IB 
Union Calendar No. 374 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 2579 
[Report No. 116–467] 
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 purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2019 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. CART-
WRIGHT, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. HAALAND, 
Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. POCAN, and Mr. SOTO) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
Resources 
AUGUST 4, 2020 
Additional sponsors: Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. VAN DREW, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. 
LOFGREN, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. 
TONKO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. PINGREE, and Ms. TLAIB 
AUGUST 4, 2020 
Reported with an amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 8, 2019] 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Hardrock Leasing and Reclamation Act of 2019’’. 
(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 LEASING, EXPLORATION, AND DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 101. Closure to entry and location. 
Sec. 102. Limitation on patents. 
Sec. 103. Prospecting license and hardrock leases. 
Sec. 104. Competitive leasing. 
Sec. 105. Small miners leases. 
Sec. 106. Lands containing nonhardrock minerals; other uses. 
Sec. 107. Royalty. 
Sec. 108. Existing production. 
Sec. 109. Hardrock mining claim maintenance fee. 
Sec. 110. Effect of payments for use and occupancy of claims. 
Sec. 111. Protection of special places. 
Sec. 112. Suitability determination. 
TITLE II—CONSULTATION PROCEDURE 
Sec. 201. Requirement for consultation. 
Sec. 202. Timing. 
Sec. 203. Scoping stage consultation. 
Sec. 204. Decision stage procedures. 
Sec. 205. Documentation and reporting. 
Sec. 206. Implementation. 
Sec. 207. Sensitive Tribal information. 
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. 
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TITLE IV—ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE RECLAMATION 
Sec. 401. Establishment of Fund. 
Sec. 402. Contents of Fund. 
Sec. 403. Displaced material reclamation fee. 
Sec. 404. Use and objectives of the Fund. 
Sec. 405. Eligible lands and waters. 
Sec. 406. Authorization of appropriations. 
TITLE V—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 
Sec. 501. Policy functions. 
Sec. 502. User fees and inflation adjustment. 
Sec. 503. Inspection and monitoring. 
Sec. 504. Citizens suits. 
Sec. 505. Administrative and judicial review. 
Sec. 506. Reporting requirements. 
Sec. 507. Enforcement. 
Sec. 508. Regulations. 
Sec. 509. Oil shale claims. 
Sec. 510. Savings clause. 
Sec. 511. Availability of public records. 
Sec. 512. Miscellaneous powers. 
Sec. 513. Mineral materials. 
Sec. 514. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—As used in this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘adjacent land’’ means any land 
not more than two miles from the boundary of a de-
scribed land tract. 
(2) 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. 
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(3) The term ‘‘agency’’ means any authority of 
the United States that is an ‘‘agency’’ under section 
3502(1) of title 44, United States Code. 
(4) The term ‘‘applicant’’ means any person ap-
plying for a permit, license, or lease under this Act 
or a modification to or a renewal of a permit, license, 
or lease under this Act. 
(5) The term ‘‘beneficiation’’ means the crushing 
and grinding of hardrock mineral ore and such proc-
esses as are employed to free the mineral from other 
constituents, including physical and chemical separa-
tion techniques. 
(6) 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 sluicing; and 
(C) does not include— 
(i) the use of mechanized earth-moving 
equipment, suction dredging, or explosives; 
(ii) the use of motor vehicles in areas 
closed to off-road vehicles; 
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(iii) the construction of roads or drill 
pads; and 
(iv) the use of toxic or hazardous mate-
rials. 
(7) The term ‘‘claim holder’’ means a person 
holding a mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel site 
claim located under the general mining laws and 
maintained in compliance with such laws. Such term 
may include an agent of a claim holder. 
(8) The term ‘‘control’’ means having the ability, 
directly or indirectly, to determine (without regard to 
whether exercised through one or more corporate 
structures) the manner in which an entity conducts 
mineral activities, through any means, including 
ownership interest, authority to commit the entity’s 
real or financial assets, position as a director, officer, 
or partner of the entity, or contractual arrangement. 
(9) The term ‘‘crude ore’’ means ore in its un-
processed form, containing profitable amounts of the 
target mineral. 
(10) The term ‘‘displaced material’’ means any 
crude ore and waste dislodged from its location at the 
time hardrock mineral activities begin at a surface, 
underground, or in-situ mine. 
(11) The term ‘‘exploration’’— 
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(A) subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
means creating surface disturbance other than 
casual use, to evaluate the type, extent, quantity, 
or quality of minerals present; 
(B) includes mineral activities associated 
with sampling, drilling, and analyzing hardrock 
mineral values; and 
(C) does not include extraction of mineral 
material for commercial use or sale. 
(12) The term ‘‘Federal land’’ means any land, 
and any interest in land, that is owned by the United 
States, except lands in the National Park System, In-
dian lands, and lands on the Outer Continental Shelf. 
(13) The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Hardrock Min-
erals Reclamation Fund established by this Act. 
(14) The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ means lands held 
in trust for the benefit of an Indian Tribe or indi-
vidual or held by an Indian Tribe or individual sub-
ject to a restriction by the United States against 
alienation, or held by an Alaska Native village, vil-
lage corporation, or regional corporation as defined 
in or established pursuant to the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 
(15) The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ means any In-
dian Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized 
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group or community, including any Alaska Native 
village, village corporation, or regional corporation as 
defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska Na-
tive Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), 
that is recognized as eligible for the special programs 
and services provided by the United States to Indians 
because of their status as Indians. 
(16) The term ‘‘hardrock mineral’’— 
(A) subject to subparagraph (B), means any 
mineral that was subject to location under the 
general mining laws as of the date of enactment 
of this Act, and that is not subject to disposition 
under— 
(i) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 
181 et seq.); 
(ii) the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 
(30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 
(iii) the Act of July 31, 1947, com-
monly known as the Materials Act of 1947 
(30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or 
(iv) the Mineral Leasing for Acquired 
Lands Act (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); and 
(B) does not include any mineral that is 
subject to a restriction against alienation im-
posed by the United States and is— 
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(i) held in trust by the United States 
for any Indian or Indian Tribe, as defined 
in section 2 of the Indian Mineral Develop-
ment Act of 1982 (25 U.S.C. 2101); or 
(ii) owned by any Indian or Indian 
Tribe, as defined in that section. 
(17) The term ‘‘mineral activities’’ means any 
activity on a mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel 
site claim, or a lease, license, or permit issued under 
this Act, for, related to, or incidental to, mineral ex-
ploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, or rec-
lamation activities for any hardrock mineral. 
(18) The term ‘‘memorandum of agreement’’ 
means a document that records the terms and condi-
tions agreed upon by an agency and an Indian Tribe 
through the consultation process regarding an activ-
ity. 
(19) The term ‘‘National Conservation System 
unit’’ means any unit of the National Park System, 
National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and 
Scenic Rivers System, National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System, National Landscape Conservation Sys-
tem, or National Trails System, or a National Con-
servation Area, a National Recreation Area, a Wil-
derness Study Area, a National Monument, or any 
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unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System 
or lands within the National Forest System, includ-
ing: 
(A) National Volcanic Monuments. 
(B) Recreation Areas, Scenic Recreation 
Areas, and Winter Recreation Areas. 
(C) Scenic Areas, Scenic-Research Areas, 
Scenic Highways, National Scenic and Wildlife 
Areas. 
(D) National Game and Wildlife Preserves. 
(E) Special Management, Wildlife, Con-
servation and Protection Areas, including botan-
ical, hydrological (watershed), geological, histor-
ical, paleontological, and zoological areas. 
(F) Experimental Forests, Ranges, and Wa-
tersheds. 
(G) Research Sites and Research Natural 
Areas. 
(H) Inventoried Roadless Area, Colorado 
Roadless Area, and Idaho Roadless Area. 
(I) Recommended Wilderness and Primitive 
Areas. 
(20) The term ‘‘operator’’ means any person pro-
posing or authorized by a permit issued under this 
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Act to conduct mineral activities and any agent of 
such person. 
(21) The term ‘‘person’’ means an individual, 
Indian Tribe, partnership, association, society, joint 
venture, joint stock company, firm, company, cor-
poration, cooperative, or other organization and any 
instrumentality of State or local government includ-
ing any publicly owned utility or publicly owned cor-
poration of State or local government. 
(22) The term ‘‘processing’’ means processes 
downstream of beneficiation employed to prepare 
locatable mineral ore into the final marketable prod-
uct, including smelting and electrolytic refining. 
(23) The term ‘‘sacred site’’ means any specific 
delineated location on Federal land that is identified 
by an Indian Tribe— 
(A) as sacred by virtue of its established re-
ligious significance to, or ceremonial use by, an 
Indian religion; or 
(B) to be of established cultural signifi-
cance. 
(24) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of the Interior, unless otherwise specified. 
(25) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 
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(A) the Secretary of Agriculture (acting 
through the Chief of the Forest Service) with re-
spect to National Forest System land; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior (acting 
through the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management) with respect to other Federal land. 
(26)(A) The term ‘‘small miner’’ means a person 
(including all related parties thereto) that— 
(i) holds not more than 10 mining claims, 
mill sites, or tunnel sites, or any combination 
thereof, on public lands; 
(ii) holds leases and permits under this Act 
with respect to not more than 200 acres of Fed-
eral land; 
(iii) certifies to the Secretary in writing 
that the person had annual gross income in the 
preceding calendar year from mineral produc-
tion in an amount less than $50,000; and 
(iv) has performed assessment work required 
under the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 28 et 
seq.) to maintain any mining claims held by the 
person (including such related parties) for the 
assessment year ending on noon of September 1 
of the calendar year in which payment of the 
claim maintenance fee was due. 
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(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), with re-
spect to any person, 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 person concerned; or 
(ii) a person affiliated with the person con-
cerned, including— 
(I) another person controlled by, con-
trolling, or under common control with the 
person concerned; or 
(II) a subsidiary or parent company 
or corporation of the person concerned. 
(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(iii), the 
dollar amount shall be applied, for a person, to the 
aggregate of all annual gross income from mineral 
production under all mining claims held by or as-
signed to such person or all related parties with re-
spect to such person, including mining claims located 
or for which a patent was issued before the date of the 
enactment of this Act. 
(27) The term ‘‘temporary cessation’’ means a 
halt in mine-related production activities for a con-
tinuous period of no longer than 5 years. 
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(28) The term ‘‘ton’’ means 2,000 pounds avoir-
dupois (.90718 metric ton). 
(29) The term ‘‘undue degradation’’ means irrep-
arable harm to significant scientific, cultural, or en-
vironmental resources on public lands. 
(30) The term ‘‘valuable mineral deposit’’ means 
a deposit of hardrock minerals that is of sufficient 
value for a prudent operator to economically mine. 
(31) The term ‘‘waste’’ means rock that must be 
fractured and removed in order to gain access to 
crude ore. 
(b) REFERENCES TO OTHER LAWS.— 
(1) GENERAL MINING LAWS.—Any reference in 
this Act to the term ‘‘general mining laws’’ is a ref-
erence to those Acts that generally comprise chapters 
2, 12A, and 16, and sections 161 and 162, of title 30, 
United States Code. 
(2) ACT OF JULY 23, 1955.—Any reference in this 
Act to the Act of July 23, 1955, is a reference to the 
Act entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Act of July 31, 
1947 (61 Stat. 681) and the mining laws to provide 
for multiple use of the surface of the same tracts of 
the public lands, and for other purposes’’ (30 U.S.C. 
601 et seq.). 
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SEC. 3. APPLICATION RULES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act applies to any mining 
claim, millsite claim, or tunnel site claim located under the 
general mining laws, before or on the date of enactment of 
this Act. 
(b) APPLICATION
OF ACT
TO BENEFICIATION
AND 
PROCESSING OF NON-FEDERAL MINERALS ON FEDERAL 
LANDS.—The provisions of this Act shall apply in the same 
manner and to the same extent to mining claims, millsite 
claims, tunnel site claims, and any land included in a lease 
or license issued under this Act, used for beneficiation or 
processing activities for any hardrock mineral. 
TITLE I—MINERAL LEASING, EX-
PLORATION, AND DEVELOP-
MENT 
SEC. 101. CLOSURE TO ENTRY AND LOCATION. 
(a) CLOSURE.—Except as otherwise provided in this 
section, as of the effective date of this Act all Federal lands 
are closed to entry and location under the general mining 
laws, and no new rights under the general mining laws may 
be acquired. 
(b) EXISTING NONPRODUCING CLAIMS.— 
(1) CLAIMS WITHOUT PLAN OF OPERATIONS.— 
Any claim under the general mining laws existing on 
the effective date of this Act for which a plan of oper-
ations is not approved, or a notice of operations is 
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not filed, before such date shall be subject to the re-
quirements of this Act, and may remain in effect 
until not later than the end of the 10-year period be-
ginning on the date of enactment of this Act if the 
claimholder remains in compliance with section 109, 
unless the claim holder— 
(A) relinquishes the claim; or 
(B) demonstrates eligibility for a lease and 
requests conversion under the regulations issued 
under subsection (d). 
(2) SHORTENING OF PERIOD.—The 10-year pe-
riod referred to in paragraph (1) shall be shortened 
to 3 years if— 
(A) the claim is for an area that is located 
in an area withdrawn or temporarily segregated 
from location under the general mining laws as 
of the effective date of this Act; or 
(B) the claim belongs to a small miner. 
(3) CONVERSION.—Upon showing to the satisfac-
tion of the Secretary of a valuable mineral deposit on 
lands subject to such a claim, the Secretary may con-
vert the claim to a noncompetitive lease under the 
regulations issued under subsection (d). 
(4) CLAIMS NOT CONVERTED.—Any such claims 
not converted to leases at the end of the applicable pe-
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riod under paragraph (1) or (2) shall be considered 
invalid and void. 
(c) EXISTING CLAIMS WITH PLAN OF OPERATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In the case of any claim 
under the general mining laws for which a plan of 
operations has been approved but for which oper-
ations have not commenced before the date of enact-
ment of this Act— 
(A) during the 10-year period beginning on 
the date of enactment of this Act— 
(i) mineral activities on lands subject 
to such claim shall be subject to such plan 
of operations; and 
(ii) modification of such plan may be 
made in accordance with the provisions of 
law applicable before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act if such modifications are 
considered minor by the Secretary con-
cerned; and 
(B) the operator shall bring such mineral 
activities into compliance with this Act by the 
end of such 10-year period. 
(2) ACTIVITIES PENDING DECISION ON MODIFICA-
TION TO PLAN OF OPERATIONS.—If an application for 
modification of a plan of operations referred to in 
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paragraph (1)(A)(ii) has been timely submitted and 
an approved plan expires before the Secretary con-
cerned takes action on the application, mineral ac-
tivities and reclamation may continue in accordance 
with the terms of the expired plan until such Sec-
retary makes an administrative decision on the appli-
cation. 
(3) CONVERSION REQUIREMENT.—Any claims re-
ferred to in paragraph (1) may remain in effect for 
a period of up to 10 years. Any claim not converted 
to a lease under subsection (d) before the end of that 
period shall be subject to a fee of $100 per acre per 
day until the claim is converted to a lease. 
(d) CONVERSION REGULATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue reg-
ulations not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act to provide for the conversion of 
mining claims to noncompetitive mining leases. 
(2) CONTENT.—The regulations issued under 
paragraph (1) shall— 
(A) prohibit the conversion of a mining 
claim to a mining lease by a claimholder who is 
in violation of this Act or other State or Federal 
environmental, health, or worker safety law; 
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