IIB 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2925 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 9, 2024 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 
to provide for security of tenure for use of mining claims 
for ancillary activities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mining Regulatory 
Clarity Act of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY ACTIVI-
TIES. 
Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 
Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(e) SECURITY OF TENURE.— 
‘‘(1) CLAIMANT RIGHTS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION
OF
OPERATIONS.—In 
this paragraph, the term ‘operations’ means— 
‘‘(i) with respect to a locatable min-
eral, any activity or work carried out in 
connection with— 
‘‘(I) prospecting; 
‘‘(II) exploration; 
‘‘(III) discovery and assessment; 
‘‘(IV) development; 
‘‘(V) extraction; or 
‘‘(VI) processing; 
‘‘(ii) the reclamation of an area dis-
turbed by an activity described in clause 
(i); and 
‘‘(iii) any activity reasonably incident 
to an activity described in clause (i) or (ii), 
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regardless of whether that incidental activ-
ity is carried out on a mining claim, in-
cluding the construction and maintenance 
of any road, transmission line, pipeline, or 
any other necessary infrastructure or 
means of access on public land for a sup-
port facility. 
‘‘(B) RIGHTS TO USE, OCCUPATION, AND 
OPERATIONS.—A claimant shall have the right 
to use and occupy to conduct operations on 
public land, with or without the discovery of a 
valuable mineral deposit, if— 
‘‘(i) the claimant makes a timely pay-
ment of— 
‘‘(I) the location fee required by 
section 10102; and 
‘‘(II) the claim maintenance fee 
required by subsection (a); or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 
qualifies for a waiver of the claim mainte-
nance fee under subsection (d)— 
‘‘(I) the claimant makes a timely 
payment of the location fee required 
by section 10102; and 
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‘‘(II) the claimant complies with 
the required assessment work under 
the general mining laws. 
‘‘(2) FULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY 
AND MANAGEMENT ACT OF 1976.—A claimant that 
fulfills the requirements of this section and section 
10102 shall be deemed to satisfy any requirements 
under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) for the payment 
of fair market value to the United States for the use 
of public land and resources pursuant to the general 
mining laws. 
‘‘(3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-
section— 
‘‘(A) diminishes any right (including a 
right of entry, use, or occupancy) of a claimant; 
‘‘(B) creates or increases any right (includ-
ing a right of exploration, entry, use, or occu-
pancy) of a claimant on lands that are not open 
to location under the general mining laws; 
‘‘(C) modifies any provision of law or any 
prior administrative action withdrawing lands 
from location or entry; 
‘‘(D) limits the right of the Federal Gov-
ernment to regulate mining and mining-related 
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activities (including requiring claim validity ex-
aminations to establish the discovery of a valu-
able mineral deposit) in areas withdrawn from 
mining (including under— 
‘‘(i) the general mining laws; 
‘‘(ii) the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 
et seq.); 
‘‘(iii) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 
1131 et seq.); 
‘‘(iv) sections 100731 through 100737 
of title 54, United States Code (commonly 
referred to as the ‘Mining in the Parks 
Act’); 
‘‘(v) the Endangered Species Act of 
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 
‘‘(vi) division A of subtitle III of title 
54, United States Code (commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘National Historic Preser-
vation Act’)); or 
‘‘(E) restores any right (including a right 
of entry, use, or occupancy, or right to conduct 
operations) of a claimant that existed prior to 
the date that the lands were closed to or with-
drawn from location under the general mining 
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laws and that has been extinguished by such 
closure or withdrawal.’’. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 8, 2024. 
Attest: 
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Clerk. 
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