I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2794 
To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness 
and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs Na-
tional Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2021 
Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. PINGREE, 
Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. OMAR, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
GALLEGO, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. 
NORTON, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIND, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Ms. CHU, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. AXNE, 
Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BUSH, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, 
Mr. CASE, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DELBENE, and Mr. GARCI´A 
of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe 
Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and 
waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the 
Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, 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 ‘‘Boundary Waters Wil-
derness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilder-
ness is a 1,090,000-acre Federal wilderness area, lo-
cated within the Superior National Forest, that was 
originally designated in the Wilderness Act of 1964 
(Public Law 88–577). 
(2) The Forest Service manages the Boundary 
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which includes— 
(A) nearly 2,000 pristine lakes ranging in 
size from 10 acres to 10,000 acres, and more 
than 1,200 miles of canoe routes; 
(B) 1,500 cultural resource sites including 
historic Ojibwe village sites and Native Amer-
ican pictograph panel sites; and 
(C) 150 miles of land and water on the 
international border with the Government of 
Canada. 
(3) In 1978, Congress passed the Boundary 
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act (Public Law 95– 
495) to remove incompatible uses, prohibit mining 
within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness 
and on 220,000 acres of the Superior National For-
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est, and to provide management guidance to protect, 
preserve, and enhance the lakes, waterways, and for-
ested areas of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area 
Wilderness to enhance public enjoyment of the 
unique landscape and wildlife. 
(4) The federally recognized Grand Portage 
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Fond du Lac 
Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and the Bois 
Forte Band of Chippewa retain hunting, fishing, and 
other usufructuary rights throughout the entire 
northeast portion of Minnesota, including the 
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, under the 
1854 Treaty of LaPointe. All Bands have a legal in-
terest in protecting natural resources and the Forest 
Service shares in the Federal trust responsibility to 
maintain treaty resources. 
(5) The Rainy River Watershed lies within the 
Superior National Forest, which contains 20 percent 
of the fresh water supply in the entire National For-
est System. 
(6) The Rainy River Watershed headwaters 
begin in northeastern Minnesota and flow north 
through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilder-
ness and Voyageurs National Park and into Canada 
along the shared international border. These inter-
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national waters are governed by the 1909 Boundary 
Waters Treaty, which states that ‘‘boundary waters 
and the waters flowing across the boundary shall not 
be polluted on either side to the injury of health or 
property on the other’’. 
(7) The waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe 
Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park are 
classified as Outstanding Resource Value Waters 
under Federal and State law, and degradation of 
water quality is prohibited. A risk of mining develop-
ment is acid mine drainage which generally occurs 
when sulfide minerals are exposed to air and water 
creating sulfuric acid, which decreases water pH and 
leaches harmful metals such as copper, zinc, lead, 
cadmium, iron, and nickel. 
(8) Acid mine runoff from sulfide-ore copper 
mining entering groundwater, rivers, streams, and 
lakes harms aquatic life, degrades water quality, and 
results in potential severe environmental impacts. 
(9) A peer-reviewed study of water quality im-
pacts from 14 operating United States copper sul-
fide mines found 100 percent of the mines experi-
enced pipeline spills or accidental releases: 13 mines 
experienced failures of water collection and treat-
ment systems to control contaminated mine seepage 
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resulting in significant negative water quality im-
pacts. 
(10) The mining of copper and other metals in 
sulfide bearing ore on Federal lands in the Superior 
National Forest, within the Rainy River Watershed, 
poses a direct and long-term threat from sulfide-ore 
mining contamination to the pristine water and air 
quality and healthy forested habitat of the Boundary 
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs Na-
tional Park. 
(11) The likely contamination of the air, water, 
and forested habitat of the Boundary Waters Canoe 
Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park from 
the mining of copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, 
gold, and silver on Federal lands within the Rainy 
River Watershed puts at risk— 
(A) the nationally recognized natural re-
sources of the area; and 
(B) the region’s amenity-based and tour-
ism industry, which if protected by a mineral 
withdrawal, would grow by 1,500 to 4,600 more 
jobs and $100,000,000 to $900,000,000 more 
income over the next 20 years than if such min-
ing were not banned. 
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(12) In 2016, the Forest Service issued a 
Record of Decision which found ‘‘unacceptable the 
inherent potential risk that development of a region-
ally untested copper-nickel sulfide ore mine within 
the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe 
Area Wilderness might cause serious and irreplace-
able harm to this unique, iconic, and irreplaceable 
wilderness area’’. The Forest Service subsequently 
proposed a 20-year mineral withdrawal of 234,328 
acres of Federal lands and waters in the Rainy 
River Watershed. 
(13) In 2018, approximately 20 months into a 
24-month review period of the Rainy River Water-
shed mineral withdrawal proposal, the Department 
of Agriculture abruptly canceled the withdrawal ap-
plication and abandoned the Environmental Assess-
ment. 
SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS AND 
WATERS IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 
(a) DEFINITION OF MAP.—In this Act, the term 
‘‘Map’’ means the map prepared by the Forest Service en-
titled ‘‘Superior National Forest Mineral Withdrawal Ap-
plication Map’’ and dated December 5, 2016. 
(b) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(d) and subject to valid existing rights, the approximately 
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234,328 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy 
River Watershed of the Superior National Forest in the 
State of Minnesota, as located on the Map and described 
in the Federal Register Notice of Application for With-
drawal, dated January 19, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 6639), are 
hereby withdrawn from— 
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and dis-
posal under the public land laws; 
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 
laws; and 
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 
materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 
(c) ACQUIRED LAND.—Any land or interest in land 
within the area depicted on the Map that is acquired by 
the United States after the date of enactment of this Act 
shall, on acquisition, be immediately withdrawn in accord-
ance with this section. 
(d) REMOVAL OF SAND, GRAVEL, GRANITE, IRON 
ORE, AND TACONITE.—The Chief of the Forest Service 
is authorized to permit the removal of sand, gravel, gran-
ite, iron ore, and taconite from national forest system 
lands within the area depicted on the Map if the Chief 
determines that the removal is not detrimental to the 
water quality, air quality, and health of the forest habitat 
within the Rainy River Watershed. 
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(e) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be kept 
on file and made available for public inspection in the ap-
propriate offices of the Forest Service and the Bureau of 
Land Management. 
Æ 
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