(B) such person had substantial authority for re-
porting royalty on the value of the production on the 
basis on which it was reported, 
(C) such person previously had notified the Sec-
retary, in such manner as the Secretary may by rule 
prescribe, of relevant reasons or facts affecting the 
royalty treatment of specific production which led to 
the underreporting, or 
(D) such person meets any other exception which 
the Secretary may, by rule, establish. 
(6) All penalties collected under this subsection shall 
be deposited in the Locatable Minerals Fund established 
under title IV. 
(g) DELEGATION.—For the purposes of this section, the 
term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Interior acting 
through the Director of the Minerals Management Service. 
(h) EXPANDED ROYALTY OBLIGATIONS.—Each person 
liable for royalty payments under this section shall be joint-
ly and severally liable for royalty on all locatable minerals, 
concentrates, or products derived therefrom lost or wasted 
from a mining claim located under the general mining laws 
and maintained in compliance with this Act when such loss 
or waste is due to negligence on the part of any person or 
due to the failure to comply with any rule, regulation, or 
order issued under this section. 
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(i) GROSS INCOME FROM MINING DEFINED.—For the 
purposes of this section, for any locatable mineral, the term 
‘‘gross income from mining’’ has the same meaning as the 
term ‘‘gross income’’ in section 613(c) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986. 
(j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The royalty under this section 
shall take effect with respect to the production of locatable 
minerals after the enactment of this Act, but any royalty 
payments attributable to production during the first 12 cal-
endar months after the enactment of this Act shall be pay-
able at the expiration of such 12-month period. 
(k) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH ROYALTY REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Any person who fails to comply with the require-
ments of this section or any regulation or order issued to 
implement this section shall be liable for a civil penalty 
under section 109 of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Man-
agement Act (30 U.S.C. 1719) to the same extent as if the 
claim located under the general mining laws and main-
tained in compliance with this Act were a lease under that 
Act. 
SEC. 103. HARDROCK MINING CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE. 
(a) FEE.— 
(1) Except as provided in section 2511(e)(2) of 
the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (relating to oil shale 
claims), for each unpatented mining claim, mill or 
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tunnel site on federally owned lands, whether located 
before, on, or after enactment of this Act, each claim-
ant shall pay to the Secretary, on or before August 31 
of each year, a claim maintenance fee of $150 per 
claim to hold such unpatented mining claim, mill or 
tunnel site for the assessment year beginning at noon 
on the next day, September 1. Such claim mainte-
nance fee shall be in lieu of the assessment work re-
quirement contained in the Mining Law of 1872 (30 
U.S.C. 28 et seq.) and the related filing requirements 
contained in section 314(a) and (c) of the Federal 
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1744(a) and (c)). 
(2)(A) The claim maintenance fee required under 
this subsection shall be waived for a claimant who 
certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the date 
the payment was due, the claimant and all related 
parties— 
(i) held not more than 10 mining claims, 
mill sites, or tunnel sites, or any combination 
thereof, on public lands; and 
(ii) have performed assessment work re-
quired under the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 
28 et seq.) to maintain the mining claims held 
by the claimant and such related parties for the 
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assessment year ending on noon of September 1 
of the calendar year in which payment of the 
claim maintenance fee was due. 
(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), with re-
spect to any claimant, the term ‘‘all related parties’’ 
means— 
(i) the spouse and dependent children (as 
defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986), of the claimant; or 
(ii) a person affiliated with the claimant, 
including— 
(I) a person controlled by, controlling, 
or under common control with the claimant; 
or 
(II) a subsidiary or parent company 
or corporation of the claimant. 
(3)(A) The Secretary shall adjust the fees re-
quired by this subsection to reflect changes in the 
Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of 
Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor every 5 
years after the date of enactment of this Act, or more 
frequently if the Secretary determines an adjustment 
to be reasonable. 
(B) The Secretary shall provide claimants notice 
of any adjustment made under this paragraph not 
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later than July 1 of any year in which the adjust-
ment is made. 
(C) A fee adjustment under this paragraph shall 
begin to apply the calendar year following the cal-
endar year in which it is made. 
(4) Monies received under this subsection shall be 
deposited in the Locatable Minerals Fund established 
by this Act. 
(b) LOCATION.— 
(1) Notwithstanding any provision of law, for 
every unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site lo-
cated after the date of enactment of this Act and be-
fore September 30, 1998, the locator shall, at the time 
the location notice is recorded with the Bureau of 
Land Management, pay to the Secretary a location 
fee, in addition to the fee required by subsection (a) 
of $50 per claim. 
(2) Moneys received under this subsection that 
are not otherwise allocated for the administration of 
the mining laws by the Department of the Interior 
shall be deposited in the Locatable Minerals Fund es-
tablished by this Act. 
(c) CO-OWNERSHIP.—The co-ownership provisions of 
the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 28 et seq.) will remain 
in effect except that the annual claim maintenance fee, 
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