I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4078
To provide for the reclamation of abandoned hardrock mines, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2002
Mr. UDALL of Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To provide for the reclamation of abandoned hardrock mines,
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, FINDINGS, AND PURPOSE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Act of 2002’’.
(b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that:
(1) Through various laws and policies, including
the General Mining Law of 1872, the Federal Gov-
ernment has encouraged the development of gold,
silver, and other minerals, especially in the west, and
development of these resources has helped create a
strong economy and provided needed materials for
many critical products and services.
(2) However, historically mining activities have
occurred in recurrent cycles of ‘‘boom’’ followed by
‘‘bust’’, with many mines left inactive and aban-
doned at the end of each cycle.
(3) As a result of this history, the nation has
been left an unwelcome legacy of inactive or aban-
doned mines that includes thousands of such sites in
the western States.
(4) Many inactive or abandoned mines are hav-
ing serious effects on the lands and waters of af-
fected States. Thousands of stream miles are dam-
aged by drainage and runoff from such mines, and
in several western States this is one of the largest
sources of adverse effects on water quality. Many of
these sites also pose safety hazards to the public.
(5) Cleanup of these sites is hampered by two
obstacles—lack of funding and concerns about liabil-
ity. In many cases, no responsible party for such a
mine site is identifiable. In many other cases, no re-
sponsible party has the economic resources to re-
spond to the adverse environmental effects of a site.
Federal and State agencies and Indian tribes have
in many cases not been able to afford to make clean-
up of these mine sites a high priority. And other
parties have been reluctant to undertake remedial
actions because of the possibility that they would be
considered to have assumed liability with regard to
such a site.
(6) It is in the national interest to facilitate the
cleanup of these sites through appropriate legislation
that reduces these obstacles.
(c) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to facili-
tate cleanup of inactive and abandoned mine sites by es-
tablishing a source of funding for that purpose and by lim-
iting the potential liability of parties undertaking to carry
out such cleanup.
(d) SCOPE.—Nothing in this Act is intended to facili-
tate new mining activities or any reduction in liability as-
sociated with any current or new mining or processing ac-
tivities.
TITLE I—FUNDING FOR
ABANDONED MINE CLEANUPS
SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this title:
(1) The term ‘‘gross proceeds’’ means the value
of any extracted hardrock mineral which was—