I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1085
To address certain anachronistic provisions of the general mining laws, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 15, 2001
Mr. RAHALL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
A BILL
To address certain anachronistic provisions of the general
mining laws, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mining Claim Mainte-
nance Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Any reference in this Act to the ‘‘general mining
laws’’ is a reference to those Acts which generally com-
prise chapters 2, 12A, 16, 161 and 162 of title 30 of the
United States Code.
TITLE I—MINING CLAIM FEES
SEC. 101. MAINTENANCE FEE.
(a) CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEE.—Except as provided
in subsections (c), (d), and (e), the holder of each
unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site located pursu-
ant to the general mining laws, whether located before or
after the enactment of this Act, shall pay to the Secretary
of the Interior, on or before August 31 of each year, a
claim maintenance fee of $100 per claim. Such claim
maintenance fee shall be in lieu of the assessment work
requirement contained in the general mining laws and the
related filing requirements contained in section 314 (a)
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(43 U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c)).
(b) TIME OF PAYMENT.—The claim maintenance fee
payable pursuant to subsection (a) for any assessment
year (as defined under the general mining laws) shall be
paid before the commencement of the assessment year.
The location fee imposed under section 102 shall be pay-
able not later than 90 days after the date of location.
(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) WAIVER
FOR PATENT APPLICANTS.—(1) The
Secretary may waive the claim maintenance fee required
under this section for a claimant who certifies in writing
to the Secretary that on the date the payment was due,
the claimant and all related parties—
(A) had filed a patent application with the Sec-
retary on or before September 30, 1994; and
(B) had fully complied with all requirements es-
tablished under sections 2325 and 2326 of the Re-
vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 30) for vein or
lode claims and sections 2329, 2330, 2331, and
2333 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and
37) for placer claims, and section 2337 of the Re-
vised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 42) for mill site claims, by
that date.
(e) EXCEPTIONS FOR CLAIMANTS HOLDING 10 OR
FEWER MINING CLAIMS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—A claimant may elect to per-
form the assessment work required under the gen-
eral mining laws in lieu of paying the maintenance
fee required under this section if the claimant who
certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the date
the payment was due, the claimant and all related
parties—
(A) are producing hard rock minerals
under a valid notice or plan of operation which
production results in not less than $1,500 and
not more than $800,000 in gross revenues per
year from a total of 10 or fewer claims, as cer-
tified by the claimant;
(B) are performing exploration work to
disclose, expose, or otherwise make known pos-
sible valuable mineralization on a total of 10 or
fewer claims under a valid notice or plan of op-
eration; and
(C) have less than 10 acres of unreclaimed
surface disturbance from such mining activity
or such exploration work.
(2) CLAIMANTS ELECTING TO DO ASSESSMENT
WORK.—A claimant holding 10 or fewer mining
claims, who elects to do the assessment work re-
quired by the general mining laws in lieu of paying
the claim maintenance fee required under this sec-
tion shall be required to meet the filing requirements
of section 314(a) and (c) of the Federal Land Policy
and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c))
on such 10 or fewer claims and shall certify the per-
formance of such assessment work to the Secretary
of the Interior by August 31 of each year.
(3) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec-
tion:
(1) With respect to any claimant, the term
‘‘related party’’ means—
(A) the spouse and dependent children
(as defined in section 152 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986), of the claimant;
and
(B) a person who controls, is con-
trolled by, or is under common control with
the claimant.
(2) The term ‘‘control’’ includes actual
control, legal control, and the power to exercise
control, through or by common directors, offi-
cers, stockholders, a voting trust, or a holding
company or investment company, or any other
means.
SEC. 102. LOCATION FEE.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for every
unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site located after
the date of enactment of this title, pursuant to the general
mining laws, the locator shall, at the time the location no-
tice is recorded with the Bureau of Land Management,
pay to the Secretary of the Interior a location fee, in addi-
tion to the claim maintenance fee required by section 101,
of $25.00 per claim.
SEC. 103. CO-OWNERSHIP.
The co-ownership provisions of the general mining
laws shall remain in effect, except that in applying such
provisions, the annual claim maintenance fee required
under this title shall, where applicable, replace applicable
assessment requirements and expenditures.
SEC. 104. FAILURE TO PAY.
Failure to pay the claim maintenance fee or the loca-
tion fee on the date due as required by this title shall con-
clusively constitute a forfeiture of the unpatented mining
claim, mill or tunnel site by the claimant and the claim
shall be deemed null and void by operation of law.
SEC. 105. OTHER REQUIREMENTS.
(a) FEDERAL LAND POLICY AND MANAGEMENT ACT
REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this title shall change or
modify the requirements of section 314(b) of the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C.
1744(b)), of the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(c)) related to filings required
by section 314(b), and such requirements shall remain in
effect with respect to claims, and mill or tunnel sites for
which fees are required to be paid under this section.
(b) REVISED STATUTES SECTION 2324.—The third
sentence of section 2324 of the Revised Statutes (30
U.S.C. 28) is amended by inserting after ‘‘On each claim
located after the tenth day of May, eighteen hundred and
seventy-two,’’ the following: ‘‘that is granted a waiver
under section 101 (d) or (e) of the Mining Claim Mainte-
nance Act of 2001’’.
(c) FEE ADJUSTMENTS.—(1) The Secretary of the
Interior shall adjust the fees required by this title to re-
flect 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 the enactment of
this Act, or more frequently if the Secretary determines
an adjustment to be reasonable.
(2) The Secretary shall provide claimants notice of
any adjustment made under this subsection not later than
July 1 of any year in which the adjustment is made.
(3) A fee adjustment under this subsection shall
begin to apply the first assessment year (as defined under
the general mining laws) which begins at noon on the first
day of September after the adjustment is made.
SEC. 106. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate rules
and regulations to carry out the terms and conditions of
this title as soon as practicable after the date of the enact-
ment of this title.
TITLE II—LIMITATION ON
PATENTS
SEC. 201. MINING CLAIMS
After the date of enactment of this Act, no patent
shall be issued by the United States for any mining claim
located under the general mining laws or under this Act
unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim
concerned—
(1) a patent application was filed with the Sec-
retary on or before September 30, 1994; and
(2) all requirements established under sections
2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C.
29 and 30) for vein or lode claims and sections
2329, 2330, 2331, and 2333 of the Revised Statutes
(30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and 37) for placer claims were
fully complied with by that date.
If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to in
paragraphs (1) and (2) for any mining claim, the holder
of the claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent
in the same manner and degree to which such claim holder
would have been entitled to prior to the enactment of this
Act, unless and until such determinations are withdrawn
or invalidated by the Secretary or by a court of the United
States.
SEC. 202. MILL SITES.
After the date of enactment of this Act, no patent
shall be issued by the United States for any mill site claim
located under the general mining laws unless the Secretary
determines that for the mill site concerned—
(1) a patent application for such land was filed
with the Secretary on or before September 30, 1994;
and
(2) all requirements applicable to such patent
application were fully complied with by that date.
If the Secretary makes the determinations referred
to in paragraphs (1) and (2) for any mill site claim, the
holder of the claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a
patent in the same manner and degree to which such claim
holder would have been entitled to prior to the enactment
of this Act, unless and until such determinations are with-
drawn or invalidated by the Secretary or by a court of
the United States.
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