(5) Reduction of the visual impact of mineral 
activities to the surrounding topography, including as 
necessary pit backfill. 
(6) Establishment of a diverse, effective, and per-
manent vegetative cover of the same seasonal variety 
native to the area affected by mineral activities, and 
equal in extent of cover to the natural vegetation of 
the area. 
(7) Design and maintenance of leach operations, 
impoundments, and excess waste according to stand-
ard engineering standards to achieve and maintain 
stability and reclamation of the site. 
(8) Removal of structures and roads and sealing 
of drill holes. 
(9) Restoration of, or mitigation for, fish and 
wildlife habitat disturbed by mineral activities. 
(10) Preservation of cultural, paleontological, 
and cave resources. 
(11) Prevention and suppression of fire in the 
area of mineral activities. 
(c) SURFACE OR GROUNDWATER WITHDRAWALS.—The 
Secretary shall work with State and local governments with 
authority over the allocation and use of surface and ground-
water in the area around the mine site as necessary to en-
sure that any surface or groundwater withdrawals made 
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as a result of mining activities approved under this section 
do not cause undue degradation. 
(d) SPECIAL RULE.—Reclamation activities for a 
mining claim that has been forfeited, relinquished, or 
lapsed, or a plan that has expired or been revoked or sus-
pended, shall continue subject to review and approval by 
the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands the Sec-
retary of Agriculture. 
SEC. 308. STATE LAW AND REGULATION. 
(a) STATE LAW.—(1) Any reclamation, land use, envi-
ronmental, or public health protection standard or require-
ment in State law or regulation that meets or exceeds the 
requirements of this Act shall not be construed to be incon-
sistent with any such standard. 
(2) Any bonding standard or requirement in State law 
or regulation that meets or exceeds the requirements of this 
Act shall not be construed to be inconsistent with such re-
quirements. 
(3) Any inspection standard or requirement in State 
law or regulation that meets or exceeds the requirements 
of this Act shall not be construed to be inconsistent with 
such requirements. 
(b) APPLICABILITY
OF
OTHER
STATE
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—(1) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as af-
fecting any toxic substance, solid waste, or air or water 
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quality, standard or requirement of any State, county, 
local, or tribal law or regulation, which may be applicable 
to mineral activities on lands subject to this Act. 
(2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting 
in any way the right of any person to enforce or protect, 
under applicable law, such person’s interest in water re-
sources affected by mineral activities on lands subject to this 
Act. 
(c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—(1) Any State may 
enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary, or 
for National Forest System lands the Secretary of Agri-
culture, for the purposes of such Secretary applying such 
standards and requirements referred to in subsection (a) 
and subsection (b) to mineral activities or reclamation on 
lands subject to this Act. 
(2) In such instances where the proposed mineral ac-
tivities would affect lands not subject to this Act in addition 
to lands subject to this Act, in order to approve a plan of 
operations the Secretary concerned shall enter into a coop-
erative agreement with the State that sets forth a common 
regulatory framework consistent with the requirements of 
this Act for the purposes of such plan of operations. Any 
such common regulatory framework shall not negate the au-
thority of the Federal Government to independently inspect 
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mines and operations and bring enforcement actions for 
violations. 
(3) The Secretary concerned shall not enter into a co-
operative agreement with any State under this section until 
after notice in the Federal Register and opportunity for 
public comment and hearing. 
(d) PRIOR AGREEMENTS.—Any cooperative agreement 
or such other understanding between the Secretary con-
cerned and any State, or political subdivision thereof, relat-
ing to the management of mineral activities on lands sub-
ject to this Act that was in existence on the date of enact-
ment of this Act may only continue in force until 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act. During such 1-year 
period, the State and the Secretary shall review the terms 
of the agreement and make changes that are necessary to 
be consistent with this Act. 
SEC. 309. LIMITATION ON THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS. 
No permit shall be issued under this title that author-
izes mineral activities that would impair the land or re-
sources of the National Park System or a National Monu-
ment. For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘impair’’ shall 
include any diminution of the affected land including its 
scenic assets, its water resources, its air quality, and its 
acoustic qualities, or other changes that would impair a 
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citizen’s experience at the National Park or National Monu-
ment. 
TITLE IV—MINING MITIGATION 
Subtitle A—Locatable Minerals 
Fund 
SEC. 401. ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established on the 
books of the Treasury of the United States a separate ac-
count to be known as the Locatable Minerals Fund (herein-
after in this subtitle referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’). 
(b) INVESTMENT.—The Secretary shall notify the Sec-
retary of the Treasury as to what portion of the Fund is 
not, in the Secretary’s judgment, required to meet current 
withdrawals. The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest 
such portion of the Fund in public debt securities with ma-
turities suitable for the needs of such Fund and bearing in-
terest at rates determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, 
taking into consideration current market yields on out-
standing marketplace obligations of the United States of 
comparable maturities. 
SEC. 402. CONTENTS OF FUND. 
The following amounts shall be credited to the Fund: 
(1) All moneys collected pursuant to section 506 
(relating to enforcement) and section 504 (relating to 
citizens suits). 
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(2) All permit fees and transfer fees received 
under section 304. 
(3) All donations by persons, corporations, asso-
ciations, and foundations for the purposes of this sub-
title. 
(4) All amounts deposited in the Fund under 
section 102 (relating to royalties and penalties for 
underreporting). 
(5) All amounts received by the United States 
pursuant to section 101 from issuance of patents. 
(6) All amounts received by the United States 
pursuant to section 103 as claim maintenance and lo-
cation fees. 
(7) All income on investments under section 
401(b). 
SEC. 403. SUBACCOUNTS. 
There shall be in the Fund 2 subaccounts, as follows: 
(1) The Hardrock Reclamation Account, which 
shall consist of 2⁄3 of the amounts credited to the Fund 
under section 402 and which shall be administered by 
the Secretary acting through the Director of the Office 
of Surface Mining and Enforcement. 
(2) The Hardrock Community Impact Assistance 
Account, which shall consist of 1⁄3 of the amounts 
credited to the Fund under section 402 and which 
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shall be administered by the Secretary acting through 
the Director of the Bureau of Land Management. 
Subtitle B—Use of Hardrock 
Reclamation Account 
SEC. 411. USE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE ACCOUNT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized, subject 
to appropriations, to use moneys in the Hardrock Reclama-
tion Account for the reclamation and restoration of land 
and water resources adversely affected by past mineral ac-
tivities on lands the legal and beneficial title to which re-
sides in the United States, land within the exterior bound-
ary of any national forest system unit, or other lands de-
scribed in subsection (d) or section 412, including any of 
the following: 
(1) Protecting public health and safety. 
(2) Preventing, abating, treating, and control-
ling water pollution created by abandoned mine 
drainage. 
(3) Reclaiming and restoring abandoned surface 
and underground mined areas. 
(4) Reclaiming and restoring abandoned milling 
and processing areas. 
(5) Backfilling, sealing, or otherwise controlling, 
abandoned underground mine entries. 
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(6) Revegetating land adversely affected by past 
mineral activities in order to prevent erosion and 
sedimentation, to enhance wildlife habitat, and for 
any other reclamation purpose. 
(7) Controlling of surface subsidence due to 
abandoned underground mines. 
(b) PRIORITIES.—Expenditures of moneys from the 
Hardrock Reclamation Account shall reflect the following 
priorities in the order stated: 
(1) The protection of public health and safety, 
from extreme danger from the adverse effects of past 
mineral activities, especially as relates to surface 
water and groundwater contaminants. 
(2) The protection of public health and safety, 
from the adverse effects of past mineral activities. 
(3) The restoration of land, water, and fish and 
wildlife resources previously degraded by the adverse 
effects of past mineral activities. 
(c) HABITAT.—Reclamation and restoration activities 
under this subtitle, particularly those identified under sub-
section (a)(4), shall include appropriate mitigation meas-
ures to provide for the continuation of any established habi-
tat for wildlife in existence prior to the commencement of 
such activities. 
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(d) OTHER AFFECTED LANDS.—Where mineral explo-
ration, mining, beneficiation, processing, or reclamation 
activities have been carried out with respect to any mineral 
which would be a locatable mineral if the legal and bene-
ficial title to the mineral were in the United States, if such 
activities directly affect lands managed by the Bureau of 
Land Management as well as other lands and if the legal 
and beneficial title to more than 50 percent of the affected 
lands resides in the United States, the Secretary is author-
ized, subject to appropriations, to use moneys in the 
Hardrock Reclamation Account for reclamation and res-
toration under subsection (a) for all directly affected lands. 
(e) RESPONSE OR REMOVAL ACTIONS.—Reclamation 
and restoration activities under this subtitle which con-
stitute a removal or remedial action under section 101 of 
the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa-
tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601), shall be 
conducted with the concurrence of the Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency. The Secretary and the 
Administrator shall enter into a Memorandum of Under-
standing to establish procedures for consultation, concur-
rence, training, exchange of technical expertise and joint 
activities under the appropriate circumstances, that provide 
assurances that reclamation or restoration activities under 
this subtitle shall not be conducted in a manner that in-
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creases the costs or likelihood of removal or remedial actions 
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Com-
pensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 and 
following), and that avoid oversight by multiple agencies 
to the maximum extent practicable. 
SEC. 412. ELIGIBLE LANDS AND WATERS. 
(a) ELIGIBILITY.—Reclamation expenditures under 
this subtitle may only be made with respect to Federal lands 
or Indian lands or water resources that traverse or are con-
tiguous to Federal lands or Indian lands where such lands 
or water resources have been affected by past mineral activi-
ties, including any of the following: 
(1) Lands and water resources which were used 
for, or affected by, mineral activities and abandoned 
or left in an inadequate reclamation status before the 
effective date of this Act. 
(2) Lands for which the Secretary makes a deter-
mination that there is no continuing reclamation re-
sponsibility of a claim holder, operator, or other per-
son who abandoned the site prior to completion of re-
quired reclamation under State or other Federal laws. 
(3) Lands for which it can be established that 
such lands do not contain locatable minerals which 
could economically be extracted through the reprocess-
ing or remining of such lands, unless such consider-
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ations are in conflict with the priorities set forth 
under paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 302(b). 
(b) SPECIFIC SITES AND AREAS NOT ELIGIBLE.—The 
provisions of section 411(d) of the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1240a(d)) shall 
apply to expenditures made from the Hardrock Reclama-
tion Account. 
(c) INVENTORY.—The Secretary shall prepare and 
maintain a publicly available inventory of abandoned 
locatable minerals mines on public lands and any aban-
doned mine on Indian lands that may be eligible for ex-
penditures under this subtitle, and shall deliver a yearly 
report to the Congress on the progress in cleanup of such 
sites. 
SEC. 413. EXPENDITURES. 
Moneys available from the Hardrock Reclamation Ac-
count may be expended for the purposes specified in section 
411 directly by the Director of the Office of Surface Mining 
Reclamation and Enforcement. The Director may also make 
such money available for such purposes to the Director of 
the Bureau of Land Management, the Chief of the United 
States Forest Service, the Director of the National Park 
Service, or Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 
Service, to any other agency of the United States, to an 
Indian tribe, or to any public entity that volunteers to de-
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