Union Calendar No. 42

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 240

[Report No. 103–87]

A BILL

To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl

purposes.area of the State of California, and for other

MAY 11, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Commitordered to be printed tee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and
IB

Union Calendar No. 42

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 240

[Report No. 103–87]

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

MAY 11, 1993

Additional sponsor: Ms. WOOLSEY

MAY 11, 1993

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 5, 1993]

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bodie Protection Act

3 of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 The Congress finds that—

6 (1) the historic Bodie gold mining district in the

7 State of California is the site of the largest and best

8 preserved authentic ghost town in the western United

9 States;

10 (2) the Bodie Bowl area contains important nat11 ural, historical, and aesthetic resources;

12 (3) Bodie was designated a National Historical

13 Landmark in 1961 and a California State Historic

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

15 Historic Places, and is included in the Federal His16 toric American Buildings Survey;

17 (4) nearly 200,000 persons visit Bodie each year,

18 providing the local economy with important annual

19 tourism revenues;

20 (5) the town of Bodie is threatened by proposals

21 to explore and extract minerals: mining in the Bodie

22 Bowl area may have adverse physical and aesthetic

23 impacts on Bodie’s historical integrity, cultural val24 ues, and ghosttown character as well as on its rec25 reational values and the area’s flora and fauna;
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1 (6) the California State Legislature, on Septem2 ber 4, 1990, requested the President and the Congress

3 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to protect the

4 ghosttown character, ambience, historic buildings, and

5 scenic attributes of the town of Bodie and nearby

6 areas;

7 (7) the California State Legislature also re8 quested the Secretary, if necessary to protect the Bodie

9 Bowl area, to withdraw the Federal lands within the

10 area from all forms of mineral entry and patent;

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

12 priority one endangered National Historic Landmark

13 in its fiscal year 1990 and 1991 report to Congress

14 entitled ‘‘Threatened and Damaged National Historic

15 Landmarks’’ and recommended protection of the

16 Bodie area; and

17 (9) it is necessary and appropriate to provide

18 that all Federal lands within the Bodie Bowl area are

19 not subject to location, entry, and patent under the

20 mining laws of the United States, subject to valid ex21 isting rights, and to direct the Secretary to consult

22 with the Governor of the State of California before ap23 proving any mining activity plan within the Bodie

24 Bowl.
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act:

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

4 lands and interests in lands within the area generally

5 depicted on the map referred to in section 4(a).

6 (2) The term ‘‘mineral activities’’ means any ac7 tivity involving mineral prospecting, exploration, ex8 traction, milling, beneficiation, processing, and rec9 lamation.

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

11 the Interior.

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

13 DISPOSAL LAWS.

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

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

16 interests in lands within the area generally depicted on the

17 map entitled ‘‘Bodie Bowl’’ and dated June 12, 1992, shall

18 not be—

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

20 mill site claims under the general mining laws of the

21 United States;

22 (2) subject to any lease under the Mineral Leas23 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 and following) or the Geo24 thermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 100 and fol25 lowing), for lands within the Bodie Bowl; and
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1 (3) available for disposal of mineral materials

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

3 the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and follow4 ing).

5 Such map shall be on file and available for public inspec6 tion in the Office of the Secretary, and appropriate offices

7 of the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park

8 Service. As soon as practicable after the date of enactment

9 of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a legal description

10 of the Bodie Bowl area in the Federal Register.

11 (b) VALID EXISTING RIGHTS.—As used in this sub12 section, the term ‘‘valid existing rights’’ in reference to the

13 general mining laws means that a mining claim located

14 on lands within the Bodie Bowl was properly located and

15 maintained under the general mining laws prior to the date

16 of enactment of this Act, was supported by a discovery of

17 a valuable mineral deposit within the meaning of the gen18 eral mining laws on the date of enactment of this Act, and

19 that such claim continues to be valid.

20 (c) VALIDITY REVIEW.—The Secretary shall undertake

21 an expedited program to determine the validity of all

22 unpatented mining claims located within the Bodie Bowl.

23 The expedited program shall include an examination of all

24 unpatented mining claims, including those for which a pat25 ent application has not been filed. If a claim is determined
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1 to be invalid, the Secretary shall promptly declare the claim

2 to be null and void, except that the Secretary shall not chal3 lenge the validity of any claim located within the Bodie

4 Bowl for the failure to do assessment work for any period

5 after the date of enactment of this Act. The Secretary shall

6 make a determination with respect to the validity of each

7 claim referred to under this subsection within 2 years after

8 the date of enactment of this Act.

9 (d) LIMITATION ON PATENT ISSUANCE.—

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

11 1993, no patent shall be issued by the United States

12 for any mining claim located under the general min13 ing laws within the Bodie Bowl unless the Secretary

14 determines that, for the claim concerned—

15 (i) a patent application was filed with the

16 Secretary on or before such date; and

17 (ii) all requirements established under sec18 tions 2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30

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

20 sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of the Re21 vised Statues (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, 37) for placer

22 claims were fully complied with by that date.

23 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

24 referred to in subparagraph (A) for any mining

25 claim, the holder of the claim shall be entitled to the
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1 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

2 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

3 to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and until

4 such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by

5 the Secretary or by a court of the United States.

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

7 1993, no patent shall be issued by the United States

8 for any mill site claim located under the general min9 ing laws within the Bodie Bowl unless the Secretary

10 determines that, for the claim concerned—

11 (i) a patent application was filed with the

12 Secretary on or before January 11, 1993; and

13 (ii) all requirements applicable to such pat14 ent application were fully complied with by that

15 date.

16 (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations

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

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

19 issuance of a patent in the same manner and degree

20 to which such claim holder would have been entitled

21 to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and until

22 such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by

23 the Secretary or by a court of the United States.
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1 SEC. 5. MINERAL ACTIVITIES.

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

3 of section 302(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Manage4 ment Act of 1976, and in accordance with this Act and

5 other applicable law, the Secretary shall require that min6 eral activities be conducted in the Bodie Bowl so as to—

7 (1) avoid adverse effects on the historic, cultural,

8 recreational and natural resource values of the Bodie

9 Bowl; and

10 (2) minimize other adverse impacts to the envi11 ronment.

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 explo15 ration activity within the Bodie Bowl conducted on or after

16 September 1, 1988, shall be reclaimed by the operator in

17 accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to sub18 section (d).

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 re24 ferred to under section 314(a)(1) of the Federal Land Policy

25 and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)(1)), the

26 holder of any unpatented mining or mill site claim located
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1 within the Bodie Bowl shall only be required to file the no2 tice of intention to hold the mining claim referred to in

3 such section 314(a)(1).

4 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall promulgate

5 rules to implement this section, in consultation with the

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

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

8 less stringent than the rules promulgated pursuant to the

9 Act of September 28, 1976 entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for

10 the regulation of mining activity within, and to repeal the

11 application of mining laws to, areas of the National Park

12 System, and for other purposes’’ (Public Law 94–429; 16

13 U.S.C. 1901–1912).

14 SEC. 6. STUDY.

15 Beginning as soon as possible after the date of enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall review

17 possible actions to preserve the scenic character, historical

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

19 and ghost town characteristics of lands and structures with20 in the Bodie Bowl. No later than 3 years after the date

21 of such enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Com22 mittee on Natural Resources of the United States House of

23 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural

24 Resources of the United States Senate a report that dis25 cusses the results of such review and makes recommenda-
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1 tions as to which steps (including but not limited to acqui2 sition of lands or valid mining claims) should be under3 taken in order to achieve these objectives.