Title: A bill to amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to require the Bureau of Land Management to provide a claimant of a small miner waiver from claim maintenance fees with a period of 60 days after written receipt of 1 or more defects is provided to the claimant by registered mail to cure the 1 or more defects or pay the claim maintenance fee, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
This bill amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to specify that a reason that a small miner's application for a claim maintenance fee waiver may be determined to be defective, in order for such clamant to qualify for 60 days to cure the defects or pay the maintenance fee due, shall include the failure to timely file either such application or an affidavit of annual labor associated with the application and required application fees.
The holders of specified claims in Alaska are considered to qualify for such relief and opportunity to cure such defect(s) for any prior period during which: (1) one or more defects existed in their waiver application, (2) an affidavit of annual labor associated with such application was not properly filed, or (3) there existed a failure to pay claim maintenance fees.
The bill amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to require the Department of the Interior to notify by registered mail an owner of a mining claim or mill or tunnel site of such owner's failure to timely file an instrument required by such Act for recording such owner's mining claim. Such owner shall have 60 days after receiving such notification to file that instrument.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 884 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 884

 To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to require the 
Bureau of Land Management to provide a claimant of a small miner waiver 
  from claim maintenance fees with a period of 60 days after written 
receipt of 1 or more defects is provided to the claimant by registered 
 mail to cure the 1 or more defects or pay the claim maintenance fee, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                April 6 (legislative day, April 4), 2017

 Ms. Murkowski introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to require the 
Bureau of Land Management to provide a claimant of a small miner waiver 
  from claim maintenance fees with a period of 60 days after written 
receipt of 1 or more defects is provided to the claimant by registered 
 mail to cure the 1 or more defects or pay the claim maintenance fee, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SMALL MINER WAIVERS TO CLAIM MAINTENANCE FEES.

    (a) Amendments to Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.--
            (1) In general.--Section 10101(d) of the Omnibus Budget 
        Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f(d)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and 
                        (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and 
                        indenting the clauses appropriately; and
                            (ii) by striking ``(2) For purposes of'' 
                        and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Definition of related party.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In''; and
                    (B) in the undesignated matter following 
                subparagraph (A)(ii) of paragraph (2) (as so 
                redesignated), by striking ``For purposes of'' and all 
                that follows through the end of the section and 
                inserting the following:
                    ``(B) Associated definition.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the term `control' includes--
                            ``(i) actual control;
                            ``(ii) legal control; and
                            ``(iii) the power to exercise control 
                        through or by common directors, officers, 
                        stockholders, a voting trust, or a holding 
                        company or investment company, or any other 
                        means.
            ``(3) Defects in applications.--If a small miner waiver 
        application is determined to be defective for any reason 
        (including the failure to timely file a small miner's 
        maintenance fee waiver application or an affidavit of annual 
        labor associated with the application and required application 
        fees), the claimant shall have a period of 60 days after 
        receipt of written notification of the 1 or more defects 
        provided by the Bureau of Land Management by registered mail--
                    ``(A) to cure any such defect; or
                    ``(B) to pay the $100 claim maintenance fee due for 
                that period.''.
            (2) Technical corrections.--Section 10101 of the Omnibus 
        Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), in the second 
                        sentence, by striking ``the Mining Law of 1872 
                        (30 U.S.C. 28 to 28e)'' and inserting 
                        ``sections 2319 through 2344 of the Revised 
                        Statutes (commonly known as the `Mining Law of 
                        1872') (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.)''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (2)--
                                    (I) in the first sentence, by 
                                striking ``subsection (a)(1)'' and 
                                inserting ``paragraph (1)''; and
                                    (II) in the second sentence, by 
                                striking ``the Mining Law of 1872 (30 
                                U.S.C. 28 to 28e)'' and inserting 
                                ``sections 2319 through 2344 of the 
                                Revised Statutes (commonly known as the 
                                `Mining Law of 1872') (30 U.S.C. 22 et 
                                seq.)'';
                    (B) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by 
                striking ``main tenance'' and inserting 
                ``maintenance''; and
                    (C) in subsection (d)(1)(B), by striking ``the 
                Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 28-28e)'' and inserting 
                ``sections 2319 through 2344 of the Revised Statutes 
                (commonly known as the `Mining Law of 1872') (30 U.S.C. 
                22 et seq.)''.
    (b) Transition Rules.--
            (1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    (A) Covered claimholder.--The term ``covered 
                claimholder'' means--
                            (i) the claimholder of the claims in the 
                        State numbered AA023149, AA023163, AA047913, 
                        AA047914, AA047915, AA047916, AA047917, 
                        AA047918, and AA047919 (as of December 29, 
                        2004);
                            (ii) the claimholder of the claim in the 
                        State numbered FF-0593215 (as of December 29, 
                        2004);
                            (iii) the claimholder of the claims in the 
                        State numbered FS-58607, FS-58608, FS-58609, 
                        FS-58610, FS-58611, FS-58613, FS-58615, FS-
                        58616, FS-58617, and FS-58618 (as of December 
                        31, 2003); and
                            (iv) the claimholder of the claims in the 
                        State numbered FF-53988, FF-53989, and FF-53990 
                        (as of December 31, 1987).
                    (B) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of 
                Alaska.
            (2) Treatment of covered claimholders.--Each covered 
        claimholder shall be considered to qualify for relief under 
        section 10101(d)(3) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 
        1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f(d)(3)), and shall have the opportunity to 
        cure under that section, for any prior period during which, as 
        applicable--
                    (A) 1 or more defects existed in the small miner's 
                maintenance fee waiver application;
                    (B) an affidavit of annual labor associated with a 
                small miner's maintenance fee waiver application was 
                not properly filed; or
                    (C) there existed a failure to pay claim 
                maintenance fees.
    (c) Amendment to Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976.--
Section 314(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(43 U.S.C. 1744(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(c) The failure'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(c) Failure To File.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        failure''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Exception.--If the owner of the mining claim or mill 
        or tunnel site fails to timely file an instrument required 
        under subsection (a)--
                    ``(A) the Secretary shall provide to the owner by 
                registered mail written notification of the failure to 
                timely file; and
                    ``(B) the owner shall have a period of 60 days 
                after receipt of the notification described in 
                subparagraph (A) to file such instrument.''.
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