I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3155 
To preserve the multiple use land management policy in the State of Arizona, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 12, 2011 
Mr. FRANKS of Arizona (for himself, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. QUAYLE, 
Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. BISHOP of Utah, 
Mr. CHAFFETZ, and Mrs. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To preserve the multiple use land management policy in 
the State of Arizona, 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 ‘‘Northern Arizona Min-
ing Continuity Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) over the past 20 years, a form of low-im-
pact, safe, and environmentally responsible under-
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ground ‘‘breccia pipe’’ uranium mining has been 
conducted in northern Arizona, particularly in an 
area located beyond the northern boundaries of the 
Grand Canyon National Park known as the ‘‘Ari-
zona Strip’’; 
(2) according to United States Geological Sur-
vey estimates, the Arizona Strip— 
(A) has the potential of becoming the sec-
ond most important uranium-producing region 
in the United States; and 
(B) contains approximately 375,000,000 
pounds of high-grade uranium ore with the en-
ergy equivalent of 13,000,000,000 barrels of oil, 
which is approximately the quantity of recover-
able oil originally found in Prudhoe Bay, Alas-
ka; 
(3) in 1984, during the last uranium boom, 
Congress enacted the Arizona Wilderness Act of 
1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98–406), 
which— 
(A) is recognized as a historic compromise 
between environmental and uranium mining in-
terests; and 
(B) affirmed the continued multiple use 
management of Federal land on the Arizona 
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Strip that was not designated as wilderness by 
that Act; 
(4) continued development of resources on the 
Arizona Strip would significantly boost economic 
growth in the area, provide for permanent well-pay-
ing jobs, and serve as a source of revenue to the 
Federal Government and State and local govern-
ments; 
(5) on July 21, 2009, the Department of the 
Interior published a notice entitled ‘‘Notice of Pro-
posed Withdrawal and Opportunity for Public Meet-
ing; Arizona’’ (74 Fed. Reg. 35887), which— 
(A) proposed the withdrawal of approxi-
mately 1,000,000 acres of Federal locatable 
minerals in northern Arizona from the location 
of new mining claims over concerns that the 
uranium mining could impact the Grand Can-
yon watershed; and 
(B) made no mention of the Arizona Wil-
derness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; 
Public Law 98–406) or the resource manage-
ment plans that have governed mineral resource 
development on the Arizona Strip; and 
(6) the February 2011 Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the proposed withdrawal de-
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termined there is no conclusive evidence from well 
and spring sampling data that modern-day breccia 
pipe uranium mining operations in the northern por-
tion of the Grand Canyon region has impacted the 
chemical quality of groundwater in the regional-aqui-
fer. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF PROPOSED MINING WITHDRAWAL 
WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except by express authorization 
by Congress referencing this section and notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Interior 
shall not extend, renew, or issue a notice of segregation 
or withdrawal of the public land and National Forest Sys-
tem land (including a portion of the land) described in 
Public Land Order 7773 (76 Fed. Reg. 37826 (June 28, 
2011)). 
(b) EFFECT OF NOTICE.—Any notice of segregation 
or withdrawal of the land described in subsection (a) shall 
have no legal effect. 
Æ 
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