103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 240

AN ACT

To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl

purposes.area of the State of California, and for other
103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 240

AN ACT

To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of

the State of California, 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 ‘‘Bodie Protection Act

5 of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the historic Bodie gold mining district in

9 the State of California is the site of the largest and

10 best preserved authentic ghost town in the western

11 United States;
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1 (2) the Bodie Bowl area contains important

2 natural, historical, and aesthetic resources;

3 (3) Bodie was designated a National Historical

4 Landmark in 1961 and a California State Historic

5 Park in 1962, is listed on the National Register of

6 Historic Places, and is included in the Federal His7 toric American Buildings Survey;

8 (4) nearly 200,000 persons visit Bodie each

9 year, providing the local economy with important an10 nual tourism revenues;

11 (5) the town of Bodie is threatened by propos12 als to explore and extract minerals: mining in the

13 Bodie Bowl area may have adverse physical and aes14 thetic impacts on Bodie’s historical integrity, cul15 tural values, and ghosttown character as well as on

16 its recreational values and the area’s flora and

17 fauna;

18 (6) the California State Legislature, on Septem19 ber 4, 1990, requested the President and the Con20 gress to direct the Secretary of the Interior to pro21 tect the ghosttown character, ambience, historic

22 buildings, and scenic attributes of the town of Bodie

23 and nearby areas;

24 (7) the California State Legislature also re25 quested the Secretary, if necessary to protect the
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1 Bodie Bowl area, to withdraw the Federal lands

2 within the area from all forms of mineral entry and

3 patent;

4 (8) the National Park Service listed Bodie as a

5 priority one endangered National Historic Landmark

6 in its fiscal year 1990 and 1991 report to Congress

7 entitled ‘‘Threatened and Damaged National His8 toric Landmarks’’ and recommended protection of

9 the Bodie area; and

10 (9) it is necessary and appropriate to provide

11 that all Federal lands within the Bodie Bowl area

12 are not subject to location, entry, and patent under

13 the mining laws of the United States, subject to

14 valid existing rights, and to direct the Secretary to

15 consult with the Governor of the State of California

16 before approving any mining activity plan within the

17 Bodie Bowl.

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

19 For purposes of this Act:

20 (1) The term ‘‘Bodie Bowl’’ means the Federal

21 lands and interests in lands within the area gen22 erally depicted on the map referred to in section

23 4(a).

24 (2) The term ‘‘mineral activities’’ means any

25 activity involving mineral prospecting, exploration,
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1 extraction, milling, beneficiation, processing, and

2 reclamation.

3 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

4 of the Interior.

5 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF MINERAL MINING, LEASING AND

6 DISPOSAL LAWS.

7 (a) RESTRICTION.—Subject to valid existing rights,

8 after the date of enactment of this Act Federal lands and

9 interests in lands within the area generally depicted on

10 the map entitled ‘‘Bodie Bowl’’ and dated June 12, 1992,

11 shall not be—

12 (1) open to the entry or location of mining and

13 mill site claims under the general mining laws of the

14 United States;

15 (2) subject to any lease under the Mineral

16 Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 and following) or the

17 Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 100 and

18 following), for lands within the Bodie Bowl; and

19 (3) available for disposal of mineral materials

20 under the Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as

21 the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and fol22 lowing).

23 Such map shall be on file and available for public inspec24 tion in the Office of the Secretary, and appropriate offices

25 of the Bureau of Land Management and the National
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1 Park Service. As soon as practicable after the date of en2 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a legal

3 description of the Bodie Bowl area in the Federal

4 Register.

5 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—As used in this sub6 section, the term ‘‘valid existing rights’’ in reference to

7 the general mining laws means that a mining claim located

8 on lands within the Bodie Bowl was properly located and

9 maintained under the general mining laws prior to the

10 date of enactment of this Act, was supported by a discov11 ery of a valuable mineral deposit within the meaning of

12 the general mining laws on the date of enactment of this

13 Act, and that such claim continues to be valid.

14 (c) VALIDITY REVIEW.—The Secretary shall under15 take an expedited program to determine the validity of all

16 unpatented mining claims located within the Bodie Bowl.

17 The expedited program shall include an examination of all

18 unpatented mining claims, including those for which a pat19 ent application has not been filed. If a claim is determined

20 to be invalid, the Secretary shall promptly declare the

21 claim to be null and void, except that the Secretary shall

22 not challenge the validity of any claim located within the

23 Bodie Bowl for the failure to do assessment work for any

24 period after the date of enactment of this Act. The Sec25 retary shall make a determination with respect to the va-
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1 lidity of each claim referred to under this subsection with2 in 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

3 (d) LIMITATION ON PATENT ISSUANCE.—

4 (1) MINING CLAIMS.—(A) After January 11,

5 1993, no patent shall be issued by the United States

6 for any mining claim located under the general min7 ing laws within the Bodie Bowl unless the Secretary

8 determines that, for the claim concerned—

9 (i) a patent application was filed with the

10 Secretary on or before such date; and

11 (ii) all requirements established under sec12 tions 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes

13 (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or lode claims

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

15 the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, 37) for

16 placer claims were fully complied with by that

17 date.

18 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

19 referred to in subparagraph (A) for any mining

20 claim, the holder of the claim shall be entitled to the

21 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

22 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

23 to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and

24 until such determinations are withdrawn or invali-
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1 dated by the Secretary or by a court of the United

2 States.

3 (2) MILL SITE CLAIMS.—(A) After January 11,

4 1993, no patent shall be issued by the United States

5 for any mill site claim located under the general

6 mining laws within the Bodie Bowl unless the Sec7 retary determines that, for the claim concerned—

8 (i) a patent application was filed with the

9 Secretary on or before January 11, 1993; and

10 (ii) all requirements applicable to such pat11 ent application were fully complied with by that

12 date.

13 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

14 referred to in subparagraph (A) for any mill site

15 claim, the holder of the claim shall be entitled to the

16 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

17 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

18 to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and

19 until such determinations are withdrawn or invali20 dated by the Secretary or by a court of the United

21 States.

22 SEC. 5. MINERAL ACTIVITIES.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the last sentence

24 of section 302(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage25 ment Act of 1976, and in accordance with this Act and
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1 other applicable law, the Secretary shall require that min2 eral activities be conducted in the Bodie Bowl so as to—

3 (1) avoid adverse effects on the historic, cul4 tural, recreational and natural resource values of the

5 Bodie Bowl; and

6 (2) minimize other adverse impacts to the envi7 ronment.

8 (b) RESTORATION OF EFFECTS OF MINING EXPLO9 RATION.—As soon as possible after the date of enactment

10 of this Act, visible evidence or other effects of mining ex11 ploration activity within the Bodie Bowl conducted on or

12 after September 1, 1988, shall be reclaimed by the opera13 tor in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to

14 subsection (d).

15 (c) ANNUAL EXPENDITURES; FILING.—The require16 ments for annual expenditures on unpatented mining

17 claims imposed by Revised Statute 2324 (30 U.S.C. 28)

18 shall not apply to any such claim located within the Bodie

19 Bowl. In lieu of filing the affidavit of assessment work

20 referred to under section 314(a)(1) of the Federal Land

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

22 1744(a)(1)), the holder of any unpatented mining or mill

23 site claim located within the Bodie Bowl shall only be re24 quired to file the notice of intention to hold the mining

25 claim referred to in such section 314(a)(1).
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1 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate

2 rules to implement this section, in consultation with the

3 Governor of the State of California, within 180 days after

4 the date of enactment of this Act. Such rules shall be no

5 less stringent than the rules promulgated pursuant to the

6 Act of September 28, 1976 entitled ‘‘An Act to provide

7 for the regulation of mining activity within, and to repeal

8 the application of mining laws to, areas of the National

9 Park System, and for other purposes’’ (Public Law 94–

10 429; 16 U.S.C. 1901–1912).

11 SEC. 6. STUDY.

12 Beginning as soon as possible after the date of enact13 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall review

14 possible actions to preserve the scenic character, historical

15 integrity, cultural and recreational values, flora and fauna,

16 and ghost town characteristics of lands and structures

17 within the Bodie Bowl. No later than 3 years after the

18 date of such enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the

19 Committee on Natural Resources of the United States

20 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy

21 and Natural Resources of the United States Senate a re22 port that discusses the results of such review and makes

23 recommendations as to which steps (including but not lim-
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1 ited to acquisition of lands or valid mining claims) should

2 be undertaken in order to achieve these objectives.

Passed the House of Representatives May 11, 1993.

Attest:

Clerk.