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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 240

To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of the State of

California, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 5, 1993

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

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

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 1992’’.

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
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1 best preserved authentic ghost town in the western

2 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).
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1 (2) The term ‘‘mining’’ means any activity in2 volving mineral prospecting, exploration, extraction,

3 milling, beneficiation, processing, and reclamation.

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

5 of the Interior.

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

7 DISPOSAL LAWS.

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

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

10 interests in lands within the area generally depicted on

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

12 shall not be—

13 (1) open to the location of mining and mill site

14 claims under the general mining laws of the United

15 States;

16 (2) subject to any lease under the Mineral

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

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

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

20 (3) available for disposal of mineral materials

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

22 the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and fol23 lowing).

24 Such map shall be on file and available for public inspec25 tion in the Office of the Secretary, and appropriate offices
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1 of the Bureau of Land Management and the National

2 Park Service. As soon as practicable after the date of en3 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a legal

4 description of the Bodie Bowl area in the Federal Reg5 ister.

6 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—As used in this sub7 section, the term ‘‘valid existing rights’’ in reference to

8 the general mining laws means that a mining claim located

9 on lands within the Bodie Bowl was properly located and

10 maintained under the general mining laws prior to the

11 date of enactment of this Act, was supported by a discov12 ery of a valuable mineral deposit within the meaning of

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

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

15 (c) VALIDITY REVIEW.—The Secretary shall under16 take an expedited program to determine the validity of all

17 unpatented mining claims located within the Bodie Bowl.

18 The expedited program shall include an examination of all

19 unpatented mining claims, including those for which a pat20 ent application has not been filed. If a claim is determined

21 to be invalid, the Secretary shall promptly declare the

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

23 not challenge the validity of any claim located within the

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

25 period after the date of enactment of this Act. The Sec-
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1 retary shall make a determination with respect to the va2 lidity of each claim referred to under this subsection with3 in 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

4 (d) LIMITATION ON PATENT ISSUANCE.—

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

6 1993, no patent shall be issued by the United States

7 for any mining claim located under the general min8 ing laws within the Bodie Bowl unless the Secretary

9 determines that, for the claim concerned—

10 (i) a patent application was filed with the

11 Secretary on or before such date; and

12 (ii) all requirements established under sec13 tions 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes

14 (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or lode claims

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

16 the Revised Statues (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, 37) for

17 placer claims were fully complied with by that

18 date.

19 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

20 referred to in subparagraph (A) for any mining

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

22 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

23 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

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

25 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.—Mineral exploration, mining,

24 beneficiation, and processing activities on unpatented min25 ing claims within the Bodie Bowl shall be subject to such
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1 regulations prescribed by the Secretary, in consultation

2 with the Governor of the State of California, as the Sec3 retary deems necessary to ensure that such mineral activi4 ties are conducted—

5 (1) in accordance with the rules and regulations

6 promulgated under Public Law 94–429 (16 U.S.C.

7 1901 et seq.) as they relate to plan of operations,

8 reclamation requirements, and bonding; and

9 (2) in a manner that does not cause any ad10 verse effect on the historic, cultural, recreational and

11 natural resource values of the Bodie Bowl area.

12 (b) RESTORATION OF EFFECTS OF MINING EXPLO13 RATION.—As soon as possible after the date of enactment

14 of this Act, visible evidence or other effects of mining ex15 ploration activity within the Bodie Bowl conducted on or

16 after September 1, 1988, shall be reclaimed by the opera17 tor in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to

18 subsection (a).

19 (c) ANNUAL EXPENDITURES; FILING.—The require20 ments for annual expenditures on unpatented mining

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

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

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

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

25 Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
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1 1744(a)(1)), the holder of any unpatented mining or mill

2 site claim located within the Bodie Bowl shall only be re3 quired to file the notice of intention to hold the mining

4 claim referred to in such section 314(a)(1).

5 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate

6 the regulations referred to in this section within 90 days

7 after the date of enactment of this Act. For the purposes

8 of this Act, the Bureau of Land Management shall pro9 mulgate and administer the rules and regulations referred

10 to in section 5(a).

11 SEC. 6. STUDY.

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

14 the Director of the National Park Service, shall review

15 possible actions to preserve the scenic character, historical

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

17 and ghost town characteristics of lands and structures

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

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

20 Committee on Natural Resources of the United States

21 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy

22 and Natural Resources of the United States Senate a re23 port that discusses the results of such review and makes

24 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.

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