Congress has recently been presented with legislative proposals to address the legacy of pollution from abandoned hardrock mines that degrades the environment throughout the United States, particularly in the West. In the 109 th Congress, four bills were introduced that sought to encourage cleanup of inactive or abandoned hardrock mining sites by so-called "Good Samaritan" entities: H.R. 1266 , introduced by Representative Mark Udall, S. 1848 , by Senator Ken Salazar, and S. 2780 , by Senator James Inhofe, and H.R. 5404 , by Representative James Duncan, identical bills introduced at the request of the Administration. In September 2006, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reported an amended version of S. 1848 that reflected a number of provisions in the Administration bill and other modifications ( S.Rept. 109-351 ). The 109 th Congress took no further action on any of the proposals, and the following discussion describes provisions of the bills as of December 2006. Whether these issues or specific legislation will be considered in the 110 th Congress is uncertain. Mining has been conducted throughout the country for nearly 150 years, but most occurred before the advent of environmental regulation. Many historic mining operations were abandoned without being adequately reclaimed against future environmental damage. There may be more than 550,000 of these sites on public and private lands in the United States; there is no single inventory of sites, and thus the precise number is unknown. Although most sites do not pose environmental problems, drainage or runoff from some (discharges including sulfate, copper, lead, arsenic, and mercury, for example) continue to pose a threat to both surface water and groundwater. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that approximately 40% of headwaters in rivers and streams in the West have been impacted by discharges from abandoned hardrock mines, thus threatening drinking water and agricultural water supplies, increasing water treatment costs, and limiting fishing and recreation. The number of mines that are causing or have potential to cause water-related pollution problems is unknown, but is generally believed to be a small percentage of the total: perhaps 3%-5% of all inactive or abandoned (IAM) sites. But even so, 3%-5% of 550,000 possible sites in total still represents a large number of potential sites (16,000 to 27,000) that concerns many persons. The principal objective indicated for each of the bills was to help solve some of the problems of environmental pollution emanating from IAM sites. The core concept underlying the bills is that, in order to address the problem of pollution from IAM sites, it is appropriate to encourage cleanup by voluntary entities, third parties who have no history of polluting at a particular site or legal responsibility for its pollution, but who step forward to clean up acid mine drainage or other pollution from an abandoned mine. The bills proposed incentives in the form of reduced liability from environmental laws (such as strict liability for cleanup costs and restoring damaged natural resources) and less stringent environmental standards applicable to cleanup activities. Proponents, who included mining companies and industry associations, maintained that any degree of cleanup is better than inaction or the status quo, and they argued that, if not addressed in this legislation, the issues of liability exposure under environmental law and strict regulatory standards could stymie voluntary cleanups. Opponents, especially many environmental and conservation advocates, acknowledged that cleanup would benefit the environment, but they expressed concern that exemptions and relief such as these bills proposed might be the first step in dismantling key environmental legislation, because the bills were vague about standards that would apply to a Good Samaritan cleanup. Other stakeholders in the debate include states and the federal government. All four bills proposed to establish a process for issuing permits to those who would be Good Samaritans. Under all four, permitting authority would have been vested in EPA, but could have been delegated to qualified states and Indian tribes. The bills would have allowed a potential remediating party to obtain a permit authorizing it to take steps to improve water quality without being required to comply fully with water quality standards that would otherwise apply. In addition to environmental benefits, an incentive for some Good Samaritans is that once a site is cleaned up, many mines would have the potential to resume mining operations that could result in economic gains. The bills would have established a process for identifying what entities and lands are eligible, specifying goals of cleanup and conditions for permits, and issuing permits. All four were limited to hardrock mines—gold, copper, silver, and iron ore, for example—although there are some industry and state stakeholders who favor similar Good Samaritan authority for cleanup of abandoned coal mines as well ( S. 2780 and H.R. 5404 , the Administration proposal, and S. 1848 as reported had one provision concerning coal mine remediation; it is discussed below on page 11 ). There were differences among all of the bills, as discussed below. Of the four, H.R. 1266 alone was drafted as a measure that would amend the Clean Water Act (CWA, 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.). In H.R. 1266 , the permit provision would have been part of the CWA's overall regulatory, permitting, and enforcement mechanism. The CWA prohibits the discharge of pollutants into the nation's waters without authority under a CWA permit, and H.R. 1266 would have amended the act's principal permit provision, called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit (NPDES, Section 402, 33 U.S.C. §1342), by adding a new subsection with requirements specific to Good Samaritan permits. The Administration bill, S. 2780 and H.R. 5404 , was a stand-alone bill. It proposed Good Samaritan relief from requirements of the CWA and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund, 42 U.S.C. §9601 et seq.). The fourth, S. 1848 , also a stand-alone bill, proposed that a permitting authority could provide Good Samaritans with relief from the Clean Water Act and CERCLA, plus other specified federal environmental laws, as well as state and local laws. Proponents of Good Samaritan legislation have discussed many of these issues for nearly a decade, but until recently, congressional committees have given limited consideration to the concept. In the 106 th Congress, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on S. 1787 , a Good Samaritan bill introduced by Senator Baucus. Another Good Samaritan bill was introduced in the 108 th Congress ( S. 1660 , Senator Campbell), but no legislative action occurred. In the 109 th Congress, three House and Senate committees held hearings on Good Samaritan issues raised by the legislation. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved a modified version of S. 1848 , incorporating some provisions of the Administration's proposal and other amendments, in September 2006 ( S.Rept. 109-351 ). Testifying at the hearings were witnesses representing EPA, states, hardrock mining industry companies and associations, and environmental groups. Reviewing these recent hearings and the Senate hearing in the 106 th Congress, it is evident that, except for EPA and congressional witnesses testifying in support of their own bills, no witness endorsed any of the specific legislative approaches totally or wholeheartedly. The proposals have been criticized as either too narrow or too broad, depending on the witnesses' perspective. For example, some stakeholders want an expanded definition of who may be a remediating party and favor elimination of additional regulatory and legal disincentives. But every effort to broaden the proposals' scope seemingly enlarges the complexity of the legislation and raises stronger opposition from groups who prefer a narrower approach. This report discusses several issues that have drawn attention: Eligibility for a Good Samaritan permit, standards applicable to a Good Samaritan cleanup, scope of liability protection, treatment of revenues from cleanup, enforcement and judicial review, the appropriate role for states and Indian tribes, funding, terminating a permit, and sunsetting the permit program. This discussion does not address every issue in the bills (for example, it does not analyze procedures for issuing Good Samaritan permits), nor does it discuss general background on the problem of inactive and abandoned hardrock mine sites. The issue of permit eligibility concerns the universe of parties who may undertake IAM cleanup under a Good Samaritan permit. It has several aspects, including whether Good Samaritans should be limited to government entities or may also include the mining industry and others in the private sector, and how the legislation specifies that anyone with existing or prior responsibility for environmental pollution at the site is restricted from eligibility for the liability and regulatory relief exemptions provided by a Good Samaritan permit. Some argue that a Good Samaritan should only be working on behalf of the public welfare, meaning that remediation actions must be entirely governmental. Government, it is argued, unlike commercial or philanthropic enterprises, seeks to balance the needs and desires of society's many competing interests, and government agencies are accountable to elected politicians and ultimately to the public. According to this view, there is concern that if private entities are allowed to get involved in remediation, and profits from the activity are generated, the Good Samaritan's motives could be less focused on cleanup. If the point of the legislation is cleanup, eligibility should be limited, so that questions of monetary awards and profit do not arise. Further, in practical terms, some argue that the more expansive the range of possible eligible parties allowed under the legislation (especially if the private sector is included), the more complicated and controversial the legislation becomes. Industry groups, on the other hand, argue that mining companies have the resources, knowledge, and technology to assess and remediate IAM sites. Industry believes that an existing company that is not responsible for creating an abandoned site should not be precluded from being a Good Samaritan.