and all dependents (as de9 fined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue 

10 Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 152)) of the person; 

11 or 

12 (B) another person who is affiliated with 

13 the person, including— 

14 (i) another person controlled by, con15 trolling, or under common control with the 

16 person; and 

17 (ii) a subsidiary or parent company or 

18 corporation of the person. 

19 Subtitle B—Use of Hardrock 

20 Reclamation Account 

21 SEC. 411. USE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ACCOUNT. 

22 (a) AUTHORIZED USES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, subject 

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1 ferred to as the ‘‘Account’’) for the reclamation and 

2 restoration of land and water resources adversely af3 fected by past hardrock mineral activities and re4 lated activities on lands described in section 412, in5 cluding any of the following: 

6 (A) Protecting public health and safety. 

7 (B) Preventing, abating, treating, and con8 trolling water pollution created by abandoned 

9 mine drainage, including in river watershed 

10 areas. 

11 (C) Reclaiming and restoring abandoned 

12 surface and underground mined areas. 

13 (D) Reclaiming and restoring abandoned 

14 milling and processing areas. 

15 (E) Backfilling, sealing, or otherwise con16 trolling abandoned underground mine entries. 

17 (F) Revegetating land adversely affected 

18 by past mineral activities in order to prevent 

19 erosion and sedimentation, to enhance wildlife 

20 habitat, and for any other reclamation purpose. 

21 (G) Controlling surface subsidence due to 

22 abandoned underground mines. 

23 (H) Enhancing fish and wildlife habitat. 

24 (2) MANNER OF USE.—Amounts in the Account 

25 may— 


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1 (A) be expended by the Secretary for the 

2 purposes described in paragraph (1); 

3 (B) be transferred by the Secretary to the 

4 Director of the Bureau of Land Management, 

5 the Chief of the Forest Service, the Director of 

6 the National Park Service, the Director of the 

7 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the 

8 head of any other Federal agency, or any public 

9 entity that volunteers to develop and imple10 ment, and that has the ability to carry out, all 

11 or a significant portion of a reclamation pro12 gram under this subtitle; or 

13 (C) be transferred by the Secretary to an 

14 Indian tribe or a State to carry out a reclama15 tion program under this subtitle that meets the 

16 purposes described in paragraph (1). 

17 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts deposited into the 

18 Account— 

19 (1) 25 percent shall be allocated by the Sec20 retary for expenditure in States or on tribal lands 

21 within the boundaries of which occurs production of 

22 hardrock minerals or mineral concentrates or prod23 ucts derived from hardrock minerals, based on a for24 mula reflecting existing production in each such 

25 State or on the land of the Indian tribe; 


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1 (2) 25 percent shall be allocated for expenditure 

2 by the Secretary in States or on tribal lands based 

3 on a formula reflecting the quantity of hardrock 

4 minerals, or mineral concentrates or products de5 rived from hardrock minerals, historically produced 

6 in each such State or from the land of the Indian 

7 tribe before the date of enactment of this Act; and 

8 (3) 50 percent shall be allocated for expenditure 

9 by the Secretary to address high-priority needs ac10 cording to the priorities in subsection (c). 

11 (c) PRIORITIES.—Expenditures of moneys from the 

12 Account shall reflect the following priorities in the order 

13 stated: 

14 (1) The protection of public health and safety 

15 from extreme danger from the adverse effects of 

16 past mineral activities, especially as relates to sur17 face water and ground water contaminants. 

18 (2) The protection of public health and safety 

19 from the adverse effects of past mineral activities. 

20 (3) The restoration of land, water, and fish and 

21 wildlife resources previously degraded by the adverse 

22 effects of past mineral activities, which may include 

23 restoration activities in river watershed areas. 

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1 tion measures to provide for the continuation of any estab2 lished habitat for wildlife in existence before the com3 mencement of such activities. 

4 (e) RESPONSE OR REMOVAL ACTIONS.—Reclamation 

5 and restoration activities under this subtitle that con6 stitute a removal or remedial action under section 101 of 

7 the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa8 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601), shall 

9 be conducted with the concurrence of the Administrator 

10 of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Secretary 

11 and the Administrator shall enter into a memorandum of 

12 understanding to establish procedures for consultation, 

13 concurrence, training, exchange of technical expertise, and 

14 joint activities under the appropriate circumstances, that 

15 provide assurances that reclamation or restoration activi16 ties under this subtitle shall not be conducted in a manner 

17 that increases the costs or likelihood of removal or reme18 dial actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Re19 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

20 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), and that avoid oversight by multiple 

21 agencies to the maximum extent practicable. 

22 SEC. 412. ELIGIBLE LANDS AND WATERS. 

23 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Reclamation expenditures under 

24 this subtitle may only be made with respect to Federal, 

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1 fected by past mineral activities, and water resources that 

2 traverse or are contiguous to such lands, including any 

3 of the following: 

4 (1) Lands and water resources that were used 

5 for, or affected by, mineral activities and abandoned 

6 or left in an inadequate reclamation status before 

7 the effective date of this Act. 

8 (2) Lands for which the Secretary makes a de9 termination that there is no continuing reclamation 

10 responsibility of a claim holder, operator, or other 

11 person who abandoned the site prior to completion 

12 of required reclamation under State or other Federal 

13 laws. 

14 (b) SPECIFIC SITES AND AREAS NOT ELIGIBLE.— 

15 Sites and areas designated for remedial action pursuant 

16 to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 

17 1978 (42 U.S.C. 7901 et seq.) shall not be eligible for 

18 expenditures from the Account under this section. 

19 (c) INVENTORY.—The Secretary shall prepare and 

20 maintain a publicly available inventory of abandoned 

21 hardrock minerals mines on public lands and any aban22 doned mine on Indian lands that may be eligible for ex23 penditures under this subtitle, and shall submit an annual 

24 report to the Congress on the progress in cleanup of such 

25 sites. 


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1 SEC. 413. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Amounts credited to the Hardrock Reclamation Ac3 count are authorized to be appropriated for the purpose 

4 of this subtitle without fiscal year limitation. 

5 Subtitle C—Use of Hardrock Com6 munity Impact Assistance Ac7 count 

8 SEC. 421. USE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ACCOUNT. 

9 Amounts in the Hardrock Community Impact Assist10 ance Account shall be available to the Secretary, subject 

11 to appropriations, to provide assistance for the planning, 

12 construction, and maintenance of public facilities and the 

13 provision of public services to States, political subdivisions, 

14 and Indian tribes that are socially or economically im15 pacted by mineral activities conducted under the general 

16 mining laws. 

17 SEC. 422. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS. 

18 Moneys deposited into the Hardrock Community Im19 pact Assistance Account shall be allocated by the Sec20 retary for purposes of section 421 among the States within 

21 the boundaries of which occurs production of locatable 

22 minerals from mining claims located under the general 

23 mining laws and maintained in compliance with this Act, 

24 or mineral concentrates or products derived from locatable 

25 minerals from mining claims located under the general 

26 mining laws and maintained in compliance with this Act, 


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1 as the case may be, in proportion to the amount of such 

2 production in each such State. 

3 TITLE V—ADMINISTRATIVE AND 

4 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

5 Subtitle A—Administrative 

6 Provisions 

7 SEC. 501. POLICY FUNCTIONS. 

8 (a) MINERALS POLICY.—Section 101 of the Mining 

9 and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 21a) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in the first sentence by inserting before the 

12 period at the end the following: ‘‘and to ensure that 

13 mineral extraction and processing not cause undue 

14 degradation of the natural and cultural resources of 

15 the public lands’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

17 ‘‘It shall also be the responsibility of the Secretary 

18 of Agriculture to carry out the policy provisions of 

19 clauses (1) and (2) of the first paragraph of this 

20 section.’’. 

21 (b) MINERAL DATA.—Section 5(e)(3) of the National 

22 Materials and Minerals Policy, Research and Development 

23 Act of 1980 (30 U.S.C. 1604(e)(3)) is amended by insert24 ing before the period the following: ‘‘, except that for Na25 tional Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture 


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1 shall promptly initiate actions to improve the availability 

2 and analysis of mineral data in public land use decision3 making’’. 

4 SEC. 502. USER FEES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Secretary 

6 of Agriculture may each establish and collect from persons 

7 subject to the requirements of this Act such user fees as 

8 may be necessary to reimburse the United States for the 

9 expenses incurred in administering such requirements. 

10 Fees may be assessed and collected under this section only 

11 in such manner as may reasonably be expected to result 

12 in an aggregate amount of the fees collected during any 

13 fiscal year which does not exceed the aggregate amount 

14 of administrative expenses referred to in this section. 

15 (b) ADJUSTMENT.—(1) The Secretary shall adjust 

16 the fees required by this section to reflect changes in the 

17 Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor 

18 Statistics of the Department of Labor every 5 years after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, or more frequently if 

20 the Secretary determines an adjustment to be reasonable. 

21 (2) The Secretary shall provide claimants notice of 

22 any adjustment made under this subsection not later than 

23 July 1 of any year in which the adjustment is made. 


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1 (3) A fee adjustment under this subsection shall 

2 begin to apply the calendar year following the calendar 

3 year in which it is made. 

4 SEC. 503. INSPECTION AND MONITORING. 

5 (a) INSPECTIONS.—(1) The Secretary, or for Na6 tional Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

7 shall make inspections of mineral activities so as to ensure 

8 compliance with the requirements of this Act. 

9 (2) The Secretary concerned shall establish a fre10 quency of inspections for mineral activities conducted 

11 under a permit issued under title III, but in no event shall 

12 such inspection frequency be less than one complete in13 spection per calendar quarter or, two per calendar quarter 

14 in the case of a permit for which the Secretary concerned 

15 approves an application under section 304(f) (relating to 

16 temporary cessation of operations). After revegetation has 

17 been established in accordance with a reclamation plan, 

18 such Secretary shall conduct annually 2 complete inspec19 tions. Such Secretary shall have the discretion to modify 

20 the inspection frequency for mineral activities that are 

21 conducted on a seasonal basis. Inspections shall continue 

22 under this subsection until final release of financial assur23 ance. 

24 (3)(A) Any person who has reason to believe he or 

25 she is or may be adversely affected by mineral activities 


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1 due to any violation of the requirements of a permit ap2 proved under this Act may request an inspection. The Sec3 retary, or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary 

4 of Agriculture, shall determine within 10 working days of 

5 receipt of the request whether the request states a reason 

6 to believe that a violation exists. If the person alleges and 

7 provides reason to believe that an imminent threat to the 

8 environment or danger to the health or safety of the public 

9 exists, the 10-day period shall be waived and the inspec10 tion shall be conducted immediately. When an inspection 

11 is conducted under this paragraph, the Secretary con12 cerned shall notify the person requesting the inspection, 

13 and such person shall be allowed to accompany the Sec14 retary concerned or the Secretary’s authorized representa15 tive during the inspection. The Secretary shall not incur 

16 any liability for allowing such person to accompany an au17 thorized representative. The identity of the person sup18 plying information to the Secretary relating to a possible 

19 violation or imminent danger or harm shall remain con20 fidential with the Secretary if so requested by that person, 

21 unless that person elects to accompany an authorized rep22 resentative on the inspection. 

23 (B) The Secretaries shall, by joint rule, establish pro24 cedures for the review of (i) any decision by an authorized 

25 representative not to inspect; or (ii) any refusal by such 


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1 representative to ensure that remedial actions are taken 

2 with respect to any alleged violation. The Secretary con3 cerned shall furnish such persons requesting the review 

4 a written statement of the reasons for the Secretary’s final 

5 disposition of the case. 

6 (b) MONITORING.—(1) The Secretary, or for Na7 tional Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

8 shall require all operators to develop and maintain a moni9 toring and evaluation system that shall identify compli10 ance with all requirements of a permit approved under this 

11 Act. The Secretary concerned may require additional mon12 itoring to be conducted as necessary to assure compliance 

13 with the reclamation and other environmental standards 

14 of this Act. Such plan must be reviewed and approved by 

15 the Secretary and shall become a part of the explorations 

16 or operations permit. 

17 (2) The operator shall file reports with the Secretary, 

18 or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary of Ag19 riculture, on a frequency determined by the Secretary con20 cerned, on the results of the monitoring and evaluation 

21 process, except that if the monitoring and evaluation show 

22 a violation of the requirements of a permit approved under 

23 this Act, it shall be reported immediately to the Secretary 

24 concerned. The Secretary shall evaluate the reports sub25 mitted pursuant to this paragraph, and based on those 


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1 reports and any necessary inspection shall take enforce2 ment action pursuant to this section. Such reports shall 

3 be maintained by the operator and by the Secretary and 

4 shall be made available to the public. 

5 (3) The Secretary, or for National Forest System 

6 lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall determine what 

7 information shall be reported by the operator pursuant to 

8 paragraph (3). A failure to report as required by the Sec9 retary concerned shall constitute a violation of this Act 

10 and subject the operator to enforcement action pursuant 

11 to section 506. 

12 SEC. 504. CITIZENS SUITS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

14 (b), any person may commence a civil action on his or 

15 her own behalf to compel compliance— 

16 (1) against any person (including the Secretary 

17 or the Secretary of Agriculture) who is alleged to be 

18 in violation of any of the provisions of this Act or 

19 any regulation promulgated pursuant to title III of 

20 this Act or any term or condition of any permit 

21 issued under title III of this Act; or 

22 (2) against the Secretary or the Secretary of 

23 Agriculture where there is alleged a failure of such 

24 Secretary to perform any act or duty under this Act, 

25 or to promulgate any regulation under this Act, 


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1 which is not within the discretion of the Secretary 

2 concerned. 

3 The United States district courts shall have jurisdiction 

4 over actions brought under this section, without regard to 

5 the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties, 

6 including actions brought to apply any civil penalty under 

7 this Act. The district courts of the United States shall 

8 have jurisdiction to compel agency action unreasonably de9 layed, except that an action to compel agency action re10 viewable under section 505 may only be filed in a United 

11 States district court within the circuit in which such action 

12 would be reviewable under section 505. 

13 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—(1) No action may be commenced 

14 under subsection (a) before the end of the 60-day period 

15 beginning on the date the plaintiff has given notice in writ16 ing of such alleged violation to the alleged violator and 

17 the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands, the 

18 Secretary of Agriculture, except that any such action may 

19 be brought immediately after such notification if the viola20 tion complained of constitutes an imminent threat to the 

21 environment or to the health or safety of the public. 

22 (2) No action may be brought against any person 

23 other than the Secretary or the Secretary of Agriculture 

24 under subsection (a)(1) if such Secretary has commenced 


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1 and is diligently prosecuting a civil or criminal action in 

2 a court of the United States to require compliance. 

3 (3) No action may be commenced under paragraph 

4 (2) of subsection (a) against either Secretary to review any 

5 rule promulgated by, or to any permit issued or denied 

6 by such Secretary if such rule or permit issuance or denial 

7 is judicially reviewable under section 505 or under any 

8 other provision of law at any time after such promulga9 tion, issuance, or denial is final. 

10 (c) VENUE.—Venue of all actions brought under this 

11 section shall be determined in accordance with section 

12 1391 of title 28, United States Code. 

13 (d) COSTS.—The court, in issuing any final order in 

14 any action brought pursuant to this section may award 

15 costs of litigation (including attorney and expert witness 

16 fees) to any party whenever the court determines such 

17 award is appropriate. The court may, if a temporary re18 straining order or preliminary injunction is sought, require 

19 the filing of a bond or equivalent security in accordance 

20 with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 

21 (e) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 

22 restrict any right which any person (or class of persons) 

23 may have under chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code, 

24 under this section, or under any other statute or common 

25 law to bring an action to seek any relief against the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5060.IH H5060

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1 retary or the Secretary of Agriculture or against any other 

2 person, including any action for any violation of this Act 

3 or of any regulation or permit issued under this Act or 

4 for any failure to act as required by law. Nothing in this 

5 section shall affect the jurisdiction of any court under any 

6 provision of title 28, United States Code, including any 

7 action for any violation of this Act or of any regulation 

8 or permit issued under this Act or for any failure to act 

9 as required by law. 

10 SEC. 505. ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

11 (a) REVIEW BY SECRETARY.—(1)(A) Any person 

12 issued a notice of violation or cessation order under sec13 tion 506, or any person having an interest which is or 

14 may be adversely affected by such notice or order, may 

15 apply to the Secretary, or for National Forest System 

16 lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, for review of the notice 

17 or order within 30 days after receipt thereof, or as the 

18 case may be, within 30 days after such notice or order 

19 is modified, vacated, or terminated. 

20 (B) Any person who is subject to a penalty assessed 

21 under section 506 may apply to the Secretary concerned 

22 for review of the assessment within 45 days of notification 

23 of such penalty. 

24 (C) Any person may apply to such Secretary for re25 view of the decision within 30 days after it is made. 


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1 (D) Pending a review by the Secretary or resolution 

2 of an administrative appeal, final decisions (except en3 forcement actions under section 506) shall be stayed. 

4 (2) The Secretary concerned shall provide an oppor5 tunity for a public hearing at the request of any party 

6 to the proceeding as specified in paragraph (1). The filing 

7 of an application for review under this subsection shall not 

8 operate as a stay of any order or notice issued under sec9 tion 506. 

10 (3) For any review proceeding under this subsection, 

11 the Secretary concerned shall make findings of fact and 

12 shall issue a written decision incorporating therein an 

13 order vacating, affirming, modifying, or terminating the 

14 notice, order, or decision, or with respect to an assess15 ment, the amount of penalty that is warranted. Where the 

16 application for review concerns a cessation order issued 

17 under section 506 the Secretary concerned shall issue the 

18 written decision within 30 days of the receipt of the appli19 cation for review or within 30 days after the conclusion 

20 of any hearing referred to in paragraph (2), whichever is 

21 later, unless temporary relief has been granted by the Sec22 retary concerned under paragraph (4). 

23 (4) Pending completion of any review proceedings 

24 under this subsection, the applicant may file with the Sec25 retary, or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary 


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1 of Agriculture, a written request that the Secretary grant 

2 temporary relief from any order issued under section 506 

3 together with a detailed statement giving reasons for such 

4 relief. The Secretary concerned shall expeditiously issue 

5 an order or decision granting or denying such relief. The 

6 Secretary concerned may grant such relief under such con7 ditions as he or she may prescribe only if such relief shall 

8 not adversely affect the health or safety of the public or 

9 cause imminent environmental harm to land, air, or water 

10 resources. 

11 (5) The availability of review under this subsection 

12 shall not be construed to limit the operation of rights 

13 under section 504 (relating to citizen suits). 

14 (b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—(1) Any final action by the 

15 Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture in promul16 gating regulations to implement this Act, or any other 

17 final actions constituting rulemaking to implement this 

18 Act, shall be subject to judicial review only in the United 

19 States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Any 

20 action subject to judicial review under this subsection shall 

21 be affirmed unless the court concludes that such action 

22 is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise inconsistent with law. 

23 A petition for review of any action subject to judicial re24 view under this subsection shall be filed within 60 days 

25 from the date of such action, or after such date if the 


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1 petition is based solely on grounds arising after the 60th 

2 day. Any such petition may be made by any person who 

3 commented or otherwise participated in the rulemaking or 

4 any person who may be adversely affected by the action 

5 of the Secretaries. 

6 (2) Final agency action under this subsection, includ7 ing such final action on those matters described under 

8 subsection (a), shall be subject to judicial review in accord9 ance with paragraph (4) and pursuant to section 1391 of 

10 title 28, United States Code, on or before 60 days from 

11 the date of such final action. Any action subject to judicial 

12 review under this subsection shall be affirmed unless the 

13 court concludes that such action is arbitrary, capricious, 

14 or otherwise inconsistent with law. 

15 (3) The availability of judicial review established in 

16 this subsection shall not be construed to limit the oper17 ations of rights under section 504 (relating to citizens 

18 suits). 

19 (4) The court shall hear any petition or complaint 

20 filed under this subsection solely on the record made be21 fore the Secretary or Secretaries concerned. The court 

22 may affirm or vacate any order or decision or may remand 

23 the proceedings to the Secretary or Secretaries for such 

24 further action as it may direct. 


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1 (5) The commencement of a proceeding under this 

2 section shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, 

3 operate as a stay of the action, order, or decision of the 

4 Secretary or Secretaries concerned. 

5 (c) COSTS.—Whenever a proceeding occurs under 

6 subsection (a) or (b), at the request of any person, a sum 

7 equal to the aggregate amount of all costs and expenses 

8 (including attorney fees) as determined by the Secretary 

9 or Secretaries concerned or the court to have been reason10 ably incurred by such person for or in connection with par11 ticipation in such proceedings, including any judicial re12 view of the proceeding, may be assessed against either 

13 party as the court, in the case of judicial review, or the 

14 Secretary or Secretaries concerned in the case of adminis15 trative proceedings, deems proper if it is determined that 

16 such party prevailed in whole or in part, achieving some 

17 success on the merits, and that such party made a sub18 stantial contribution to a full and fair determination of 

19 the issues. 

20 SEC. 506. ENFORCEMENT. 

21 (a) ORDERS.—(1) If the Secretary, or for National 

22 Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, or an 

23 authorized representative of such Secretary, determines 

24 that any person is in violation of any environmental pro25 tection requirement under title III or any regulation 


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1 issued by the Secretaries to implement this Act, such Sec2 retary or authorized representative shall issue to such per3 son a notice of violation describing the violation and the 

4 corrective measures to be taken. The Secretary concerned, 

5 or the authorized representative of such Secretary, shall 

6 provide such person with a period of time not to exceed 

7 30 days to abate the violation. Such period of time may 

8 be extended by the Secretary concerned upon a showing 

9 of good cause by such person. If, upon the expiration of 

10 time provided for such abatement, the Secretary con11 cerned, or the authorized representative of such Secretary, 

12 finds that the violation has not been abated he or she shall 

13 immediately order a cessation of all mineral activities or 

14 the portion thereof relevant to the violation. 

15 (2) If the Secretary concerned, or the authorized rep16 resentative of the Secretary concerned, determines that 

17 any condition or practice exists, or that any person is in 

18 violation of any requirement under a permit approved 

19 under this Act, and such condition, practice or violation 

20 is causing, or can reasonably be expected to cause— 

21 (A) an imminent danger to the health or safety 

22 of the public; or 

23 (B) significant, imminent environmental harm 

24 to land, air, water, or fish or wildlife resources, 


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1 such Secretary or authorized representative shall imme2 diately order a cessation of mineral activities or the por3 tion thereof relevant to the condition, practice, or viola4 tion. 

5 (3)(A) A cessation order pursuant to paragraph (1) 

6 or (2) shall remain in effect until such Secretary, or au7 thorized representative, determines that the condition, 

8 practice, or violation has been abated, or until modified, 

9 vacated or terminated by the Secretary or authorized rep10 resentative. In any such order, the Secretary or authorized 

11 representative shall determine the steps necessary to abate 

12 the violation in the most expeditious manner possible and 

13 shall include the necessary measures in the order. The 

14 Secretary concerned shall require appropriate financial as15 surances to ensure that the abatement obligations are met. 

16 (B) Any notice or order issued pursuant to paragraph 

17 (1) or (2) may be modified, vacated, or terminated by the 

18 Secretary concerned or an authorized representative of 

19 such Secretary. Any person to whom any such notice or 

20 order is issued shall be entitled to a hearing on the record. 

21 (4) If, after 30 days of the date of the order referred 

22 to in paragraph (3)(A) the required abatement has not 

23 occurred, the Secretary concerned shall take such alter24 native enforcement action against the claim holder or op25 erator (or any person who controls the claim holder or opVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00088 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5060.IH H5060

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1 erator) as will most likely bring about abatement in the 

2 most expeditious manner possible. Such alternative en3 forcement action may include, but is not necessarily lim4 ited to, seeking appropriate injunctive relief to bring about 

5 abatement. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the 

6 Secretary, or for National Forest System lands, the Sec7 retary of Agriculture, from taking alternative enforcement 

8 action prior to the expiration of 30 days. 

9 (5) If a claim holder or operator (or any person who 

10 controls the claim holder or operator) fails to abate a vio11 lation or defaults on the terms of the permit, the Sec12 retary, or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary 

13 of Agriculture, shall forfeit the financial assurance for the 

14 plan as necessary to ensure abatement and reclamation 

15 under this Act. The Secretary concerned may prescribe 

16 conditions under which a surety may perform reclamation 

17 in accordance with the approved plan in lieu of forfeiture. 

18 (6) The Secretary, or for National Forest System 

19 lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, shall not cause for20 feiture of the financial assurance while administrative or 

21 judicial review is pending. 

22 (7) In the event of forfeiture, the claim holder, oper23 ator, or any affiliate thereof, as appropriate as determined 

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1 ble for any remaining reclamation obligations under this 

2 Act. 

3 (b) COMPLIANCE.—The Secretary, or for National 

4 Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, may 

5 request the Attorney General to institute a civil action for 

6 relief, including a permanent or temporary injunction or 

7 restraining order, or any other appropriate enforcement 

8 order, including the imposition of civil penalties, in the dis9 trict court of the United States for the district in which 

10 the mineral activities are located whenever a person— 

11 (1) violates, fails, or refuses to comply with any 

12 order issued by the Secretary concerned under sub13 section (a); or 

14 (2) interferes with, hinders, or delays the Sec15 retary concerned in carrying out an inspection under 

16 section 503. 

17 Such court shall have jurisdiction to provide such relief 

18 as may be appropriate. Any relief granted by the court 

19 to enforce an order under paragraph (1) shall continue 

20 in effect until the completion or final termination of all 

21 proceedings for review of such order unless the district 

22 court granting such relief sets it aside. 

23 (c) DELEGATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of law, the Secretary may utilize personnel of the OfVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5060.IH H5060

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1 fice of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to 

2 ensure compliance with the requirements of this Act. 

3 (d) PENALTIES.—(1) Any person who fails to comply 

4 with any requirement of a permit approved under this Act 

5 or any regulation issued by the Secretaries to implement 

6 this Act shall be liable for a penalty of not more than 

7 $25,000 per violation. Each day of violation may be 

8 deemed a separate violation for purposes of penalty assess9 ments. 

10 (2) A person who fails to correct a violation for which 

11 a cessation order has been issued under subsection (a) 

12 within the period permitted for its correction shall be as13 sessed a civil penalty of not less than $1,000 per violation 

14 for each day during which such failure continues. 

15 (3) Whenever a corporation is in violation of a re16 quirement of a permit approved under this Act or any reg17 ulation issued by the Secretaries to implement this Act 

18 or fails or refuses to comply with an order issued under 

19 subsection (a), any director, officer, or agent of such cor20 poration who knowingly authorized, ordered, or carried 

21 out such violation, failure, or refusal shall be subject to 

22 the same penalties as may be imposed upon the person 

23 referred to in paragraph (1). 

24 (e) SUSPENSIONS OR REVOCATIONS.—The Secretary, 

25 or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary of AgVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Jul 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5060.IH H5060

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1 riculture, shall suspend or revoke a permit issued under 

2 title III, in whole or in part, if the operator— 

3 (1) knowingly made or knowingly makes any 

4 false, inaccurate, or misleading material statement 

5 in any mining claim, notice of location, application, 

6 record, report, plan, or other document filed or re7 quired to be maintained under this Act; 

8 (2) fails to abate a violation covered by a ces9 sation order issued under subsection (a); 

10 (3) fails to comply with an order of the Sec11 retary concerned; 

12 (4) refuses to permit an audit pursuant to this 

13 Act; 

14 (5) fails to maintain an adequate financial as15 surance under section 306; 

16 (6) fails to pay claim maintenance fees or other 

17 moneys due and owing under this Act; or 

18 (7) with regard to plans conditionally approved 

19 under section 305(c)(2), fails to abate a violation to 

20 the satisfaction of the Secretary concerned, or if the 

21 validity of the violation is upheld on the appeal 

22 which formed the basis for the conditional approval. 

23 (f) FALSE STATEMENTS; TAMPERING.—Any person 

24 who knowingly— 


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1 (1) makes any false material statement, rep2 resentation, or certification in, or omits or conceals 

3 material information from, or unlawfully alters, any 

4 mining claim, notice of location, application, record, 

5 report, plan, or other documents filed or required to 

6 be maintained under this Act; or 

7 (2) falsifies, tampers with, renders inaccurate, 

8 or fails to install any monitoring device or method 

9 required to be maintained under this Act, 

10 shall upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more 

11 than $10,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 2 

12 years, or by both. If a conviction of a person is for a viola13 tion committed after a first conviction of such person 

14 under this subsection, punishment shall be by a fine of 

15 not more than $20,000 per day of violation, or by impris16 onment of not more than 4 years, or both. Each day of 

17 continuing violation may be deemed a separate violation 

18 for purposes of penalty assessments. 

19 (g) KNOWING VIOLATIONS.—Any person who know20 ingly— 

21 (1) engages in mineral activities without a per22 mit required under title III; or 

23 (2) violates any other requirement of a permit 

24 issued under this Act, or any condition or limitation 

25 thereof, 


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1 shall upon conviction be punished by a fine of not less 

2 than $5,000 nor more than $50,000 per day of violation, 

3 or by imprisonment for not more than 3 years, or both. 

4 If a conviction of a person is for a violation committed 

5 after the first conviction of such person under this sub6 section, punishment shall be a fine of not less than 

7 $10,000 per day of violation, or by imprisonment of not 

8 more than 6 years, or both. 

9 (h) KNOWING AND WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—Any per10 son who knowingly and willfully commits an act for which 

11 a civil penalty is provided in paragraph (1) of subsection 

12 (g) shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not 

13 more than $50,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 

14 2 years, or both. 

15 (i) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 

16 term ‘‘person’’ includes any officer, agent, or employee of 

17 a person. 

18 SEC. 507. REGULATIONS. 

19 The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

20 issue such regulations as are necessary to implement this 

21 Act. The regulations implementing title II, title III, title 

22 IV, and title V that affect the Forest Service shall be joint 

23 regulations issued by both Secretaries, and shall be issued 

24 no later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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1 SEC. 508. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act shall take effect on the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, except as otherwise provided in this Act. 

4 Subtitle B—Miscellaneous 

5 Provisions 

6 SEC. 511. OIL SHALE CLAIMS. 

7 Section 2511(f) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (30 

8 U.S.C. 242(f) Public Law 102–486) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘as prescribed by the Sec10 retary’’; and 

11 (2) by inserting before the period the following: 

12 ‘‘in the same manner as required by title II and title 

13 III of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 

14 2014’’. 

15 SEC. 512. PURCHASING POWER ADJUSTMENT. 

16 The Secretary shall adjust all location fees, claim 

17 maintenance rates, penalty amounts, and other dollar 

18 amounts established in this Act for changes in the pur19 chasing power of the dollar no less frequently than every 

20 5 years following the date of enactment of this Act, em21 ploying the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Con22 sumers published by the Department of Labor as the basis 

23 for adjustment, and rounding according to the adjustment 

24 process of conditions of the Federal Civil Penalties Infla25 tion Adjustment Act of 1990 (104 Stat. 890). 


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1 SEC. 513. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

2 (a) SPECIAL APPLICATION OF MINING LAWS.—Noth3 ing in this Act shall be construed as repealing or modi4 fying any Federal law, regulation, order, or land use plan, 

5 in effect prior to the date of enactment of this Act that 

6 prohibits or restricts the application of the general mining 

7 laws, including laws that provide for special management 

8 criteria for operations under the general mining laws as 

9 in effect prior to the date of enactment of this Act, to 

10 the extent such laws provide for protection of natural and 

11 cultural resources and the environment greater than re12 quired under this Act, and any such prior law shall remain 

13 in force and effect with respect to claims located (or pro14 posed to be located) or converted under this Act. Nothing 

15 in this Act shall be construed as applying to or limiting 

16 mineral investigations, studies, or other mineral activities 

17 conducted by any Federal or State agency acting in its 

18 governmental capacity pursuant to other authority. Noth19 ing in this Act shall affect or limit any assessment, inves20 tigation, evaluation, or listing pursuant to the Comprehen21 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liabil22 ity Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), or the Solid 

23 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 3251 et seq.). 

24 (b) EFFECT ON OTHER FEDERAL LAWS.—The provi25 sions of this Act shall supersede the general mining laws, 

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1 ing location of mining claims that are not expressly modi2 fied by this Act. Except for the general mining laws, noth3 ing in this Act shall be construed as superseding, modi4 fying, amending, or repealing any provision of Federal law 

5 not expressly superseded, modified, amended, or repealed 

6 by this Act. Nothing in this Act shall be construed as al7 tering, affecting, amending, modifying, or changing, di8 rectly or indirectly, any law which refers to and provides 

9 authorities or responsibilities for, or is administered by, 

10 the Environmental Protection Agency or the Adminis11 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, including 

12 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, title XIV of the 

13 Public Health Service Act (the Safe Drinking Water Act), 

14 the Clean Air Act, the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, 

15 the Toxic Substances Control Act, the Federal Insecticide, 

16 Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Federal Food, Drug, 

17 and Cosmetic Act, the Motor Vehicle Information and 

18 Cost Savings Act, the Federal Hazardous Substances Act, 

19 the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Atomic Energy 

20 Act, the Noise Control Act of 1972, the Solid Waste Dis21 posal Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

22 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, the Superfund 

23 Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, the Ocean 

24 Dumping Act, the Environmental Research, Development, 

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1 ecution Act of 1990, and the Federal Facilities Compli2 ance Act of 1992, or any statute containing an amend3 ment to any of such Acts. Nothing in this Act shall be 

4 construed as modifying or affecting any provision of the 

5 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 

6 (Public Law 101–601) or any provision of the American 

7 Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996), the Na8 tional Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.), 

9 and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 

10 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.). 

11 (c) PROTECTION OF CONSERVATION AREAS.—In 

12 order to protect the resources and values of National Con13 servation System units, the Secretary, as appropriate, 

14 shall utilize authority under this Act and other applicable 

15 law to the fullest extent necessary to prevent mineral ac16 tivities that could have an adverse impact on the resources 

17 or values for which such units were established. 

18 (d) SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY OF INDIAN TRIBES.— 

19 Nothing in this section shall be construed so as to waive 

20 the sovereign immunity of any Indian tribe. 

21 SEC. 514. AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC RECORDS. 

22 Copies of records, reports, inspection materials, or in23 formation obtained by the Secretary or the Secretary of 

24 Agriculture under this Act shall be made immediately 

25 available to the public, consistent with section 552 of title 


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1 5, United States Code, in central and sufficient locations 

2 in the county, multicounty, and State area of mineral ac3 tivity or reclamation so that such items are conveniently 

4 available to residents in the area proposed or approved for 

5 mineral activities and on the Internet. 

6 SEC. 515. MISCELLANEOUS POWERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out his or her duties 

8 under this Act, the Secretary, or for National Forest Sys9 tem lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, may conduct any 

10 investigation, inspection, or other inquiry necessary and 

11 appropriate and may conduct, after notice, any hearing 

12 or audit, necessary and appropriate to carrying out his 

13 or her duties. 

14 (b) ANCILLARY POWERS.—In connection with any 

15 hearing, inquiry, investigation, or audit under this Act, the 

16 Secretary, or for National Forest System lands, the Sec17 retary of Agriculture, is authorized to take any of the fol18 lowing actions: 

19 (1) Require, by special or general order, any 

20 person to submit in writing such affidavits and an21 swers to questions as the Secretary concerned may 

22 reasonably prescribe, which submission shall be 

23 made within such reasonable period and under oath 

24 or otherwise, as may be necessary. 

25 (2) Administer oaths. 


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1 (3) Require by subpoena the attendance and 

2 testimony of witnesses and the production of all 

3 books, papers, records, documents, matter, and ma4 terials, as such Secretary may request. 

5 (4) Order testimony to be taken by deposition 

6 before any person who is designated by such Sec7 retary and who has the power to administer oaths, 

8 and to compel testimony and the production of evi9 dence in the same manner as authorized under para10 graph (3) of this subsection. 

11 (5) Pay witnesses the same fees and mileage as 

12 are paid in like circumstances in the courts of the 

13 United States. 

14 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—In cases of refusal to obey a 

15 subpoena served upon any person under this section, the 

16 district court of the United States for any district in which 

17 such person is found, resides, or transacts business, upon 

18 application by the Attorney General at the request of the 

19 Secretary concerned and after notice to such person, shall 

20 have jurisdiction to issue an order requiring such person 

21 to appear and produce documents before the Secretary 

22 concerned. Any failure to obey such order of the court may 

23 be punished by such court as contempt thereof and subject 

24 to a penalty of up to $10,000 a day. 


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1 (d) ENTRY AND ACCESS.—Without advance notice 

2 and upon presentation of appropriate credentials, the Sec3 retary, or for National Forest System lands, the Secretary 

4 of Agriculture, or any authorized representative thereof— 

5 (1) shall have the right of entry to, upon, or 

6 through the site of any claim, mineral activities, or 

7 any premises in which any records required to be 

8 maintained under this Act are located; 

9 (2) may at reasonable times, and without delay, 

10 have access to records, inspect any monitoring 

11 equipment, or review any method of operation re12 quired under this Act; 

13 (3) may engage in any work and do all things 

14 necessary or expedient to implement and administer 

15 the provisions of this Act; 

16 (4) may, on any mining claim located under the 

17 general mining laws and maintained in compliance 

18 with this Act, and without advance notice, stop and 

19 inspect any motorized form of transportation that 

20 such Secretary has probable cause to believe is car21 rying locatable minerals, concentrates, or products 

22 derived therefrom from a claim site for the purpose 

23 of determining whether the operator of such vehicle 

24 has documentation related to such locatable min25 erals, concentrates, or products derived therefrom as 


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1 required by law, if such documentation is required 

2 under this Act; and 

3 (5) may, if accompanied by any appropriate law 

4 enforcement officer, or an appropriate law enforce5 ment officer alone, stop and inspect any motorized 

6 form of transportation which is not on a claim site 

7 if he or she has probable cause to believe such vehi8 cle is carrying locatable minerals, concentrates, or 

9 products derived therefrom from a claim site on 

10 Federal lands or allocated to such claim site. Such 

11 inspection shall be for the purpose of determining 

12 whether the operator of such vehicle has the docu13 mentation required by law, if such documentation is 

14 required under this Act. 

15 SEC. 516. MULTIPLE MINERAL DEVELOPMENT AND SUR16 FACE RESOURCES. 

17 The provisions of sections 4 and 6 of the Act of Au18 gust 13, 1954 (30 U.S.C. 524 and 526), commonly known 

19 as the Multiple Minerals Development Act, and the provi20 sions of section 4 of the Act of July 23, 1955 (30 U.S.C. 

21 612), shall apply to all mining claims located under the 

22 general mining laws and maintained in compliance with 

23 such laws and this Act. 


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1 SEC. 517. MINERAL MATERIALS. 

2 (a) DETERMINATIONS.—Section 3 of the Act of July 

3 23, 1955 (30 U.S.C. 611), is amended— 

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before the first sentence; 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘mineral materials, including 

6 but not limited to’’ after ‘‘varieties of’’ in the first 

7 sentence; 

8 (3) by striking ‘‘or cinders’’ and inserting in 

9 lieu thereof ‘‘cinders, and clay’’; and 

10 (4) by adding the following new subsection at 

11 the end thereof: 

12 ‘‘(b)(1) Subject to valid existing rights, after the date 

13 of enactment of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation 

14 Act of 2014, notwithstanding the reference to common va15 rieties in subsection (a) and to the exception to such term 

16 relating to a deposit of materials with some property giv17 ing it distinct and special value, all deposits of mineral 

18 materials referred to in such subsection, including the 

19 block pumice referred to in such subsection, shall be sub20 ject to disposal only under the terms and conditions of 

21 the Materials Act of 1947. 

22 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘valid 

23 existing rights’ means that a mining claim located for any 

24 such mineral material— 

25 ‘‘(A) had and still has some property giving it 

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1 section (a), or as the case may be, met the definition 

2 of block pumice referred to in such subsection; 

3 ‘‘(B) was properly located and maintained 

4 under the general mining laws prior to the date of 

5 enactment of the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation 

6 Act of 2014; 

7 ‘‘(C) was supported by a discovery of a valuable 

8 mineral deposit within the meaning of the general 

9 mining laws as in effect immediately prior to the 

10 date of enactment of the Hardrock Mining and Rec11 lamation Act of 2014; and 

12 ‘‘(D) that such claim continues to be valid 

13 under this Act.’’. 

14 (b) MINERAL MATERIALS DISPOSAL CLARIFICA15 TION.—Section 4 of the Act of July 23, 1955 (30 U.S.C. 

16 612), is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (b) by inserting ‘‘and mineral 

18 material’’ after ‘‘vegetative’’; and 

19 (2) in subsection (c) by inserting ‘‘and mineral 

20 material’’ after ‘‘vegetative’’. 

21 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1 of the 

22 Act of July 31, 1947, entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the 

23 disposal of materials on the public lands of the United 

24 States’’ (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by striking 

25 ‘‘common varieties of’’ in the first sentence. 


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1 (d) SHORT TITLES.— 

2 (1) SURFACE RESOURCES.—The Act of July 

3 23, 1955, is amended by inserting after section 7 

4 the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 8. This Act may be cited as the ‘Surface Re6 sources Act of 1955’.’’. 

7 (2) MINERAL MATERIALS.—The Act of July 31, 

8 1947, entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the disposal of 

9 materials on the public of the United States’’ (30 

10 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

11 section 4 the following new section: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 5. This Act may be cited as the ‘Materials Act 

13 of 1947’.’’. 

14 (e) REPEALS.—(1) Subject to valid existing rights, 

15 the Act of August 4, 1892 (chapter 375; 27 Stat. 348; 

16 30 U.S.C. 161), commonly known as the Building Stone 

17 Act, is hereby repealed. 

18 (2) Subject to valid existing rights, the Act of Janu19 ary 31, 1901 (chapter 186; 31 Stat. 745; 30 U.S.C. 162), 

20 commonly known as the Saline Placer Act, is hereby re21 pealed. 


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1 TITLE VI—GOOD SAMARITAN 

2 CLEANUP OF ABANDONED 

3 HARDROCK MINES 

4 SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Good Samaritan 

6 Cleanup of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2014’’. 

7 SEC. 602. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

9 (1) the Federal Government and State govern10 ments have encouraged hardrock mining in the 

11 United States through a wide variety of laws, poli12 cies, and actions; 

13 (2) mining operations produce metals and min14 erals that have important social benefits and values; 

15 (3) many areas in the United States at which 

16 historic mining operations took place are now the lo17 cations of inactive and abandoned mine sites; 

18 (4) the mining activities that took place prior to 

19 the enactment of modern environmental laws often 

20 disturbed public and private land, and those disturb21 ances led to environmental pollution, including the 

22 discharge of pollutants into surface water and 

23 groundwater; 

24 (5) many of the individuals and corporate own25 ers and operators of mines the actions of which 


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1 caused the pollution described in paragraph (4) are 

2 no longer alive or in existence; 

3 (6) many of the historic mining sites have pol4 luted the environment for more than a century and, 

5 unless remedied, will continue to do so indefinitely; 

6 (7) unabated discharges from inactive and 

7 abandoned mines will continue to pollute surface 

8 water, groundwater, and soils; 

9 (8) many of the streams and water bodies im10 pacted by acid mine drainage are important re11 sources for fish and wildlife, recreation, drinking 

12 water, agriculture, and other public purposes; 

13 (9) some of the remaining owners and operators 

14 of historic mine sites do not have adequate resources 

15 to properly conduct the remediation of the mine sites 

16 under applicable environmental laws; 

17 (10) from time to time, States, individuals, and 

18 companies are willing to remediate historic mine 

19 sites for the public good as Good Samaritans, de20 spite the fact that those States, individuals, and 

21 companies are not legally required to do so; 

22 (11) Good Samaritan remediation activities 

23 may— 

24 (A) vary in size and complexity; 


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1 (B) reflect a myriad of methods by which 

2 mine residue may be cleaned up; and 

3 (C) include, among other activities— 

4 (i) the removal, relocation, or manage5 ment of tailings or other waste piles; 

6 (ii) passive or active water treatment; 

7 and 

8 (iii) runoff or runon controls; 

9 (12) the potential obligations, requirements, 

10 and liabilities under the Federal Water Pollution 

11 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.) that may at12 tach to Good Samaritans as the result of the con13 duct by the Good Samaritans of remediation activi14 ties can dissuade potential Good Samaritans from 

15 acting for the public good; 

16 (13) it is in the interest of the United States, 

17 the States, and local communities to remediate his18 toric mine sites— 

19 (A) in appropriate circumstances and to 

20 the maximum extent practicable; and 

21 (B) so that the detrimental environmental 

22 impacts of the historic mine sites are lessened 

23 in the future; and 

24 (14) if appropriate protections are provided to 

25 Good Samaritans, Good Samaritans will have a 


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1 greater incentive to remediate historic mine sites for 

2 the public good. 

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this title are— 

4 (1) to encourage the partial or complete remedi5 ation of inactive and abandoned mine sites for the 

6 public good by individuals or entities that are not le7 gally responsible for the remediation; 

8 (2) to allow any individual or entity not legally 

9 responsible for environmental conditions relating to 

10 an inactive or abandoned mine site— 

11 (A) to make further progress toward the 

12 goal of meeting water quality standards in all 

13 water of the United States; and 

14 (B) to improve other environmental media 

15 affected by past mining activities at the inactive 

16 or abandoned mine site without incurring any 

17 obligation or liability with respect to the Fed18 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

19 1251 et seq.); 

20 (3) to ensure that remediation activities per21 formed by Good Samaritans— 

22 (A) result in actual and significant envi23 ronmental benefits; and 

24 (B) are carried out— 


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1 (i) with the approval and agreement, 

2 and at the discretion, of affected Federal, 

3 State, and tribal authorities; 

4 (ii) in a manner that enables the pub5 lic to conduct a review of, and submit com6 ments relating to, the remediation activi7 ties; and 

8 (iii) in a manner that is beneficial to 

9 the environment and each community af10 fected by the remediation activities; and 

11 (4) to further the innovations of, and coopera12 tion among, the Federal Government, State and 

13 tribal governments, private individuals, and corpora14 tions to accelerate efforts relating to conservation 

15 and environmental restoration. 

16 SEC. 603. SCOPE. 

17 Nothing in this title (or an amendment made by this 

18 title)— 

19 (1) reduces any existing liability; or 

20 (2) facilitates the conduct of any mining or 

21 processing other than the conduct of any mining or 

22 processing that is required for the remediation of 

23 historic mine residue for the public good. 


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1 SEC. 604. GOOD SAMARITAN DISCHARGE PERMITS. 

2 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘(s) GOOD SAMARITAN DISCHARGE PERMITS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) COOPERATING PERSON.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘cooper9 ating person’ means any person that— 

10 ‘‘(I) is a Good Samaritan; 

11 ‘‘(II) assists a permittee in the 

12 remediation of an inactive or aban13 doned mine site; and 

14 ‘‘(III) is identified in a Good Sa15 maritan discharge permit issued 

16 under paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSION.—The term ‘cooper18 ating person’ includes the Federal Govern19 ment. 

20 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘el21 igible applicant’ means a person that— 

22 ‘‘(i) is a Good Samaritan; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) proposes a project, the purpose 

24 of which is to remediate, in whole or in 

25 part, actual or threatened pollution caused 


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1 by historic mine residue at an inactive or 

2 abandoned mine site. 

3 ‘‘(C) GOOD SAMARITAN.—The term ‘Good 

4 Samaritan’ means a person that, with respect 

5 to historic mine residue at an inactive or aban6 doned mine site— 

7 ‘‘(i) had no role in the creation of the 

8 historic mine residue; 

9 ‘‘(ii) had no role in creating any envi10 ronmental pollution caused by the historic 

11 mine residue; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) is not liable under any Federal, 

13 State, tribal, or local law for the remedi14 ation of the historic mine residue. 

15 ‘‘(D) HISTORIC MINE RESIDUE.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘historic 

17 mine residue’ means mine residue or any 

18 condition resulting from activities at an in19 active or abandoned mine site prior to Oc20 tober 18, 1972, that— 

21 ‘‘(I) causes or contributes to the 

22 actual or threatened discharge of pol23 lutants from the inactive or aban24 doned mine site; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) otherwise pollutes the envi2 ronment. 

3 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘historic 

4 mine residue’ includes— 

5 ‘‘(I) ores and minerals that— 

6 ‘‘(aa) were mined during the 

7 active operation of an inactive or 

8 abandoned mine site; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) contribute to acid 

10 mine drainage or other environ11 mental pollution; 

12 ‘‘(II) equipment (including mate13 rials in equipment); 

14 ‘‘(III) any waste or material re15 sulting from any extraction, 

16 beneficiation, or other processing ac17 tivity that occurred during the active 

18 operation of an inactive or abandoned 

19 mine site; and 

20 ‘‘(IV) any acidic or otherwise pol21 luted flow in surface water or ground22 water that originates from an inactive 

23 or abandoned mine site. 


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1 ‘‘(E) IDENTIFIABLE OWNER OR OPER2 ATOR.—The term ‘identifiable owner or oper3 ator’ means a person that is— 

4 ‘‘(i) legally responsible under section 

5 301 for a discharge that originates from 

6 an inactive or abandoned mine site; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) financially capable of complying 

8 with each requirement described in this 

9 section and section 301. 

10 ‘‘(F) INACTIVE OR ABANDONED MINE

11 SITE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘inactive 

13 or abandoned mine site’ means a mine site 

14 (including associated facilities) that— 

15 ‘‘(I) is located in the United 

16 States; 

17 ‘‘(II) was used for the production 

18 of a mineral other than coal; 

19 ‘‘(III) has historic mine residue; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(IV) is no longer actively mined 

22 on the date on which an eligible appli23 cant submits to a permitting authority 

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1 charge permit under paragraph (3)(B) 

2 for the remediation of the mine site. 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘inac4 tive or abandoned mine site’ does not in5 clude a mine site (including associated fa6 cilities) that is— 

7 ‘‘(I) in a temporary shutdown; 

8 ‘‘(II) included on the National 

9 Priorities List developed by the Presi10 dent in accordance with section 

11 105(a)(8)(B) of the Comprehensive 

12 Environmental Response, Compensa13 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

14 U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)); or 

15 ‘‘(III) the subject of an ongoing 

16 or planned remedial action carried out 

17 in accordance with the Comprehensive 

18 Environmental Response, Compensa19 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

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

21 ‘‘(G) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian 

22 tribe’ has the meaning given the term in section 

23 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu24 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 


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1 ‘‘(H) PERMITTEE.—The term ‘permittee’ 

2 means a person that is issued a Good Samari3 tan discharge permit under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(I) PERMITTING AUTHORITY.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro6 vided in clause (ii), the term ‘permitting 

7 authority’ means the Administrator. 

8 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a 

9 State or Indian tribe with an approved 

10 permitting program under paragraph 

11 (2)(B), the term ‘permitting authority’ 

12 means the head of the permitting program 

13 of the State or Indian tribe. 

14 ‘‘(J) PERSON.—The term ‘person’ in15 cludes— 

16 ‘‘(i) an individual; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a firm; 

18 ‘‘(iii) a corporation; 

19 ‘‘(iv) an association; 

20 ‘‘(v) a partnership; 

21 ‘‘(vi) a consortium; 

22 ‘‘(vii) a joint venture; 

23 ‘‘(viii) a commercial entity; 

24 ‘‘(ix) a nonprofit organization; 

25 ‘‘(x) the Federal Government; 


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1 ‘‘(xi) a State (including a political 

2 subdivision of a State); 

3 ‘‘(xii) an interstate entity; 

4 ‘‘(xiii) a commission; and 

5 ‘‘(xiv) an Indian tribe. 

6 ‘‘(2) GOOD SAMARITAN DISCHARGE PERMITS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A permitting author8 ity may issue a Good Samaritan discharge per9 mit to an eligible applicant in concurrence, if 

10 applicable, with— 

11 ‘‘(i) the State in which the proposed 

12 inactive or abandoned mine site remedi13 ation project is located; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) the Federal agency or Indian 

15 tribe that owns or has jurisdiction over the 

16 site at which the proposed inactive or 

17 abandoned mine site remediation project is 

18 located. 

19 ‘‘(B) STATE OR TRIBAL PROGRAMS.—The 

20 Administrator shall approve a State or tribal 

21 program for the issuance of Good Samaritan 

22 discharge permits if— 

23 ‘‘(i) the State or Indian tribe has, as 

24 of the date of enactment of this subsection, 


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1 authority to issue a permit under sub2 section (b); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the State or Indian tribe re4 quests such authority. 

5 ‘‘(3) PERMIT PROCESS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) SCOPE.—An eligible applicant may 

7 apply for a Good Samaritan discharge permit to 

8 conduct remediation activities at any inactive or 

9 abandoned mine site from which there is, or 

10 may be, a discharge or a threatened discharge 

11 of pollutants into any water of the United 

12 States. 

13 ‘‘(B) REMEDIATION PLAN.—To apply for a 

14 Good Samaritan discharge permit under sub15 paragraph (A), an eligible applicant shall sub16 mit to the permitting authority an application 

17 that contains a remediation plan that, to the 

18 extent known by the eligible applicant as of the 

19 date on which the application is submitted, con20 tains— 

21 ‘‘(i) an identification of— 

22 ‘‘(I) the eligible applicant (includ23 ing any cooperating person) with re24 spect to the remediation plan; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the mine site that is the 

2 subject of the remediation plan (in3 cluding such documentation as the 

4 permitting authority determines to be 

5 sufficient to demonstrate to the per6 mitting authority that the mine site is 

7 an inactive or abandoned mine site); 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(III) each body of water of the 

10 United States that is affected by ac11 tual or threatened discharges from the 

12 inactive or abandoned mine site; 

13 ‘‘(ii) a description of— 

14 ‘‘(I) the baseline conditions of 

15 each body of water described in clause 

16 (i)(III) as of the date on which the el17 igible applicant submits the applica18 tion, including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) the nature and extent 

20 of any adverse impact on the 

21 quality of each body of water 

22 caused by the drainage of historic 

23 mine residue or other discharges 

24 from the inactive or abandoned 

25 mine site; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) as applicable, the level 

2 of any pollutant in each body of 

3 water that has resulted in an ad4 verse impact described in item 

5 (aa); 

6 ‘‘(II) the conditions of the inac7 tive or abandoned mine site that cause 

8 adverse impacts to the quality of each 

9 body of water described in clause 

10 (i)(III); 

11 ‘‘(III) the reasonable efforts 

12 taken by the eligible applicant to iden13 tify identifiable owners or operators of 

14 the inactive or abandoned mine site 

15 that is the subject of the application; 

16 ‘‘(IV) each remediation goal and 

17 objective proposed by the eligible ap18 plicant, including— 

19 ‘‘(aa) each pollutant to be 

20 addressed by the remediation 

21 plan; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) each action that the 

23 eligible applicant proposes to 

24 take that, to the maximum extent 

25 reasonable and practicable under 


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1 the circumstances, will assist in 

2 the attainment of each applicable 

3 water quality standard; 

4 ‘‘(V) the practices (including a 

5 schedule and estimated completion 

6 date for the implementation of each 

7 practice) that are proposed by the eli8 gible applicant to meet each remedi9 ation goal and objective described in 

10 subclause (IV), including— 

11 ‘‘(aa) in the case of a new 

12 remediation project, the prelimi13 nary system design and construc14 tion, operation, and maintenance 

15 plans relating to the new remedi16 ation project; and 

17 ‘‘(bb) in the case of an exist18 ing remediation project, available 

19 system design and construction, 

20 operation, and maintenance plans 

21 and any planned improvements 

22 with respect to the existing reme23 diation project; 

24 ‘‘(VI) any proposed recycling or 

25 reprocessing of historic mine residue 


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1 to be conducted by the eligible appli2 cant (including a description of how 

3 each proposed recycling or reprocess4 ing activity relates to the remediation 

5 of an inactive or abandoned mine 

6 site); 

7 ‘‘(VII) the monitoring or other 

8 forms of assessment that will be un9 dertaken by the eligible applicant to 

10 evaluate the success of the practices 

11 described in subclause (V) during and 

12 after the implementation of the reme13 diation plan, with respect to the base14 line conditions; 

15 ‘‘(VIII) each contingency plan 

16 that is designed for responding to un17 planned adverse events (including the 

18 practices to be implemented to achieve 

19 each remediation goal and objective 

20 described in subclause (IV)); 

21 ‘‘(IX) the legal authority of the 

22 eligible applicant to enter, and con23 duct activities at, the inactive or 

24 abandoned mine site that is the sub25 ject of the remediation plan; and 


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1 ‘‘(X) any public outreach activity 

2 to be conducted by the eligible appli3 cant; 

4 ‘‘(iii) an explanation of the manner by 

5 which the practices described in clause 

6 (ii)(V) are expected to achieve each reme7 diation goal and objective described in 

8 clause (ii)(IV); 

9 ‘‘(iv) a schedule for the periodic re10 porting by the eligible applicant with re11 spect to any progress in implementing the 

12 remediation plan; 

13 ‘‘(v) a budget for the remediation plan 

14 that includes a description of each funding 

15 source that will support the implementa16 tion of the remediation plan, including— 

17 ‘‘(I) each practice described in 

18 clause (ii)(VIII); 

19 ‘‘(II) each action described in 

20 clause (ii)(IV)(bb); and 

21 ‘‘(III) each monitoring or other 

22 appropriate activity described in 

23 clause (ii)(VII); and 

24 ‘‘(vi) any other additional information 

25 requested by the Administrator to clarify 


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1 the remediation plan and each proposed 

2 activity covered by the remediation plan. 

3 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION OF PLAN.—An appli4 cation for a Good Samaritan discharge permit 

5 submitted by an eligible applicant to a permit6 ting authority under subparagraph (B) shall be 

7 signed and certified in a manner consistent with 

8 section 122.22 of title 40, Code of Federal Reg9 ulations. 

10 ‘‘(D) INVESTIGATIVE MEASURES.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samari12 tan discharge permit may include a pro13 gram of investigative measures to be com14 pleted prior to the remediation of the inac15 tive or abandoned mine site that is the 

16 subject of the permit if the permitting au17 thority, upon the receipt of the application 

18 of an eligible applicant for a Good Samari19 tan discharge permit, determines the pro20 gram of investigative measures to be ap21 propriate. 

22 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Any 

23 water sampling included in the program of 

24 investigative measures described in clause 

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1 cant in accordance with any applicable 

2 method described in part 136 of title 40, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations. 

4 ‘‘(iii) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO

5 SAMPLES.—In conducting a program of in6 vestigative measures described in clause 

7 (i), an eligible applicant shall— 

8 ‘‘(I) ensure that each sample col9 lected under the program is represent10 ative of the conditions present at the 

11 inactive or abandoned mine site that 

12 is the subject of the program; and 

13 ‘‘(II) retain records of all sam14 pling events for a period of not less 

15 than 3 years. 

16 ‘‘(iv) INITIAL PLAN.— 

17 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible 

18 applicant proposes to conduct a pro19 gram of investigative measures, the el20 igible applicant shall submit to the 

21 permitting authority a plan that con22 tains, to the extent known by the eli23 gible applicant as of the date on which 

24 the eligible applicant submits the ap25 plication— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) each description re2 quired under subclauses (I), (II), 

3 and (IV) through (VIII) of sub4 paragraph (B)(ii); 

5 ‘‘(bb) the explanation re6 quired under subparagraph 

7 (B)(iii); 

8 ‘‘(cc) the schedule required 

9 under subparagraph (B)(iv); and 

10 ‘‘(dd) the budget required 

11 under subparagraph (B)(v). 

12 ‘‘(II) RESPONSIBILITY TO SUP13 PLEMENT DESCRIPTIONS.—An eligible 

14 applicant that conducts a program of 

15 investigative measures shall, based on 

16 the results of the program, supple17 ment each item described in subclause 

18 (I), as necessary. 

19 ‘‘(v) REPORT OF RESULTS.—The re20 sults of the program of investigative meas21 ures shall be— 

22 ‘‘(I) detailed in a report for the 

23 permitting agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) made available by the appli2 cant to any member of the public that 

3 requests the report. 

4 ‘‘(vi) PERMIT MODIFICATION.—Based 

5 upon the results of the investigative meas6 ures, a Good Samaritan discharge permit 

7 may be modified pursuant to the permit 

8 procedures described in this subsection. 

9 ‘‘(vii) OPTION TO DECLINE REMEDI10 ATION.—A Good Samaritan discharge per11 mit may allow the permittee to decline to 

12 undertake remediation based on the results 

13 of the investigative sampling program, if— 

14 ‘‘(I) the program of investigative 

15 measures is authorized under this 

16 subparagraph; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the activities under the pro18 gram of investigative measures have 

19 not resulted in surface water quality 

20 conditions, taken as a whole, that are 

21 worse than the baseline condition of 

22 bodies of water described in subpara23 graph (B)(ii)(I). 

24 ‘‘(E) REVIEW OF APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) INITIAL REVIEW.—The permit2 ting authority shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) review each application sub4 mitted by an eligible applicant for a 

5 Good Samaritan discharge permit; 

6 ‘‘(II) provide to the public, with 

7 respect to the Good Samaritan dis8 charge permit— 

9 ‘‘(aa) notice and a reason10 able opportunity to comment; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(bb) a public hearing; 

13 ‘‘(III) if the Administrator is the 

14 permitting authority, provide a copy 

15 of the application to each affected 

16 State, Indian tribe, and other Federal 

17 agency; and 

18 ‘‘(IV) determine whether the ap19 plication for the Good Samaritan dis20 charge permit meets each requirement 

21 described in subparagraph (B). 

22 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS NOT MET.—If 

23 the permitting authority determines that 

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1 ment described in subparagraph (B), the 

2 permitting authority shall— 

3 ‘‘(I) notify the eligible applicant 

4 that the application is disapproved 

5 and explain the reasons for the dis6 approval; and 

7 ‘‘(II) allow the eligible applicant 

8 to submit a revised application. 

9 ‘‘(iii) REQUIREMENTS MET.—If the 

10 permitting authority determines that an 

11 application for a Good Samaritan dis12 charge permit meets each requirement de13 scribed in subparagraph (B), the permit14 ting authority shall notify the eligible ap15 plicant that the application is accepted. 

16 ‘‘(F) PERMIT ISSUANCE.—After notice and 

17 opportunity for public comment with respect to 

18 a Good Samaritan discharge permit proposed 

19 by a permitting authority to be issued under 

20 this subsection (including any additional re21 quirement that the permitting authority deter22 mines would facilitate the implementation of 

23 this subsection), the permitting authority may 

24 issue a permit to an eligible applicant if— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the permitting authority deter2 mines that— 

3 ‘‘(I) relative to the resources 

4 identified by the eligible applicant for 

5 funding the proposed remediation ac6 tivity, the eligible applicant has made 

7 a reasonable effort to identify identifi8 able owners or operators under sub9 paragraph (B)(ii)(III); 

10 ‘‘(II) no identifiable owner or op11 erator exists (except, with respect to 

12 Federal land, where the only identifi13 able owner or operator is the Federal 

14 Government); 

15 ‘‘(III) taking into consideration 

16 each funding source (including the 

17 amount of each funding source) iden18 tified by the eligible applicant for the 

19 proposed remediation activity in ac20 cordance with subparagraph (B)(v), 

21 the remediation plan of the eligible 

22 applicant demonstrates that the im23 plementation of the remediation plan 

24 will— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) assist in the attain2 ment of applicable water quality 

3 standards to the extent reason4 able and practicable under the 

5 circumstances; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) not result in water 

7 quality that is worse than the 

8 baseline water condition de9 scribed in subparagraph 

10 (B)(ii)(I); 

11 ‘‘(IV) the eligible applicant has 

12 provided adequate evidence of finan13 cial resources that will enable the eli14 gible applicant to complete the pro15 posed project of the eligible applicant; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(V) the proposed project of the 

18 eligible applicant meets the require19 ments of this section; 

20 ‘‘(ii) any Federal, State, or tribal land 

21 management agency with jurisdiction over 

22 any inactive or abandoned mine site that is 

23 the subject of the proposed permit, or any 

24 public trustee for natural resources af25 fected by historic mine residue associated 


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1 with any inactive or abandoned mine site 

2 that is the subject of the proposed permit, 

3 does not object to the issuance of the per4 mit; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) if the Administrator is the per6 mitting authority, the affected State or In7 dian tribe concurs with the issuance of the 

8 permit. 

9 ‘‘(G) DEADLINE RELATING TO APPROVAL

10 OR DENIAL OF APPLICATION.—Not later than 

11 180 days after the date of receipt by a permit12 ting authority of an application for a Good Sa13 maritan discharge permit that the permitting 

14 authority determines to be complete, the per15 mitting authority shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) issue to the eligible applicant a 

17 Good Samaritan discharge permit; or 

18 ‘‘(ii) deny the application of the eligi19 ble applicant for a Good Samaritan dis20 charge permit. 

21 ‘‘(H) MODIFICATION OF PERMIT.— 

22 ‘‘(i) APPROVAL AND DISAPPROVAL

23 PROCESS.—In accordance with clause (ii), 

24 after the date of receipt by a permitting 

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1 mittee to modify the Good Samaritan dis2 charge permit of the permittee, the permit3 ting authority shall approve or disapprove 

4 the request for modification. 

5 ‘‘(ii) PERMIT MODIFICATION.—A per6 mit modification that is approved by a per7 mitting authority under this subparagraph 

8 shall be— 

9 ‘‘(I) by agreement between the 

10 permittee and the permitting author11 ity and, if the Administrator is the 

12 permitting authority, the affected 

13 State or Indian tribe; 

14 ‘‘(II) subject to— 

15 ‘‘(aa) a period of public no16 tice and comment; and 

17 ‘‘(bb) a public hearing; 

18 ‘‘(III) in compliance with each 

19 standard described in subparagraph 

20 (F)(i)(III); and 

21 ‘‘(IV) immediately reflected in, 

22 and applicable to, the Good Samaritan 

23 discharge permit. 

24 ‘‘(4) CONTENTS OF PERMITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samaritan 

2 discharge permit shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) contain— 

4 ‘‘(I) a remediation plan approved 

5 by the permitting authority; and 

6 ‘‘(II) any additional requirement 

7 that the permitting authority estab8 lishes by regulation under paragraph 

9 (10); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) provide for compliance with, and 

11 implementation of, the remediation plan 

12 and any additional requirement described 

13 in clause (i)(II). 

14 ‘‘(B) SCOPE.—A Good Samaritan dis15 charge permit shall authorize only those activi16 ties that are required for the remediation of 

17 historic mine residue at an inactive or aban18 doned mine site, as determined by the permit19 ting authority. 

20 ‘‘(C) REVIEW.—A Good Samaritan dis21 charge permit shall contain a schedule for re22 view, to be conducted by the permitting author23 ity, to determine compliance by the permittee 

24 with each condition and limitation of the per25 mit. 


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1 ‘‘(5) EFFECT OF PERMIT COMPLIANCE.— 

2 ‘‘(A) COMPLIANCE WITH ACT.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A Good Samari4 tan discharge permit issued under this 

5 subsection shall authorize the permittee, 

6 and any cooperating persons, to carry out 

7 each activity described in the Good Samar8 itan discharge permit. 

9 ‘‘(ii) COMPLIANCE WITH PERMIT.— 

10 Compliance by the permittee, and any co11 operating persons, with respect to the 

12 Good Samaritan discharge permit shall 

13 constitute compliance with this Act. 

14 ‘‘(B) SCOPE OF LIABILITY.—Except as 

15 provided in paragraph (6), the issuance of a 

16 Good Samaritan discharge permit to a per17 mittee relieves the permittee, and any cooper18 ating person, of each obligation and liability 

19 under this Act. 

20 ‘‘(6) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a permittee, or 

21 any cooperating person fails to comply with any con22 dition or limitation of the permit, the permittee, or 

23 cooperating person, shall be subject to liability only 

24 under section 309. 

25 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION OF PERMIT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A permitting author2 ity shall terminate a Good Samaritan discharge 

3 permit if— 

4 ‘‘(i) the permittee successfully com5 pletes the implementation of the remedi6 ation plan; or 

7 ‘‘(ii)(I) any discharge covered by the 

8 Good Samaritan discharge permit becomes 

9 subject to a permit issued for other devel10 opment that is not part of the implementa11 tion of the remediation plan; 

12 ‘‘(II) the permittee seeking termi13 nation of coverage, and any cooperating 

14 person with respect to the remediation 

15 plan of the permittee, is not a participant 

16 in the development; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the permitting authority, upon 

18 request of the permittee, agrees that the 

19 permit should be terminated. 

20 ‘‘(B) UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro22 vided in clause (ii), the permitting author23 ity, in cooperation with the permittee, shall 

24 seek to modify a Good Samaritan dis25 charge permit to take into account any 


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1 event or condition encountered by the per2 mittee if the event or condition encoun3 tered by the permittee— 

4 ‘‘(I) significantly reduces the fea5 sibility, or significantly increases the 

6 cost, of completing the remediation 

7 project that is the subject of the Good 

8 Samaritan discharge permit; 

9 ‘‘(II) was not— 

10 ‘‘(aa) contemplated by the 

11 permittee; or 

12 ‘‘(bb) taken into account in 

13 the remediation plan of the per14 mittee; and 

15 ‘‘(III) is beyond the control of 

16 the permittee, as determined by the 

17 permitting authority. 

18 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—If a permittee de19 scribed in clause (i) does not agree to a 

20 modification of the Good Samaritan dis21 charge permit of the permittee, or the per22 mitting authority determines that remedi23 ation activities conducted by the permittee 

24 pursuant to the permit have resulted or 

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1 tions that, taken as a whole, are or will be 

2 worse than the baseline water conditions 

3 described in paragraph (3)(B)(ii)(I), the 

4 permitting authority shall terminate the 

5 permit. 

6 ‘‘(C) NO ENFORCEMENT LIABILITY.— 

7 ‘‘(i) DISCHARGES.—Subject to clause 

8 (ii), and except as provided in clause (iii), 

9 the permittee of a permit, or a cooperating 

10 person with respect to the remediation 

11 plan of the permittee, shall not be subject 

12 to enforcement under any provision of this 

13 Act for liability for any past, present, or 

14 future discharges at or from the aban15 doned or inactive mining site that is the 

16 subject of the permit. 

17 ‘‘(ii) OTHER PARTIES.—Clause (i) 

18 does not limit the liability of any person 

19 that is not described in clause (i). 

20 ‘‘(iii) VIOLATION OF PERMIT PRIOR

21 TO TERMINATION.—The discharge of liabil22 ity for a permittee of a permit, or a co23 operating person with respect to the reme24 diation plan of the permittee, under clause 

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1 lation of the permit that occurs before the 

2 date on which the permit is terminated. 

3 ‘‘(8) LIMITATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY POWERS.—Nothing in 

5 this subsection limits the authority of the Ad6 ministrator to exercise any emergency power 

7 under section 504 with respect to persons other 

8 than a permittee and any cooperating persons. 

9 ‘‘(B) PRIOR VIOLATIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) ACTIONS AND RELIEF.—Except 

11 as provided in clause (ii), with respect to 

12 a violation of this subsection or section 

13 301(a) committed by any person prior to 

14 the issuance of a Good Samaritan dis15 charge permit under this subsection, the 

16 issuance of the Good Samaritan discharge 

17 permit does not preclude any enforcement 

18 action under section 309. 

19 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(I) SCOPE OF PERMIT.—If a 

21 Good Samaritan discharge permit cov22 ers remediation activities carried out 

23 by the permittee on a date before the 

24 issuance of the Good Samaritan dis25 charge permit, clause (i) shall not 


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1 apply to any action that is based on 

2 any condition that results from the re3 mediation activities. 

4 ‘‘(II) OTHER PARTIES.—A per5 mittee shall not be subject to any ac6 tion under sections 309 or 505 for 

7 any violation committed by any other 

8 party. 

9 ‘‘(C) OBLIGATIONS OF STATES AND INDIAN

10 TRIBES.—Except as otherwise provided in this 

11 section, nothing in this subsection limits any 

12 obligation of a State or Indian tribe described 

13 in section 303. 

14 ‘‘(D) OTHER DEVELOPMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any development 

16 of an inactive or abandoned mine site (in17 cluding any activity relating to mineral ex18 ploration, processing, beneficiation, or min19 ing), including development by a permittee 

20 or any cooperating person, not authorized 

21 in a permit issued by the permitting au22 thority under this subsection shall be sub23 ject to this Act. 

24 ‘‘(ii) COMMINGLING OF DIS25 CHARGES.—The commingling of any other 


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1 discharge or water with any discharge or 

2 water subject to a Good Samaritan dis3 charge permit issued under this subsection 

4 shall not limit or reduce the liability of any 

5 person associated with the water or dis6 charge that is not subject to the Good Sa7 maritan discharge permit. 

8 ‘‘(E) RECOVERABLE VALUE.—A Good Sa9 maritan to whom a permit is issued may sell or 

10 use materials recovered during the implementa11 tion of the plan only if the proceeds of any such 

12 sale are used to defray the costs of— 

13 ‘‘(i) remediation of the site addressed 

14 in the permit; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) voluntary remediation of any 

16 other inactive or abandoned mine site cov17 ered by a permit issued under this section. 

18 ‘‘(F) STATE CERTIFICATION.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro20 vided in clause (ii), to the extent that this 

21 subsection relates to water quality stand22 ards, certification under section 401 shall 

23 not apply to any Good Samaritan dis24 charge permit issued under this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—In any case in 

2 which certification under section 401 

3 would otherwise be required, no Good Sa4 maritan discharge permit shall be issued 

5 by a permitting authority under this sub6 section without the concurrence of— 

7 ‘‘(I) the State in which the site of 

8 the discharge is located; or 

9 ‘‘(II) the Indian tribe that owns 

10 or has jurisdiction over the site on 

11 which a remediation project is pro12 posed. 

13 ‘‘(G) STATE AND TRIBAL RECLAMATION

14 PROGRAMS.—No State, Indian tribe, or other 

15 person shall be required to obtain a Good Sa16 maritan discharge permit pursuant to this sub17 section for any discharge, including any dis18 charge associated with the remediation of an in19 active or abandoned mine site with respect to 

20 the conduct of reclamation work under a State 

21 or tribal abandoned mine reclamation plan ap22 proved under title IV of the Surface Mining 

23 Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 

24 U.S.C. 1231 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(9) LIABILITY OF OTHER PARTIES.—Nothing 

2 in this subsection (including any result caused by 

3 any action taken by a permittee or a cooperating 

4 person) limits the liability of any person other than 

5 a permittee or a cooperating person under this Act 

6 or any other law. 

7 ‘‘(10) REGULATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), not later than 1 year after the date 

10 of enactment of this subsection, after providing 

11 for public notice and an opportunity to com12 ment and a public hearing, the Administrator, 

13 in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte14 rior and the Secretary of Agriculture, and ap15 propriate State, tribal, and local officials, shall 

16 promulgate regulations to establish— 

17 ‘‘(i) generally applicable requirements 

18 for remediation plans described in para19 graph (3)(B); and 

20 ‘‘(ii) any other requirement that the 

21 Administrator determines to be necessary. 

22 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS BEFORE

23 PROMULGATION OF REGULATIONS.—Before the 

24 date on which the Administrator promulgates 

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1 ting authority may establish, on a case-by-case 

2 basis, specific requirements that the permitting 

3 authority determines would facilitate the imple4 mentation of this subsection with respect to a 

5 Good Samaritan discharge permit issued to a 

6 permittee. 

7 ‘‘(11) FUNDING.— 

8 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY FOR SECTION 319

9 GRANTS.—A permittee shall be eligible to apply 

10 for a grant under section 319(h). 

11 ‘‘(B) GRANTS.—Subject to the availability 

12 of appropriated funds, the Administrator may 

13 award to any permittee a grant to assist the 

14 permittee in implementing a remediation plan 

15 with respect to a Good Samaritan discharge 

16 permit of the permittee. 

17 ‘‘(12) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

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

19 before the date of termination of the authority 

20 of the permitting authority under paragraph 

21 (13), the Administrator shall submit to Con22 gress a report describing the activities author23 ized by this subsection. 


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

2 under subparagraph (A) shall contain, at a 

3 minimum— 

4 ‘‘(i) a description of— 

5 ‘‘(I) each Good Samaritan dis6 charge permit issued under this sub7 section; 

8 ‘‘(II) each permittee; 

9 ‘‘(III) each inactive or abandoned 

10 mine site addressed by a Good Samar11 itan discharge permit issued under 

12 this subsection (including each body 

13 of water and the baseline water qual14 ity of each body of water affected by 

15 each inactive or abandoned mine site); 

16 ‘‘(IV) the status of the implemen17 tation of each remediation plan associ18 ated with each Good Samaritan dis19 charge permit issued under this sub20 section (including specific progress 

21 that each remediation activity con22 ducted by a permittee pursuant to 

23 each Good Samaritan discharge per24 mit has made toward achieving the 


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1 goals and objectives of the remedi2 ation plan); and 

3 ‘‘(V) each enforcement action 

4 taken by the Administrator or applica5 ble State or Indian tribe concerning a 

6 Good Samaritan discharge permit 

7 issued under this subsection (includ8 ing the disposition of the action); 

9 ‘‘(ii) a summary of each remediation 

10 plan associated with a Good Samaritan 

11 discharge permit issued under this sub12 section, including— 

13 ‘‘(I) the goals and objectives of 

14 the remediation plan; 

15 ‘‘(II) the budget of the activities 

16 conducted pursuant to the remedi17 ation plan; and 

18 ‘‘(III) the practices to be em19 ployed by each permittee in accord20 ance with the remediation plan of the 

21 permittee to reduce, control, mitigate, 

22 or eliminate adverse impacts to the 

23 quality of applicable bodies of water; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any recommendations that may 

2 be proposed by the Administrator to mod3 ify any law (including this subsection and 

4 any regulation promulgated under para5 graph (10)) to facilitate the improvement 

6 of water quality through the remediation of 

7 inactive or abandoned mine sites. 

8 ‘‘(13) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The au9 thority granted to the permitting authority under 

10 this subsection to issue Good Samaritan discharge 

11 permits terminates on the date that is 10 years after 

12 the date of enactment of this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(14) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this 

14 subsection, or the application of any provision of this 

15 subsection to any person or circumstance, is held in16 valid, the application of such provision to other per17 sons or circumstances, and the remainder of this 

18 subsection, shall not be affected thereby.’’. 

Æ 


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