II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1660

To improve water quality on abandoned and inactive mine land, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2003

Mr. CAMPBELL (for himself, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. ALLARD, and Mr. REID) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL

To improve water quality on abandoned and inactive mine 

land, 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 ‘‘Good Samaritan Aban5 doned and Inactive Mine Remediation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Federal Government has encouraged, 

9 through various laws and policies, the development 
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1 of gold, silver, and other minerals, especially in the 

2 West; 

3 (2) development of the resources referred to in 

4 paragraph (1) has—

5 (A) helped create a strong economy; and 

6 (B) provided strategic materials to achieve 

7 maximum production of the metals that were 

8 essential to victory in World War I and World 

9 War II; 

10 (3) during World War I and World War II, the 

11 Federal Government actively encouraged mining and 

12 milling operations, including the design and place13 ment of mine tailings and waste rock piles, prac14 tices—

15 (A) that were not governed by any Federal 

16 or State environmental laws during that period; 

17 (B) the impact of which on the environ18 ment and public health were unknown; and 

19 (C) that since that period, have been—

20 (i) found to be harmful to the environ21 ment; and 

22 (ii) made illegal; 

23 (4) the result of the practices is a legacy of 

24 abandoned and inactive mine sites, many of which 

25 are on Federal land, that—
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1 (A) have been unreclaimed or, based on ex2 isting environmental standards, inadequately re3 claimed; and 

4 (B) continue to pose environmental and 

5 safety hazards; 

6 (5) the cleanup of the abandoned and inactive 

7 mine sites is hampered primarily by concerns about 

8 the potential liability associated with the cleanup. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili10 tate the cleanup of abandoned and inactive mine sites by 

11 limiting the potential liability of persons cleaning up the 

12 sites. 

13 SEC. 3. ABANDONED AND INACTIVE MINE REMEDIATION 

14 PERMITS. 

15 Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

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

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(r) ABANDONED AND INACTIVE MINE REMEDI19 ATION PERMITS.—

20 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

21 ‘‘(A) ABANDONED OR INACTIVE MINE

22 LAND.—

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘aban24 doned or inactive mine land’ means land—
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1 ‘‘(I) that was actively mined for 

2 noncoal resources; 

3 ‘‘(II) that is not—

4 ‘‘(aa) being actively mined 

5 for noncoal resources; or 

6 ‘‘(bb) subject to a temporary 

7 shutdown; and 

8 ‘‘(III) with respect to which there 

9 is no identifiable or economically via10 ble owner or operator of record for 

11 the mine or mine facilities. 

12 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘aban13 doned or inactive mine land’ does not in14 clude—

15 ‘‘(I) a site listed on the National 

16 Priorities List under the Comprehen17 sive Environmental Response, Com18 pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 

19 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.); or 

20 ‘‘(II) a brownfield site (as de21 fined in section 101 of that Act (42 

22 U.S.C. 9601). 

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

24 an abandoned or inactive mine remediation per25 mit described in paragraph (2). 
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1 ‘‘(C) PERMITTING AGENT.—The term ‘per2 mitting agent’ means—

3 ‘‘(i) the Administrator; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the head of a State program that 

5 is authorized by the Administrator to issue 

6 and administer permits under this sub7 section. 

8 ‘‘(D) REMEDIATING PARTY.—

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘remedi10 ating party’ means any of the following 

11 persons or entities that carries out the re12 mediation of an abandoned or inactive 

13 mine land: 

14 ‘‘(I)(aa) The United States, a 

15 State, a political subdivision of a 

16 State, or an Indian tribe; or 

17 ‘‘(bb) any officer, employee, or 

18 contractor of the United States, a 

19 State, a political subdivision of a 

20 State, or an Indian tribe. 

21 ‘‘(II) A corporation. 

22 ‘‘(III) Any person or entity act23 ing in cooperation with the permittee 

24 with respect to the abandoned or inac25 tive mine land.
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1 ‘‘(ii) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘reme2 diating party’ does not include a person or 

3 entity described in clause (i) that, with re4 spect to the abandoned or inactive mine 

5 land that is being remediated, has been de6 termined to be legally responsible or in ma7 terial noncompliance with section 301(a). 

8 ‘‘(E) UNANTICIPATED EVENT OR CONDI9 TION.—The term ‘unanticipated event or condi10 tion’ means an event or condition that was not 

11 contemplated by the permit. 

12 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—The permitting agent may 

13 issue an abandoned or inactive mine remediation 

14 permit for the conduct of remediation activities on 

15 abandoned or inactive mine land from which there is 

16 or may be a discharge of pollutants to bodies of 

17 water of the United States. 

18 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION FOR PERMIT.—

19 ‘‘(A) COMPONENTS.—

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to 

21 receive a permit under this subsection, the 

22 remediating party shall submit to the per23 mitting agent an application that includes 

24 a remediation plan that—

25 ‘‘(I) identifies—
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1 ‘‘(aa) the remediating party; 

2 ‘‘(bb) any agents or contrac3 tors of the remediating party; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(cc) any persons cooper6 ating with the remediating party 

7 with respect to the remediation 

8 plan; 

9 ‘‘(II) describes the reasonable ef10 forts of the remediating party to iden11 tify current owners, lessees, and 

12 claimants of the abandoned or inactive 

13 mine land addressed by the remedi14 ation plan; 

15 ‘‘(III) certifies that the remedi16 ating party qualifies as a remediating 

17 party under paragraph (1)(D); 

18 ‘‘(IV) identifies that the site ad19 dressed by the plan is—

20 ‘‘(aa) abandoned or inactive 

21 mine land; and 

22 ‘‘(bb) eligible for a permit 

23 under this Act; 
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1 ‘‘(V) identifies the bodies of 

2 water of the United States affected by 

3 the abandoned or inactive mine land; 

4 ‘‘(VI) describes the baseline con5 dition of the bodies of water identified 

6 under subclause (V), in accordance 

7 with requirements established by the 

8 permitting authority, as of the date of 

9 the permit application (including any 

10 conditions that make numeric moni11 toring of a baseline preexisting dis12 charge physically or economically in13 feasible); 

14 ‘‘(VII) describes the physical con15 ditions at the site that are causing or 

16 believed to be causing adverse water 

17 quality impacts; 

18 ‘‘(VIII) describes the goals and 

19 objectives of remediation, including 

20 the pollutant or pollutants to be ad21 dressed by the remediation plan; 

22 ‘‘(IX)(aa) describes the practices 

23 that are proposed to reduce, control, 

24 mitigate, or eliminate the impacts of 

25 adverse water quality, including the 
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1 preliminary system design and con2 struction, operation, and maintenance 

3 plans; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) includes a schedule and es5 timated completion date of the prac6 tices; 

7 ‘‘(X) applies site-specific best 

8 available technology, using best pro9 fessional judgment, to explain how the 

10 practices described in subclause (IX) 

11 are expected to improve the quality of 

12 the bodies of water identified under 

13 subclause (V); 

14 ‘‘(XI) describes—

15 ‘‘(aa) site-specific moni16 toring or other forms of assess17 ment to be used to evaluate the 

18 success of the practices during 

19 and after implementation of the 

20 remediation plan in improving 

21 the quality of the water identified 

22 under subclause (V); and 

23 ‘‘(bb) the duration of the 

24 monitoring or assessment;
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1 ‘‘(XII)(aa) describes any extrac2 tion, processing, or removal of min3 erals for remediation or commercial 

4 sale; and 

5 ‘‘(bb) states that 100 percent of 

6 the net profits generated through the 

7 use or commercial sale of minerals 

8 under item (aa) that will be—

9 ‘‘(AA) used for future reme10 diation; or 

11 ‘‘(BB) deposited in a des12 ignated remediation fund; 

13 ‘‘(XIII) provides a schedule for 

14 periodic reporting on progress in im15 plementing the remediation plan; and 

16 ‘‘(XIV)(aa) provides a budget for 

17 the remediation plan; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) identifies any potential 

19 funding sources for carrying out the 

20 remediation plan. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CERTIFICATION BY CORPORA22 TION.—

23 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In addition 

24 to the requirements under clause (i), 

25 an application submitted by a cor-
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1 poration shall include a certification 

2 in accordance with paragraph 

3 (1)(D)(ii) that, based on the knowl4 edge and belief of the officers and di5 rectors of the corporation, neither the 

6 corporation nor any wholly owned 

7 subsidiary of the corporation is legally 

8 responsible for or in material non9 compliance with section 301(a) or an 

10 equivalent State law for the site pro11 posed to be remediated. 

12 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION.—If at any 

13 time the permitting agent determines 

14 that the certification under subclause 

15 (I) is incorrect, the corporation—

16 ‘‘(aa) shall not be entitled to 

17 the protection under this sub18 section; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) shall be subject to li20 ability under this section or sec21 tion 301, 302, or 402. 

22 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF AP23 PLICATION.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

25 120 days after the date of receipt of an ap-
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1 plication under subparagraph (A), the per2 mitting agent shall approve or disapprove 

3 the application. 

4 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Before 

5 approving or disapproving an application 

6 under clause (i), the permitting agent shall 

7 provide to the public—

8 ‘‘(I) notice of the application; and 

9 ‘‘(II) an opportunity for public 

10 comment on the application. 

11 ‘‘(iii) APPROVAL.—The permitting 

12 agent shall approve an application under 

13 clause (i) and issue a permit to the remedi14 ating party if the permitting agent deter15 mines that—

16 ‘‘(I) the remediating party has 

17 made a reasonable effort (relative to 

18 the resources available to the remedi19 ating party for the proposed remedi20 ation activity) to identify persons 

21 under subparagraph (A)(i)(II); 

22 ‘‘(II) the implementation of the 

23 remediation plan would improve the 

24 quality of the water identified under 

25 subparagraph (A)(i)(V); and 
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1 ‘‘(III) any Indian tribe with ju2 risdiction over the abandoned or inac3 tive mine land subject to the permit 

4 consents to the issuance of the permit. 

5 ‘‘(iv) ACTION FOLLOWING DIS6 APPROVAL.—

7 ‘‘(I) REVISION.—If the permit8 ting agent disapproves an application 

9 under clause (i), the permitting agent 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(aa) notify the applicant of 

12 the reasons for disapproval; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) allow the applicant 30 

14 days in which to submit a revised 

15 application. 

16 ‘‘(II) DEADLINE FOR REVI17 SION.—Not later than 30 days after 

18 the date on which a revision is sub19 mitted under subclause (I)(bb), the 

20 permitting agent shall approve or dis21 approve the revision. 

22 ‘‘(4) CONTENTS OF PERMIT.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A permit shall—
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1 ‘‘(i) provide for compliance with and 

2 implementation of the remediation plan; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) establish a schedule for review by 

5 the permitting agent of compliance with 

6 and implementation of the remediation 

7 plan. 

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A permit shall not—

9 ‘‘(i) require the remediating party to 

10 comply with any other subsection or sec11 tion 301, 302, or 402; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) except in a case in which the net 

13 profits (as stated under paragraph 

14 (3)(A)(i)(XII)(bb)) generated through such 

15 use or sale of minerals are used for present 

16 or future remediation activities, authorize 

17 any discharge associated with the extrac18 tion, processing, or removal of minerals for 

19 commercial use or sale. 

20 ‘‘(5) MODIFICATION OF PERMIT.—

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

22 days after the date of receipt of a written re23 quest by a permittee to modify a permit, the 

24 permitting agent shall approve or disapprove a 

25 modification to the permit.
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1 ‘‘(B) APPROVAL.—A modification to a per2 mit approved by the permitting agent under 

3 this subsection shall—

4 ‘‘(i) be made by agreement of the per5 mittee and the permitting agent and with 

6 the concurrence of any applicable State or 

7 Indian tribe with jurisdiction over the 

8 abandoned or inactive mine land subject to 

9 the permit; 

10 ‘‘(ii) be made in accordance with sub11 paragraphs (2)(B) and (3); and 

12 ‘‘(iii) take effect on approval. 

13 ‘‘(6) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a remediating 

14 party fails to comply with any term or condition of 

15 a permit under this subsection, the failure shall be 

16 considered to be a violation subject to enforcement 

17 under sections 309 and 505, except in a case in 

18 which— 

19 ‘‘(A)(i) based on information submitted to 

20 the permitting agent by the permittee, the per21 mitting agent determines that the noncompli22 ance was the result of an unanticipated event or 

23 condition; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) not later than 30 days after the date 

25 on which a determination is made under clause 
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1 (i), the permittee establishes, to the satisfaction 

2 of the permitting agent, that the permittee is in 

3 compliance with the permit; or 

4 ‘‘(B)(i) the permitting agent determines 

5 that compliance with the permit is infeasible be6 cause of reasons not contemplated at the time 

7 at which the permit was issued; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the permitting agent and the per9 mittee modify the permit in accordance with 

10 paragraph (5). 

11 ‘‘(7) TERMINATION OF PERMIT.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The permitting agent 

13 shall terminate a permit if—

14 ‘‘(i) the remediating party completes 

15 the implementation of the remediation 

16 plan; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the discharges covered by the 

18 permit become subject to a permit that is 

19 issued—

20 ‘‘(I) under another subsection; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(II) for the extraction, proc23 essing, or removal of minerals for 

24 commercial sale, the net profits of 

25 which shall be used for purposes other 
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1 than the purposes described in para2 graph (3)(A)(i)(XII)(bb)—

3 ‘‘(aa) that is not part of the 

4 implementation of the remedi5 ation plan; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) with respect to which 

7 the remediating party is not a 

8 participant; 

9 ‘‘(iii) an unanticipated event or condi10 tion is encountered that is beyond the con11 trol of the remediating party; or 

12 ‘‘(iv) the permitting agent determines 

13 that remediation activities conducted under 

14 the permit have resulted in surface water 

15 quality conditions that are equal to or bet16 ter than the baseline condition of the water 

17 as of the date of the permit application. 

18 ‘‘(B) NO ENFORCEMENT LIABILITY.—If a 

19 permit is terminated under subparagraph (A), 

20 the remediating party shall not be subject to 

21 enforcement under section 309 or 505 for any 

22 subsequent discharges from the abandoned or 

23 inactive mine land subject to the permit. 

24 ‘‘(8) LIMITATIONS.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A remediating party 

2 issued a permit under this subsection and, for 

3 purposes of conducting a preliminary investiga4 tion of a site to determine whether to pursue a 

5 permit application, a potential applicant for a 

6 permit, for a period of not more than 120 days 

7 unless otherwise stated by the permitting au8 thority, shall not be considered to be an owner 

9 or operator for purposes of—

10 ‘‘(i) this Act; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Comprehensive Environ12 mental Response, Compensation, and Li13 ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et 

14 seq.); or 

15 ‘‘(iii) the Solid Waste Disposal Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(B) PRIOR VIOLATIONS.—With respect to 

18 violations of this section, or sections 301, 302, 

19 and 402 that occur before the date on which a 

20 permit is issued under this subsection, nothing 

21 in this subsection—

22 ‘‘(i) precludes an action under section 

23 309 or 505 for such violations; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) affects the relief available under 

25 section 309 or 505. 
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1 ‘‘(9) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 1 year 

2 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

3 Administrator, in consultation with State, tribal, and 

4 local officials and after notice and opportunity for 

5 public comment, shall promulgate regulations that—

6 ‘‘(A) establish requirements for remedi7 ation plans under this subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(B) provide guidance for the development 

9 of State programs for the issuance and admin10 istration of permits under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(10) FUNDING.—A remediating party that im12 plements a remediation plan under a permit issued 

13 under this subsection shall be eligible for grants 

14 under section 319(h). 

15 ‘‘(11) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection—

16 ‘‘(A) limits the liability associated with any 

17 mining or processing activities in existence be18 fore, on, or after the date of enactment of this 

19 subsection; or 

20 ‘‘(B) affects any obligation of a State or 

21 Indian tribe under section 303.’’.

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