Boundary Waters Wilderness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act

IB Union Calendar No. 457 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2794 [Report No. 117–634] To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs Na- tional Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. OMAR, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIND, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. CHU, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. BUSH, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. CASE, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. DELBENE, and Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Natural Resources DECEMBER 14, 2022 Additional sponsors: Mr. WELCH, Ms. NEWMAN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CARSON, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. POCAN, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. LEVIN of California, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. AGUILAR, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. DEAN, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LARSON of Con- necticut, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. COURTNEY, and Ms. ROSS DECEMBER 14, 2022 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 22, 2021] VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2794.RH H2794 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2794 RH A BILL To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2794.RH H2794 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2794 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Boundary Waters Wil- 4 derness Protection and Pollution Prevention Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS AND 6 WATERS IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA. 7 (a) DEFINITION OF MAP.—In this Act, the term 8 ‘‘Map’’ means the map prepared by the Forest Service enti- 9 tled ‘‘Superior National Forest Mineral Withdrawal Appli- 10 cation Map’’ and dated December 5, 2016. 11 (b) WITHDRAWAL.—Except as provided in subsection 12 (d) and subject to valid existing rights, the approximately 13 234,328 acres of Federal land and waters in the Rainy 14 River Watershed of the Superior National Forest in the 15 State of Minnesota, as located on the Map and described 16 in the Federal Register Notice of Application for With- 17 drawal, dated January 19, 2017 (82 Fed. Reg. 6639), are 18 hereby withdrawn from— 19 (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and dis- 20 posal under the public land laws; 21 (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining 22 laws; and 23 (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral 24 materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2794.RH H2794 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2794 RH (c) ACQUIRED LAND.—Any land or interest in land 1 within the area depicted on the Map that is acquired by 2 the United States after the date of enactment of this Act 3 shall, on acquisition, be immediately withdrawn in accord- 4 ance with this section. 5 (d) REMOVAL OF SAND, GRAVEL, GRANITE, IRON ORE, 6 AND TACONITE.—The Chief of the Forest Service is author- 7 ized to permit the removal of sand, gravel, granite, iron 8 ore, and taconite from national forest system lands within 9 the area depicted on the Map if the Chief determines that 10 the removal is not detrimental to the water quality, air 11 quality, and health of the forest habitat within the Rainy 12 River Watershed. 13 (e) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The Map shall be kept on 14 file and made available for public inspection in the appro- 15 priate offices of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 16 Management. 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2794.RH H2794 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2794.RH H2794 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS Union Calendar No. 457 117TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 2794 [Report No. 117–634] A BILL To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and inter- connected Federal lands and waters, including Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State of Minnesota, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 14, 2022 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Dec 14, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H2794.RH H2794 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS