I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1865 
To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals on public domain 
lands, consistent with the principles of self-initiation of mining claims, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 5, 2025 
Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals 
on public domain lands, consistent with the principles 
of self-initiation of mining claims, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 
2025’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
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Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions and references. 
Sec. 3. Application rules. 
TITLE I—MINERAL LEASING, EXPLORATION, AND DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 101. Closure to entry and location. 
Sec. 102. Limitation on patents. 
Sec. 103. Prospecting licenses and hardrock leases. 
Sec. 104. Competitive leasing. 
Sec. 105. Small miner’s lease. 
Sec. 106. Land containing nonhardrock minerals; other uses. 
Sec. 107. Royalty. 
Sec. 108. Existing production. 
Sec. 109. Hardrock mining claim maintenance fee. 
Sec. 110. Effect of payments for use and occupancy of claims. 
Sec. 111. Protection of special places. 
Sec. 112. Suitability determination. 
TITLE II—CONSULTATION PROCEDURE 
Sec. 201. Requirement for consultation. 
TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS OF MINERAL 
EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT 
Sec. 301. General standard for hardrock mining on Federal land. 
Sec. 302. Permits. 
Sec. 303. Exploration permit. 
Sec. 304. Operations permit. 
Sec. 305. Persons ineligible for permits. 
Sec. 306. Financial assurance. 
Sec. 307. Operation and reclamation. 
Sec. 308. State law and regulation. 
TITLE IV—ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE RECLAMATION 
PROGRAM 
Sec. 401. Funds credited to the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation Pro-
gram. 
Sec. 402. Displaced material reclamation fee. 
TITLE V—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS 
Sec. 501. Policy functions. 
Sec. 502. User fees and inflation adjustment. 
Sec. 503. Inspection and monitoring. 
Sec. 504. Citizens suits. 
Sec. 505. Administrative and judicial review. 
Sec. 506. Reporting requirements. 
Sec. 507. Enforcement. 
Sec. 508. Regulations. 
Sec. 509. Oil shale claims. 
Sec. 510. Savings clause. 
Sec. 511. Availability of public records. 
Sec. 512. Miscellaneous powers. 
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Sec. 513. Mineral materials. 
Sec. 514. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—As used in this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘Abandoned Hardrock Mine Rec-
lamation Program’’ means the program established 
by section 40704 of the Infrastructure Investment 
and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1245). 
(2) The term ‘‘adjacent land’’ means any land 
not more than 2 miles from the boundary of a de-
scribed land tract. 
(3) The term ‘‘affiliate’’ means, with respect to 
any person, any of the following: 
(A) Any person that controls, is controlled 
by, or is under common control with such per-
son. 
(B) Any partner of such person. 
(C) Any person owning at least 10 percent 
of the voting shares of such person. 
(4) The term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 3502 of title 44, United States 
Code. 
(5) The term ‘‘applicant’’ means any person ap-
plying for a lease, license, or permit under this Act 
or a modification to or a renewal of a lease, license, 
or permit issued under this Act. 
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(6) The term ‘‘beneficiation’’ means the crush-
ing and grinding of hardrock mineral ore and such 
processes as are employed to free the mineral from 
other constituents, including physical and chemical 
separation techniques. 
(7) The term ‘‘casual use’’— 
(A) means mineral activities that do not 
ordinarily result in any disturbance of Federal 
land and resources; 
(B) includes collection of geochemical, 
rock, 
soil, 
or 
mineral 
specimens 
using 
handtools, hand panning, or nonmotorized sluic-
ing; and 
(C) does not include— 
(i) the use of mechanized earth-mov-
ing equipment, suction dredging, or explo-
sives; 
(ii) the use of motor vehicles in areas 
closed to off-road vehicles; 
(iii) the construction of roads or drill 
pads; or 
(iv) the use of toxic or hazardous ma-
terials. 
(8) The term ‘‘claim holder’’ means— 
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(A) any person holding a mining claim, 
millsite, or tunnel site located under the general 
mining laws or this Act and maintained in com-
pliance with such laws; and 
(B) any agent of such person. 
(9) The term ‘‘control’’ means having the abil-
ity, directly or indirectly, to determine (without re-
gard to whether exercised through 1 or more cor-
porate structures) the manner in which an entity 
conducts mineral activities, through any means, in-
cluding— 
(A) ownership interest; 
(B) authority to commit the real or finan-
cial assets of the entity; 
(C) position as a director, officer, or part-
ner of the entity; or 
(D) contractual arrangement. 
(10) The term ‘‘displaced material’’ means any 
raw ore or waste dislodged from its location by 
human disturbance, including from hardrock mineral 
activities. 
(11) The term ‘‘exploration’’— 
(A) means creating surface disturbance, 
other than casual use, to evaluate the type, ex-
tent, quantity, or quality of minerals present; 
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(B) includes mineral activities associated 
with sampling, drilling, and analyzing hardrock 
mineral values; and 
(C) does not include extraction of mineral 
material for commercial use or sale. 
(12) The term ‘‘Federal land’’— 
(A) means any land, and any interest in 
land, that is owned by the United States; and 
(B) does not include— 
(i) lands in the National Park System; 
(ii) Indian lands; or 
(iii) lands on the Outer Continental 
Shelf. 
(13) The term ‘‘hardrock mineral’’— 
(A) means any mineral that was subject to 
location under the general mining laws as of the 
effective date of this Act, and that is not sub-
ject to disposition under— 
(i) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
U.S.C. 181 et seq.); 
(ii) the Geothermal Steam Act of 
1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 
(iii) the Act of July 31, 1947, com-
monly known as the Materials Act of 1947 
(30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or 
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(iv) the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac-
quired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); and 
(B) does not include any mineral that is 
subject to a restriction against alienation im-
posed by the United States and is— 
(i) held in trust by the United States 
for any Indian or Indian Tribe, as defined 
in section 2 of the Indian Mineral Develop-
ment Act of 1982 (25 U.S.C. 2101); or 
(ii) owned by any Indian or Indian 
Tribe, as defined in that section. 
(14) The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ means— 
(A) lands held in trust for the benefit of 
an Indian Tribe or Indian; 
(B) lands held by an Indian Tribe or In-
dian subject to a restriction by the United 
States against alienation; or 
(C) lands held by an Alaska Native village, 
village corporation, or regional corporation, as 
defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 
et seq.). 
(15) The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ means any In-
dian Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized 
group or community, including any Alaska Native 
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village, village corporation, or regional corporation, 
as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 
seq.), that is recognized as eligible for the special 
programs and services provided by the United States 
to Indians because of their status as Indians. 
(16) The term ‘‘mining claim’’ means any min-
ing claim made pursuant to— 
(A) this Act; or 
(B) the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 
22 et seq.) before the effective date of this Act. 
(17) The term ‘‘mineral activities’’ means any 
activity carried out on a mining claim, millsite, or 
tunnel site, authorized by a lease, license, or permit 
issued under this Act, for, related to, or incidental 
to, mineral exploration, mining, beneficiation, proc-
essing, or reclamation activities for any hardrock 
mineral. 
(18) The term ‘‘National Conservation System 
unit’’ means any unit of the National Park System, 
National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and 
Scenic Rivers System, National Wilderness Preserva-
tion System, National Landscape Conservation Sys-
tem, or National Trails System, or a National Con-
servation Area, a National Recreation Area, a Wil-
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derness Study Area, a National Monument, or any 
unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System 
or lands within the National Forest System, includ-
ing the following: 
(A) National Volcanic Monuments. 
(B) Recreation Areas, Scenic Recreation 
Areas, and Winter Recreation Areas. 
(C) Scenic Areas, Scenic-Research Areas, 
Scenic Highways, and National Scenic and 
Wildlife Areas. 
(D) National Game and Wildlife Preserves. 
(E) Special Management, Wildlife, Con-
servation, and Protection Areas, including bo-
tanical, hydrological (watershed), geological, 
historical, paleontological, and zoological areas. 
(F) Experimental Forests, Ranges, and 
Watersheds. 
(G) Research Sites and Research Natural 
Areas. 
(H) Inventoried Roadless Area, Colorado 
Roadless Area, and Idaho Roadless Area. 
(I) Recommended Wilderness and Primi-
tive Areas. 
(19) The term ‘‘operator’’ means— 
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(A) any person proposing or authorized by 
a permit issued under this Act to conduct min-
eral activities; and 
(B) any agent of such person. 
(20) The term ‘‘person’’ means an individual, 
Indian Tribe, partnership, association, society, joint 
venture, joint stock company, firm, company, cor-
poration, cooperative, or other organization and any 
instrumentality of State or local government, includ-
ing any publicly owned utility or publicly owned cor-
poration of State or local government. 
(21) The term ‘‘processing’’ means processes 
downstream of beneficiation employed to prepare 
hardrock mineral ore into a final marketable prod-
uct, including smelting and electrolytic refining. 
(22) The term ‘‘raw ore’’ means ore in its un-
processed form, containing profitable amounts of a 
hardrock mineral. 
(23) The term ‘‘reclamation’’ means taking 
measures following the disturbance of Federal land 
by mineral activities to meet applicable performance 
standards and achieve conditions required by the 
Secretary concerned at the conclusion of such min-
eral activities, including, where applicable— 
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(A) isolation, control, or removal of acid- 
forming, toxic, or deleterious substances; 
(B) regrading and reshaping to conform 
with adjacent landforms, facilitate revegetation, 
control drainage, and minimize erosion; 
(C) rehabilitation of fisheries or wildlife 
habitat; 
(D) placement of growth medium and es-
tablishment of self-sustaining revegetation; 
(E) removal or stabilization of buildings, 
structures, or other support facilities; 
(F) plugging of drill holes and closure of 
underground workings; and 
(G) providing for post-mining monitoring, 
maintenance, or treatment. 
(24) The term ‘‘sacred site’’ means any specific 
delineated location on Federal land that is identified 
by an Indian Tribe— 
(A) as sacred by virtue of its established 
religious significance to, or ceremonial use by, 
an Indian religion; or 
(B) to be of established cultural signifi-
cance. 
(25) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of the Interior, unless otherwise specified. 
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(26) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture (acting 
through the Chief of the Forest Service) with 
respect to National Forest System land; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior (acting 
through the Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management) with respect to other Federal 
land. 
(27)(A) The term ‘‘small miner’’ means a per-
son (including all related parties thereto) that— 
(i) holds not more than 10 mining claims, 
millsites, or tunnel sites, or any combination 
thereof, on Federal land; 
(ii) is a claim holder or operator with re-
spect to not more than 200 acres of Federal 
land; 
(iii) certifies to the Secretary in writing 
that the person had annual gross income in the 
preceding calendar year from mineral produc-
tion in an amount less than $50,000; and 
(iv) has performed assessment work re-
quired under the Mining Law of 1872 (30 
U.S.C. 22 et seq.) to maintain any mining 
claims held by the person and all related parties 
thereto for the assessment year ending on noon 
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of September 1 of the calendar year in which 
payment of the claim maintenance fee was due. 
(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), with re-
spect to any person, the term ‘‘all related parties’’ 
means— 
(i) the spouse or qualifying child (as such 
term is defined in section 152 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986) of such person; or 
(ii) an affiliate of the person concerned. 
(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A)(iii), the 
dollar amount shall be applied, for a person, to the 
aggregate of all annual gross income from mineral 
production under all mining claims held by or as-
signed to such person and all related parties with re-
spect to such person, including mining claims lo-
cated or for which a patent was issued before the ef-
fective date of this Act. 
(28) The term ‘‘temporary cessation’’ means a 
halt in mineral activities for a continuous period 
that does not exceed 5 years. 
(29) The term ‘‘ton’’ means 2,000 pounds av-
oirdupois (.90718 metric ton). 
(30) The term ‘‘unnecessary or undue degrada-
tion’’ means irreparable harm to significant sci-
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entific, cultural, or environmental resources on Fed-
eral land. 
(31) The term ‘‘valuable mineral deposit’’ 
means a deposit of hardrock minerals that is of suf-
ficient value for a prudent operator to extract, re-
move, and market at a profit. 
(32) The term ‘‘waste’’ means rock that must 
be fractured and removed in order to gain access to 
raw ore. 
(b) REFERENCES TO OTHER LAWS.— 
(1) GENERAL MINING LAWS.—Any reference in 
this Act to the term ‘‘general mining laws’’ is a ref-
erence to those Acts that generally comprise chap-
ters 2, 12A, and 16, and sections 161 and 162, of 
title 30, United States Code. 
(2) ACT OF JULY 23, 1955.—Any reference in 
this Act to the Act of July 23, 1955, is a reference 
to the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Act of 
July 31, 1947 (61 Stat. 681) and the mining laws 
to provide for multiple use of the surface of the 
same tracts of the public lands, and for other pur-
poses’’ (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 
SEC. 3. APPLICATION RULES. 
(a) APPLICATION TO EXISTING CLAIMS.—This Act 
shall apply to any mining claim, millsite, or tunnel site 
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located under the general mining laws before or on the 
effective date of this Act. 
(b) APPLICATION TO BENEFACTION OR PROCESSING 
ACTIVITIES.—This Act shall apply in the same manner 
and to the same extent to mining claims, millsites, tunnel 
sites, and any land included in a lease, license, or permit 
issued under this Act used for beneficiation or processing 
activities for any hardrock mineral. 
TITLE I—MINERAL LEASING, EX-
PLORATION, AND DEVELOP-
MENT 
SEC. 101. CLOSURE TO ENTRY AND LOCATION. 
(a) CLOSURE.—Except as otherwise provided in this 
section, as of the effective date of this Act, all Federal 
land is closed to entry and location under the general min-
ing laws, and no new rights under the general mining laws 
may be acquired. 
(b) EXISTING CLAIMS WITHOUT PLAN OF OPER-
ATIONS.— 
(1) CLAIMS WITHOUT PLAN OF OPERATIONS.— 
Any claim under the general mining laws existing on 
the effective date of this Act for which a plan of op-
erations is not approved, or a notice of operations is 
not filed, before such date shall be subject to the re-
quirements of this Act, and may remain in effect 
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until not later than the end of the 10-year period be-
ginning on such date if the claim holder remains in 
compliance with section 109, unless the claim hold-
er— 
(A) relinquishes the claim; or 
(B) demonstrates eligibility for a lease and 
requests conversion under the regulations 
issued under subsection (d). 
(2) SHORTENING OF PERIOD.—The 10-year pe-
riod referred to in paragraph (1) shall be shortened 
to 3 years if— 
(A) the claim is for an area that is located 
in an area withdrawn or temporarily segregated 
from location under the general mining laws as 
of the effective date of this Act; or 
(B) the claim belongs to a small miner. 
(3) CONVERSION.—The Secretary concerned 
may convert a claim described in paragraph (1) to 
a noncompetitive mining lease pursuant to the regu-
lations issued under subsection (d) if such Secretary 
determines that the claim holder has shown the 
presence of a valuable mineral deposit on the land 
subject to such claim. 
(4) CLAIMS NOT CONVERTED.—Any claims de-
scribed in paragraph (1) not converted to non-
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