115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3905 
AN ACT 
To require congressional approval of any mineral withdrawal 
or monument designation involving the National Forest 
System lands in the State of Minnesota, to provide for 
the renewal of certain mineral leases in such lands, 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 ‘‘Minnesota’s Economic 
Rights in the Superior National Forest Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONDITION ON MINERAL WITHDRAWAL OF NA-
TIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS IN MIN-
NESOTA. 
Minerals within the National Forest System lands in 
the State of Minnesota shall not be subject to withdrawal 
from disposition under United States mineral and geo-
thermal leasing law unless the withdrawal is specifically 
approved by an Act of Congress enacted after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. CONDITION ON MONUMENT DESIGNATION ON NA-
TIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS IN MIN-
NESOTA. 
Section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(e) LIMITATION
ON EXTENSION
OR ESTABLISH-
MENT OF A NATIONAL MONUMENT IN MINNESOTA.—No 
extension or establishment of national monuments on Na-
tional Forest System lands in the State of Minnesota may 
be undertaken except by express authorization of Con-
gress.’’.
SEC. 4. CLARIFYING THE NATURE OF MINERAL RIGHTS ON 
FOREST SYSTEM LANDS IN MINNESOTA. 
(a) MINERAL LEASES ISSUED WITHIN FOREST SYS-
TEM LANDS IN MINNESOTA.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—All mineral leases issued 
within the exterior boundaries of National Forest 
System lands in the State of Minnesota under the 
authority of the Act of June 30, 1950 (16 U.S.C. 
508b), or section 402 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 
of 1946 (5 U.S.C. App.), are indeterminate pref-
erence right leases that— 
(A) shall be issued for an initial 20-year 
period; and 
(B) as provided in paragraph (2), shall be 
renewable after the period described in subpara-
graph (A) for 10-year renewal periods. 
(2) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
RENEWAL.—A lease 
shall be renewed under paragraph (1)(B)— 
(A) if the lessee has complied with the 
terms and conditions of the lease during the 
preceding lease period; and 
(B) on the condition that, at the end of 
each 10-year renewal period, such reasonable 
readjustment of the terms and conditions of the 
lease may be prescribed by the Secretary of the
Interior, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Agriculture, for the purpose of— 
(i) encouraging production; or 
(ii) addressing changing conditions 
within the lease area. 
(b) SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONS.—The Secretary of 
the Interior may suspend operations under a lease de-
scribed in subsection (a) when— 
(1) the lease can only be operated at a loss due 
to market conditions; or 
(2) operations are interrupted by strikes. 
(c) PERMITS FOR USE OF SURFACE LANDS.—With 
respect to lands subject to a lease pursuant to subsection 
(a), the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Agriculture, may issue permits for the use 
of surface lands not included in the lease for purposes con-
nected with, and reasonably necessary to, the exploration, 
development, and use of the deposits covered by the lease. 
(d) APPLICABILITY TO MINERAL LEASES.—This sec-
tion shall apply with respect to all mineral leases described 
in subsection (a), including— 
(1) leases that on the date of the enactment of 
this section are not in effect; and
(2) the hard rock mineral leases for the Supe-
rior National Forest in Minnesota identified as 
MNES–01352 and MNES–01353. 
(e) APPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL 
POLICY ACT OF 1969.—The National Environmental Pol-
icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4331 et seq.) shall apply with 
respect to a mineral lease described in subsection (a). In 
the case of the renewal of the existing hard rock mineral 
leases referred to in subsection (d)(2), the Bureau of Land 
Management shall complete the pending environmental as-
sessment no later than 30 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(f) EXCLUSION OF BOUNDARY WATERS CANOE AREA 
WILDERNESS.—Nothing in this section may be construed 
as permitting the prospecting for development and utiliza-
tion of mineral resources within the Boundary Waters 
Canoe Area Wilderness or Mine Protection Area. 
Passed the House of Representatives November 30, 
2017. 
Attest: 
Clerk.