Title: Industrial Mineral Parity Act of 2019
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Industrial Mineral Parity Act of 2019
This bill allows industrial mineral remining operations to obtain modified permits under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System to discharge certain pollutants into waters of the United States if pollution treatment requirements are met. The term industrial minerals means limestone, clay, sand, gravel, diatomite, kaolin, bentonite, silica, barite, gypsum, or talc. Currently, modified permits are limited to discharges from coal remining operations.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 844 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 844

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to allow for modified 
  permits for industrial minerals remining operations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 29, 2019

  Mr. Gibbs introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to allow for modified 
  permits for industrial minerals remining operations, 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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Industrial Mineral Parity Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. MODIFIED PERMIT FOR REMINING OPERATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 301(p)(1) of the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(p)(1)) is amended by striking ``coal''.
    (b) Limitations.--Section 301(p)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(p)(2)) is amended by striking ``coal'' each 
place it appears.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 301(p)(3) of the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(p)(3)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 
        subparagraphs (D) and (F), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
                    ``(B) Industrial mineral.--The term `industrial 
                mineral' means limestone, clay, sand, gravel, 
                diatomite, kaolin, bentonite, silica, barite, gypsum, 
                or talc.
                    ``(C) Industrial minerals remining operation.--The 
                term `industrial minerals remining operation' means an 
                industrial minerals mining operation that begins after 
                the date of the enactment of the Industrial Mineral 
                Parity Act of 2019 at a site on which coal mining was 
                conducted before the effective date of the Surface 
                Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.'';
            (3) in subparagraph (D), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``coal remining'' and inserting ``remining''; and
            (4) by inserting after subparagraph (D), as so 
        redesignated, the following:
                    ``(E) Remining operation.--The term `remining 
                operation' means a coal remining operation or an 
                industrial minerals remining operation.''.
    (d) Applicability of Strip Mining Laws.--Section 301(p)(4) of the 
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(p)(4)) is amended 
by striking ``coal''.
    (e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 301(p) of the Federal Water 
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(p)) is amended in the subsection 
heading by striking ``Coal''.
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