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ment required in subsection (e) and the statement must
be timely filed.
(4) Annual labor performed on an individual mining
claim or site within a group of contiguous claims may be
credited towards the aggregate amount of maintenance
fees due on all of the contiguous claims within that group.
(c) WORK QUALIFYING
AS ANNUAL LABOR.—(1)
Only work which directly benefits or develops a mining
claim or facilitates the extraction of ore qualifies as annual
labor. Acceptable labor and improvements include any of
the following:
(A) Drilling or excavating, including ore extrac-
tion.
(B) Mining costs directly associated with the
production of ore.
(C) Prospecting work which benefits the loca-
tion or a contiguous location.
(D) Development work toward an actual mine,
such as shafts, tunnels, crosscuts and drifts, settling
ponds and dams.
(E) Bringing in water for direct mining or mill-
ing purposes.
(F) Clearing of brush, timber, debris, or over-
burden where necessary to facilitate the extraction
or processing of minerals.
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(G) Construction of trails, roads, or landing
strips providing access to claims.
(H) Construction costs of worker housing, mills,
and equipment storage buildings where reasonably
necessary for the development of the location.
(I) Reasonable value of the use of equipment
for prospecting, mining, or development purposes on
the location.
(J) Repairs of equipment used for prospecting,
sampling, or production of minerals provided that
such equipment has been on site during the assess-
ment year.
(K) Cost of moving workers, materials, and
equipment among contiguous locations.
(L) Watchman services of a bona fide employed
watchman on the property where reasonably nec-
essary to protect mining equipment of substantial
value.
(M) Activities covered under section 1 of the
Act of September 2, 1958 (30 U.S.C. 28–1), as
amended.
(N) Reclamation conducted pursuant to State
or Federal surface management regulations.
(O) Other activities which the Secretary may
determine qualify as annual labor.
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(2) The following activities do not qualify as annual
labor:
(A) Work involved in maintaining the location
such as brushing and marking boundaries or replac-
ing corner posts and location notices.
(B) Transportation of workers to or from the
location.
(C) Prospecting or exploration work not con-
ducted within the location or a contiguous location.
(d) AMENDMENTS OF PUBLIC LAW 85–876.—The
Act of September 2, 1958 (Public Law 85–876; 30 U.S.C.
28–1), is amended as follows:
(1) Section 1 is amended by inserting ‘‘mineral
activities, environmental baseline monitoring, and’’
after ‘‘without being limited to’’ and before ‘‘geologi-
cal, geochemical and geophysical surveys’’ and by
striking ‘‘Such’’ at the beginning of the last sentence
and inserting ‘‘Airborne’’.
(2) Section 2(d) is amended by inserting ‘‘envi-
ronmental baseline monitoring or’’ after ‘‘experience
to conduct’’ and before ‘‘geological, geochemical or
geophysical surveys’’.
(3) Section 2 is amended by adding at the end
of the following new subsection at the end thereof:
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‘‘(e) The term ‘environmental baseline monitoring’
means activities for collecting, reviewing and analyzing in-
formation concerning soil, vegetation, wildlife, mineral,
air, water, cultural, historical, archaeological or other re-
sources related to planning for or complying with Federal
and State environmental or permitting requirements appli-
cable to potential or proposed mineral activities on the
claim(s).’’.
(e) MAINTENANCE FEE STATEMENT.—Each pay-
ment under subsection (a) of this section shall be accom-
panied by a statement which reasonably identifies the min-
ing claim or site for which the maintenance fee is being
paid. The statement required under this subsection shall
be in lieu of any annual filing requirements for mining
claims or sites, under any other Federal law, but shall not
supersede any such filing requirement under applicable
State law.
(f) ANNUAL LABOR REPORT.—When the value of an-
nual labor is credited towards part or all of the mainte-
nance fee, subject to the 75-percent limit set forth in sub-
section (b)(1), the following shall apply:
(1) The maintenance fee statement required in
subsection (e) must also state the dates of perform-
ance of the labor, describe the character and total
value of the improvements made or the labor per-
393
formed, the amount of labor used as a credit toward
the maintenance fee for the current year, and the
value of excess labor performed in previous years
which is to be applied to the maintenance fee for the
current year.
(2) Documentation which reasonably supports
the activities or improvements claimed must accom-
pany the maintenance fee statement. Such docu-
mentation may include, but is not limited to, copies
of maps showing sample locations, drill locations, or
survey data; environmental baseline data; reports on
geology, geochemistry, or geophysics by qualified ex-
perts; drill results; or engineering reports by quali-
fied engineers.
(3) All supporting material filed pursuant to
paragraph (2) shall remain confidential in accord-
ance with section 552 of title 5 of the United States
Code as long as the location is maintained and for
a period of one year after the location is abandoned,
after which all data filed shall be considered public
information.
(g) EFFECT OF COMPLIANCE AS AGAINST SUBSE-
QUENT LOCATORS.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph
(2), after the date of enactment of this Act, compliance
with the requirements of this section shall, from the time
394
the location notice or certificate is posted on the land
under applicable State law, confer upon the owner of any
unpatented mining claim or site, whether located before
or after the date of enactment of this Act, an exclusive
right of possession, as against subsequent locators, of the
land included in such mining claim or site under the gen-
eral mining laws. If more than one mining claim or site
owned or controlled by the same claim or site owner covers
substantially the same land, by reason of the location of
one or more mining claims or sites on such land, the
amendment or relocation of any such mining claim or site,
or otherwise, such exclusive right of possession shall ex-
tend to all such mining claims or sites, effective from the
time the location notice or certificate for the initial mining
claim or site was posted on such land under applicable
State law. The order of location, amendment, or relocation
of any such mining claims or sites on such land shall not
affect the validity of any such mining claim or site. Such
owner of the mining claim or site shall not be required
to be in actual, physical occupation of such land and shall
not be required to exclude rival locators from such land.
Such exclusive right of possession shall be subject to appli-
cable Federal law, including the Multiple Mineral Develop-
ment Act of 1954 (30 U.S.C. 521–31), the Materials Act
of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601–604) and the Surface Resources