I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1830
To provide for claim maintenance fees and royalties on hardrock mining
claims, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 6, 1997
Ms. FURSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To provide for claim maintenance fees and royalties on
hardrock mining claims, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘locatable mineral’’ means any
mineral not subject to disposition under any of the
following:
(A) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.
181 and following);
(D) The term ‘‘processing’’ means proc-
esses downstream of beneficiation employed to
prepare locatable mineral ore into the final
marketable product, including but not limited
to, smelting and electrolytic refining.
(3) The term ‘‘mining claim’’ means a claim for
the purposes of mineral activities.
(4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means, unless other-
wise provided in this Act, the Secretary of the Inte-
rior acting through the Director of the Minerals
Management Service.
SEC. 2. MINING CLAIM MAINTENANCE REQUIREMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The holder of each mining claim
located on lands open to location shall pay to the Secretary
an annual claim maintenance fee of $100 per claim per
calendar year.
(b) TIME OF PAYMENT.—The claim maintenance fee
payable pursuant to subsection (a) for any year shall be
paid on or before August 31 of each year, except that for
the initial calendar year in which the location is made,
the locator shall pay the initial claim maintenance fee at
the time the location notice is recorded with the Bureau
of Land Management.
(c) OIL SHALE CLAIMS SUBJECT TO CLAIM MAINTE-
NANCE FEES UNDER ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 1992.—
This section shall not apply to any oil shale claims for
which a fee is required to be paid under section 2511(e)(2)
of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 3111; 30
U.S.C. 242).
(d) CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEES PAYABLE UNDER
1993 ACT.—The claim maintenance fees payable under
this section for any period with respect to any claim shall
be reduced by the amount of the claim maintenance fees
paid under section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Rec-
onciliation Act of 1993 with respect to that claim and with
respect to the same period.
(e) WAIVER.—(1) The claim maintenance fee re-
quired under this section may be waived for a claim holder
who certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the date
the payment was due, the claim holder and all related par-
ties held not more than 10 mining claims on lands open
to location. Such certification shall be made on or before
the date on which payment is due.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), with respect to
any claim holder, the term ‘‘related party’’ means each
of the following:
(A) The spouse and dependent children (as de-
fined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986), of the claim holder.
(B) Any affiliate of the claim holder.
(f) CO-OWNERSHIP.—Upon the failure of any one or
more of several co-owners to contribute such co-owner or
owners’ portion of the fee under this section, any co-owner
who has paid such fee may, after the payment due date,
give the delinquent co-owner or owners notice of such fail-
ure in writing (or by publication in the newspaper nearest
the claim for at least once a week for at least 90 days).
If at the expiration of 90 days after such notice in writing
or by publication, any delinquent co-owner fails or refuses
to contribute his portion, his interest in the claim shall
become the property of the co-owners who have paid the
required fee.
SEC. 3. ROYALTY.
(a) RESERVATION OF ROYALTY.—Production of all
locatable minerals from any mining claim located under
the general mining laws, or mineral concentrates or prod-
ucts derived from locatable minerals from any mining
claim located under the general mining laws, as the case
may be, shall be subject to a royalty of 8 percent of the
gross income from such production. The claimholder and
any operator to whom the claimholder has assigned the
obligation to make royalty payments under the claim and
any person who controls such claimholder or operator shall
be jointly and severally liable for payment of such royal-
ties.
(b) DUTIES OF CLAIM HOLDERS, OPERATORS, AND
TRANSPORTERS.—(1) A person—
(A) who is required to make any royalty pay-
ment under this section shall make such payments
to the United States at such times and in such man-
ner as the Secretary may by rule prescribe; and
(B) shall notify the Secretary, in the time and
manner as may be specified by the Secretary, of any
assignment that such person may have made of the
obligation to make any royalty or other payment
under a mining claim.
(2) Any person paying royalties under this section
shall file a written instrument, together with the first roy-
alty payment, affirming that such person is liable to the
Secretary for making proper payments for all amounts due
for all time periods for which such person has a payment
responsibility. Such liability for the period referred to in
the preceding sentence shall include any and all additional
amounts billed by the Secretary and determined to be due
by final agency or judicial action. Any person liable for
royalty payments under this section who assigns any pay-
ment obligation shall remain jointly and severally liable
for all royalty payments due for the claim for the period.
(3) A person conducting mineral activities shall—
(A) develop and comply with the site security
provisions in operations permit designed to protect
from theft the locatable minerals, concentrates or
products derived therefrom which are produced or
stored on a mining claim, and such provisions shall
conform with such minimum standards as the Sec-
retary may prescribe by rule, taking into account the
variety of circumstances on mining claims; and
(B) not later than the 5th business day after
production begins anywhere on a mining claim, or
production resumes after more than 90 days after
production was suspended, notify the Secretary, in
the manner prescribed by the Secretary, of the date
on which such production has begun or resumed.
(4) The Secretary may by rule require any person en-
gaged in transporting a locatable mineral, concentrate, or
product derived therefrom to carry on his or her person,
in his or her vehicle, or in his or her immediate control,
documentation showing, at a minimum, the amount, ori-
gin, and intended destination of the locatable mineral, con-
centrate, or product derived therefrom in such cir-
cumstances as the Secretary determines is appropriate.
(c) RECORDKEEPING
AND REPORTING REQUIRE-
MENTS.—(1) A claim holder, operator, or other person di-
rectly involved in developing, producing, processing, trans-
porting, purchasing, or selling locatable minerals, con-
centrates, or products derived therefrom, subject to this
Act, through the point of royalty computation shall estab-
lish and maintain any records, make any reports, and pro-
vide any information that the Secretary may reasonably
require for the purposes of implementing this section or
determining compliance with rules or orders under this
section. Such records shall include, but not be limited to,
periodic reports, records, documents, and other data. Such
reports may also include, but not be limited to, pertinent
technical and financial data relating to the quantity, qual-
ity, composition volume, weight, and assay of all minerals
extracted from the mining claim. Upon the request of any
officer or employee duly designated by the Secretary or
any State conducting an audit or investigation pursuant
to this section, the appropriate records, reports, or infor-
mation which may be required by this section shall be
made available for inspection and duplication by such offi-
cer or employee or State.
(2) Records required by the Secretary under this sec-
tion shall be maintained for 6 years after cessation of all
mining activity at the claim concerned unless the Sec-
retary notifies the operator that he or she has initiated
an audit or investigation involving such records and that
such records must be maintained for a longer period. In