I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1085

To address certain anachronistic provisions of the general mining laws, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 15, 2001

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

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To address certain anachronistic provisions of the general

mining laws, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mining Claim Mainte5 nance Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

7 Any reference in this Act to the ‘‘general mining

8 laws’’ is a reference to those Acts which generally com9 prise chapters 2, 12A, 16, 161 and 162 of title 30 of the

10 United States Code.
2

•HR 1085 IH

1 TITLE I—MINING CLAIM FEES

2 SEC. 101. MAINTENANCE FEE.

3 (a) CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE.—Except as provided

4 in subsections (c), (d), and (e), the holder of each

5 unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site located pursu6 ant to the general mining laws, whether located before or

7 after the enactment of this Act, shall pay to the Secretary

8 of the Interior, on or before August 31 of each year, a

9 claim maintenance fee of $100 per claim. Such claim

10 maintenance fee shall be in lieu of the assessment work

11 requirement contained in the general mining laws and the

12 related filing requirements contained in section 314 (a)

13 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976

14 (43 U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c)).

15 (b) TIME OF PAYMENT.—The claim maintenance fee

16 payable pursuant to subsection (a) for any assessment

17 year (as defined under the general mining laws) shall be

18 paid before the commencement of the assessment year.

19 The location fee imposed under section 102 shall be pay20 able not later than 90 days after the date of location.

21 (c) OIL SHALE CLAIMS SUBJECT TO CLAIM MAINTE22 NANCE FEES UNDER ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992.—

23 This section shall not apply to any oil shale claims for

24 which a fee is required to be paid under section 2511(e)(2)
3

•HR 1085 IH

1 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 3111; 30

2 U.S.C. 242).

3 (d) WAIVER FOR PATENT APPLICANTS.—(1) The

4 Secretary may waive the claim maintenance fee required

5 under this section for a claimant who certifies in writing

6 to the Secretary that on the date the payment was due,

7 the claimant and all related parties—

8 (A) had filed a patent application with the Sec9 retary on or before September 30, 1994; and

10 (B) had fully complied with all requirements es11 tablished under sections 2325 and 2326 of the Re12 vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or

13 lode claims and sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and

14 2333 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and

15 37) for placer claims, and section 2337 of the Re16 vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 42) for mill site claims, by

17 that date.

18 (e) EXCEPTIONS FOR CLAIMANTS HOLDING 10 OR

19 FEWER MINING CLAIMS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A claimant may elect to per21 form the assessment work required under the gen22 eral mining laws in lieu of paying the maintenance

23 fee required under this section if the claimant who

24 certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the date
4

•HR 1085 IH

1 the payment was due, the claimant and all related

2 parties—

3 (A) are producing hard rock minerals

4 under a valid notice or plan of operation which

5 production results in not less than $1,500 and

6 not more than $800,000 in gross revenues per

7 year from a total of 10 or fewer claims, as cer8 tified by the claimant;

9 (B) are performing exploration work to

10 disclose, expose, or otherwise make known pos11 sible valuable mineralization on a total of 10 or

12 fewer claims under a valid notice or plan of op13 eration; and

14 (C) have less than 10 acres of unreclaimed

15 surface disturbance from such mining activity

16 or such exploration work.

17 (2) CLAIMANTS ELECTING TO DO ASSESSMENT

18 WORK.—A claimant holding 10 or fewer mining

19 claims, who elects to do the assessment work re20 quired by the general mining laws in lieu of paying

21 the claim maintenance fee required under this sec22 tion shall be required to meet the filing requirements

23 of section 314(a) and (c) of the Federal Land Policy

24 and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c))

25 on such 10 or fewer claims and shall certify the per-
5

•HR 1085 IH

1 formance of such assessment work to the Secretary

2 of the Interior by August 31 of each year.

3 (3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec4 tion:

5 (1) With respect to any claimant, the term

6 ‘‘related party’’ means—

7 (A) the spouse and dependent children

8 (as defined in section 152 of the Internal

9 Revenue Code of 1986), of the claimant;

10 and

11 (B) a person who controls, is con12 trolled by, or is under common control with

13 the claimant.

14 (2) The term ‘‘control’’ includes actual

15 control, legal control, and the power to exercise

16 control, through or by common directors, offi17 cers, stockholders, a voting trust, or a holding

18 company or investment company, or any other

19 means.

20 SEC. 102. LOCATION FEE.

21 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for every

22 unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site located after

23 the date of enactment of this title, pursuant to the general

24 mining laws, the locator shall, at the time the location no25 tice is recorded with the Bureau of Land Management,
6

•HR 1085 IH

1 pay to the Secretary of the Interior a location fee, in addi2 tion to the claim maintenance fee required by section 101,

3 of $25.00 per claim.

4 SEC. 103. CO-OWNERSHIP.

5 The co-ownership provisions of the general mining

6 laws shall remain in effect, except that in applying such

7 provisions, the annual claim maintenance fee required

8 under this title shall, where applicable, replace applicable

9 assessment requirements and expenditures.

10 SEC. 104. FAILURE TO PAY.

11 Failure to pay the claim maintenance fee or the loca12 tion fee on the date due as required by this title shall con13 clusively constitute a forfeiture of the unpatented mining

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

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

16 SEC. 105. OTHER REQUIREMENTS.

17 (a) FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT

18 REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this title shall change or

19 modify the requirements of section 314(b) of the Federal

20 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.

21 1744(b)), of the Federal Land Policy and Management

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

23 by section 314(b), and such requirements shall remain in

24 effect with respect to claims, and mill or tunnel sites for

25 which fees are required to be paid under this section.
7

•HR 1085 IH

1 (b) REVISED STATUTES SECTION 2324.—The third

2 sentence of section 2324 of the Revised Statutes (30

3 U.S.C. 28) is amended by inserting after ‘‘On each claim

4 located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and

5 seventy-two,’’ the following: ‘‘that is granted a waiver

6 under section 101 (d) or (e) of the Mining Claim Mainte7 nance Act of 2001’’.

8 (c) FEE ADJUSTMENTS.—(1) The Secretary of the

9 Interior shall adjust the fees required by this title to re10 flect changes in the Consumer Price Index published by

11 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of

12 Labor every 5 years after the date of the enactment of

13 this Act, or more frequently if the Secretary determines

14 an adjustment to be reasonable.

15 (2) The Secretary shall provide claimants notice of

16 any adjustment made under this subsection not later than

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

18 (3) A fee adjustment under this subsection shall

19 begin to apply the first assessment year (as defined under

20 the general mining laws) which begins at noon on the first

21 day of September after the adjustment is made.

22 SEC. 106. REGULATIONS.

23 The Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate rules

24 and regulations to carry out the terms and conditions of
8

•HR 1085 IH

1 this title as soon as practicable after the date of the enact2 ment of this title.

3 TITLE II—LIMITATION ON

4 PATENTS

5 SEC. 201. MINING CLAIMS

6 After the date of enactment of this Act, no patent

7 shall be issued by the United States for any mining claim

8 located under the general mining laws or under this Act

9 unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim

10 concerned—

11 (1) a patent application was filed with the Sec12 retary on or before September 30, 1994; and

13 (2) all requirements established under sections

14 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C.

15 29 and 30) for vein or lode claims and sections

16 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of the Revised Statutes

17 (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and 37) for placer claims were

18 fully complied with by that date.

19 If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to in

20 paragraphs (1) and (2) for any mining claim, the holder

21 of the claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent

22 in the same manner and degree to which such claim holder

23 would have been entitled to prior to the enactment of this

24 Act, unless and until such determinations are withdrawn
9

•HR 1085 IH

1 or invalidated by the Secretary or by a court of the United

2 States.

3 SEC. 202. MILL SITES.

4 After the date of enactment of this Act, no patent

5 shall be issued by the United States for any mill site claim

6 located under the general mining laws unless the Secretary

7 determines that for the mill site concerned—

8 (1) a patent application for such land was filed

9 with the Secretary on or before September 30, 1994;

10 and

11 (2) all requirements applicable to such patent

12 application were fully complied with by that date.

13 If the Secretary makes the determinations referred

14 to in paragraphs (1) and (2) for any mill site claim, the

15 holder of the claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a

16 patent in the same manner and degree to which such claim

17 holder would have been entitled to prior to the enactment

18 of this Act, unless and until such determinations are with19 drawn or invalidated by the Secretary or by a court of

20 the United States.

Æ