I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 778

To ensure that federal taxpayers receive a fair return for the extraction

of locatable minerals on public domain lands and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 13, 1997

Mr. MILLER of California (for himself and Mr. RAHALL) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To ensure that federal taxpayers receive a fair return for

the extraction of locatable minerals on public domain

lands 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 ‘‘Hardrock Mining Roy5 alty Act of 1997’’.

6 SEC. 2. ROYALTY.

7 (a) RESERVATION OF ROYALTY.—Each person pro8 ducing locatable minerals (including associated minerals)

9 from any mining claim located under the general mining
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1 laws, or mineral concentrates derived from locatable min2 erals produced from any mining claim located under the

3 general mining laws, as the case may be, shall pay a roy4 alty of 5 percent of the net smelter return from the pro5 duction of such locatable minerals or concentrates, as the

6 case may be.

7 (b) ROYALTY PAYMENTS.—Each person responsible

8 for making royalty payments under this section shall make

9 such payments to the Secretary not later than 30 days

10 after the end of the calendar month in which the mineral

11 or mineral concentrates are produced and first placed in

12 marketable condition, consistent with prevailing practices

13 in the industry.

14 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—All persons hold15 ing mining claims located under the general mining laws

16 shall provide to the Secretary such information as deter17 mined necessary by the Secretary to ensure compliance

18 with this section, including, but not limited to, quarterly

19 reports, records, documents, and other data. Such reports

20 may also include, but not be limited to, pertinent technical

21 and financial data relating to the quantity, quality, and

22 amount of all minerals extracted from the mining claim.

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

24 such audits of all persons holding mining claims located

25 under the general mining laws as he deems necessary for
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1 the purposes of ensuring compliance with the require2 ments of this section.

3 (e) DISPOSITION OF RECEIPTS.—All receipts from

4 royalties collected pursuant to this section shall be depos5 ited into the Fund established under section 3.

6 (f) COMPLIANCE.—Any person holding mining claims

7 located under the general mining laws who knowingly or

8 willfully prepares, maintains, or submits false, inaccurate,

9 or misleading information required by this section, or fails

10 or refuses to submit such information, shall be subject to

11 a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 imposed by the

12 Secretary.

13 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect

14 with respect to minerals produced from a mining claim

15 in calendar months beginning after the enactment of this

16 Act.

17 SEC. 3. ABANDONED MINERALS MINE RECLAMATION FUND.

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) There is established on

19 the books of the Treasury of the United States a trust

20 fund to be known as the Abandoned Minerals Mine Rec21 lamation Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Fund). The

22 Fund shall be administered by the Secretary.

23 (2) The Secretary shall notify the Secretary of the

24 Treasury as to what portion of the Fund is not, in his
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1 judgment, required to meet current withdrawals. The Sec2 retary of the Treasury shall invest such portion of the

3 Fund in public debt securities with maturities suitable for

4 the needs of such Fund and bearing interest at rates de5 termined by the Secretary of the Treasury, taking into

6 consideration current market yields on outstanding mar7 ketplace obligations of the United States of comparable

8 maturities. The income on such investments shall be cred9 ited to, and from a part of, the Fund.

10 (b) AMOUNTS.—The following amounts shall be cred11 ited to the Fund for the purposes of this Act:

12 (1) All moneys received from royalties under

13 section 1 of this Act and the mining claim mainte14 nance fee under section 4 of this Act.

15 (2) All donations by persons, corporations, as16 sociations, and foundations for the purposes of this

17 title.

18 (c) USE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE FUND.— The Sec19 retary is, subject to appropriations, authorized to use

20 moneys in the Fund for the reclamation and restoration

21 of land and water resources adversely affected by past

22 mineral (other than coal and fluid minerals) and mineral

23 material mining, including but not limited to, any of the

24 following:
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1 (1) Reclamation and restoration of abandoned

2 surface mined areas.

3 (2) Reclamation and restoration of abandoned

4 milling and processing areas.

5 (3) Sealing, filling, and grading abandoned deep

6 mine entries.

7 (4) Planting of land adversely affected by past

8 mining to prevent erosion and sedimentation.

9 (5) Prevention, abatement, treatment and con10 trol of water pollution created by abandoned mine

11 drainage.

12 (6) Control of surface subsidence due to aban13 doned deep mines.

14 (7) Such expenses as may be necessary to ac15 complish the purposes of this section.

16 (d) ELIGIBLE AREAS.—(1) Land and waters eligible

17 for reclamation expenditures under this section shall be

18 those within the boundaries of States that have lands sub19 ject to the general mining laws—

20 (A) which were mined or processed for minerals

21 and mineral materials or which were affected by

22 such mining or processing, and abandoned or left in

23 an inadequate reclamation status prior to the date

24 of enactment of this Act;
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1 (B) for which the Secretary makes a determina2 tion that there is no continuing reclamation respon3 sibility under State or Federal laws; and

4 (C) for which it can be established that such

5 lands do not contain minerals which could economi6 cally be extracted through the reprocessing or remin7 ing of such lands.

8 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), sites and areas

9 designated for remedial action pursuant to the Uranium

10 Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C.

11 7901 and following) or which have been listed for remedial

12 action pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Re13 sponse Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (42

14 U.S.C. 9601 and following) shall not be eligible for ex15 penditures from the Fund under this section.

16 (e) FUND EXPENDITURES.—Moneys available from

17 the Fund may be expended directly by the Director, Bu18 reau of Land Management. The Director may also make

19 such money available through grants made to the Chief

20 of the United States Forest Service, and the Director of

21 the National Park Service.

22 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Amounts

23 credited to the Fund are authorized to be appropriated

24 for the purpose of this title without fiscal year limitation.
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1 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON PATENT ISSUANCE.

2 No patent shall be issued by the United States for

3 any mining or mill site claim located under the general

4 mining laws unless the Secretary determines that, for the

5 claim concerned a patent application was filed with the

6 Secretary on or before September 30, 1994, and all re7 quirements established under sections 2325 and 2326 of

8 the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or

9 lode claims and sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of

10 the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36 and 37) for placer

11 claims, and section 2337 of the Revised Statutes (30

12 U.S.C. 42) for mill site claims, as the case may be, were

13 fully complied with by the applicant by that date.

14 SEC. 5. MINING CLAIM MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Effective October 1, 1998, the

16 holder of each mining claim located under the general min17 ing laws prior to the date of enactment shall pay to the

18 Secretary an annual claim maintenance fee of $100 per

19 claim per calendar year.

20 (2) The holder of each mining claim located under

21 the general mining laws subsequent to the date of enact22 ment shall pay to the Secretary an annual claim mainte23 nance fee of $125 per claim per calendar year.

24 (b) PURCHASING POWER ADJUSTMENT.—The Sec25 retary shall adjust the amount of the claim maintenance

26 fee payable pursuant to subsection (a) for changes in the
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1 purchasing power of the dollar after the calendar year

2 1993, employing the Consumer Price Index for all urban

3 consumers published by the Department of Labor as the

4 basis for adjustment, and rounding according to the ad5 justment process of conditions of the Federal Civil Pen6 alties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990.

7 (c) TIME OF PAYMENT.—Each claim holder shall pay

8 the claim maintenance fee payable under subsection (a)

9 for any year on or before August 31 of each year, except

10 that for the initial calendar year in which the location is

11 made, the initial claim maintenance fee shall be paid at

12 the time the location notice is recorded with the Bureau

13 of Land Management.

14 (d) OIL SHALE CLAIMS SUBJECT TO CLAIM MAINTE15 NANCE FEES UNDER ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992.—

16 The section shall not apply to any oil shale claims for

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

18 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (30 U.S.C. 242(e)(2)).

19 (e) CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEES PAYABLE UNDER

20 1993 ACT.—The claim maintenance fees payable under

21 this section for any period with respect to any claim shall

22 be reduced by the amount of the claim maintenance fees

23 paid under section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Rec24 onciliation Act of 1993 with respect to that claim and with

25 respect to the same period.
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1 (f) WAIVER.—(1) The claim maintenance fee re2 quired under this section may be waived for a claim holder

3 who certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the date

4 the payment was due, the claim holder and all related par5 ties held not more than 10 mining claims on land open

6 to location. Such certification shall be made on or before

7 the date on which payment is due.

8 (2) For purposes of this subsection, with respect to

9 any claim holder, the term ‘‘related party’’ means each

10 of the following:

11 (A) The spouse and dependent children (as de12 fined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of

13 1986), of the claim holder.

14 (B) Any affiliate of the claim holder.

15 (g) CO-OWNERSHIP.—Upon the failure of any one or

16 more of several co-owners to contribute such co-owner or

17 owners portion of the fee under this section, any co-owner

18 who has paid such fee may, after the payment due date,

19 give the delinquent co-owner or owners notice of such fail20 ure in writing (or by publication in the newspaper nearest

21 the claim for at least once a week for at least 90 days).

22 If at the expiration of 90 days after such notice in writing

23 or by publication, any delinquent co-owner fails or refused

24 to contribute his portion, his interest, in the claim shall
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1 become the property of the co-owners who have paid the

2 required fee.

3 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

4 As used in this Act:

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

6 any person, each of the following:

7 (A) Any partner of such person.

8 (B) Any person owning at least 10 percent

9 of the voting shares of such person.

10 (C) Any person who controls, is controlled

11 by, or is under common control with such per12 son.

13 (2) The term ‘‘locatable minerals’’ means min14 erals not subject to disposition under any of the fol15 lowing:

16 (A) The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.

17 181 and following);

18 (B) The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970

19 (30 U.S.C. 100 and following);

20 (C) The Act of July 31, 1947, commonly

21 known as the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C.

22 601 and following); or

23 (D) the Mineral Leasing for Acquired

24 Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 351 and following).
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1 (3) The term ‘‘net smelter return’’ has the

2 same meaning provided in section 613 of the Inter3 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 613) for

4 ‘‘gross income from mining’’.

5 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

6 of the Interior.

7 (5) The term ‘‘general mining laws’’ means

8 those Acts which generally comprise chapters 2,

9 12A, and 16, and sections 161 and 162 of title 30,

10 United States Code.

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