IIB 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2262 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 5, 2007 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals 
on public domain lands, consistent with the principles 
of self-initiation of mining claims, and for other pur-
poses. 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions and references. 
Sec. 3. Application rules. 
TITLE I—MINERAL EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 101. Limitation on patents. 
Sec. 102. Royalty. 
Sec. 103. Hardrock mining claim maintenance fee. 
Sec. 104. Effect of payments for use and occupancy of claims. 
TITLE II—PROTECTION OF SPECIAL PLACES 
Sec. 201. Lands open to location. 
Sec. 202. Withdrawal petitions by States, political subdivisions, and Indian 
tribes. 
TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS OF MINERAL 
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 301. General standard for hardrock mining on Federal land. 
Sec. 302. Permits. 
Sec. 303. Exploration permit. 
Sec. 304. Operations permit. 
Sec. 305. Persons ineligible for permits. 
Sec. 306. Financial assurance. 
Sec. 307. Operation and reclamation. 
Sec. 308. State law and regulation. 
Sec. 309. Limitation on the issuance of permits. 
TITLE IV—MINING MITIGATION 
Subtitle A—Locatable Minerals Fund 
Sec. 401. Establishment of Fund. 
Sec. 402. Contents of Fund. 
Sec. 403. Subaccounts. 
Subtitle B—Use of Hardrock Reclamation Account 
Sec. 411. Use and objectives of the Account. 
Sec. 412. Eligible lands and waters. 
Sec. 413. Expenditures. 
Sec. 414. Authorization of appropriations. 
Subtitle C—Use of Hardrock Community Impact Assistance Account 
Sec. 421. Use and objectives of the Account. 
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Sec. 422. Allocation of funds. 
TITLE V—ADMINISTRATIVE AND MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 
Subtitle A—Administrative Provisions 
Sec. 501. Policy functions. 
Sec. 502. User fees. 
Sec. 503. Inspection and monitoring. 
Sec. 504. Citizens suits. 
Sec. 505. Administrative and judicial review. 
Sec. 506. Enforcement. 
Sec. 507. Regulations. 
Sec. 508. Effective date. 
Subtitle B—Miscellaneous Provisions 
Sec. 511. Oil shale claims. 
Sec. 512. Purchasing power adjustment. 
Sec. 513. Savings clause. 
Sec. 514. Availability of public records. 
Sec. 515. Miscellaneous powers. 
Sec. 516. Multiple mineral development and surface resources. 
Sec. 517. Mineral materials. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—As used in this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘affiliate’’ means with respect to 
any person, any of the following: 
(A) Any person who controls, is controlled 
by, or is under common control with such per-
son. 
(B) Any partner of such person. 
(C) Any person owning at least 10 percent 
of the voting shares of such person. 
(2) The term ‘‘applicant’’ means any person ap-
plying for a permit under this Act or a modification 
to or a renewal of a permit under this Act. 
(3) The term ‘‘beneficiation’’ means the crush-
ing and grinding of locatable mineral ore and such 
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processes as are employed to free the mineral from 
other constituents, including but not necessarily lim-
ited to, physical and chemical separation techniques. 
(4) The term ‘‘casual use’’— 
(A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
means mineral activities that do not ordinarily 
result in any disturbance of public lands and re-
sources; 
(B) includes collection of geochemical, 
rock, 
soil, 
or 
mineral 
specimens 
using 
handtools, hand panning, or nonmotorized sluic-
ing; and 
(C) does not include— 
(i) the use of mechanized earth-mov-
ing equipment, suction dredging, or explo-
sives; 
(ii) the use of motor vehicles in areas 
closed to off-road vehicles; 
(iii) the construction of roads or drill 
pads; and 
(iv) the use of toxic or hazardous ma-
terials. 
(5) The term ‘‘claim holder’’ means a person 
holding a mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel site 
claim located under the general mining laws and 
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maintained in compliance with such laws and this 
Act. Such term may include an agent of a claim 
holder. 
(6) The term ‘‘control’’ means having the abil-
ity, directly or indirectly, to determine (without re-
gard to whether exercised through one or more cor-
porate structures) the manner in which an entity 
conducts mineral activities, through any means, in-
cluding without limitation, ownership interest, au-
thority to commit the entity’s real or financial as-
sets, position as a director, officer, or partner of the 
entity, or contractual arrangement. 
(7) The term ‘‘exploration’’— 
(A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
means creating surface disturbance other than 
casual use, to evaluate the type, extent, quan-
tity, or quality of minerals present; 
(B) includes mineral activities associated 
with sampling, drilling, and analyzing locatable 
mineral values; and 
(C) does not include extraction of mineral 
material for commercial use or sale. 
(8) The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means any land, 
and any interest in land, that is owned by the 
United States and open to location of mining claims 
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