Federal

Buffalo Tract Protection Act

Source: Congress.gov · 429 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill prevents certain federal land in the Placitas, New Mexico area from being used for mineral mining and extraction. The bill withdraws approximately 4,288 acres from mineral development activities while allowing other uses of the land's surface.

Who It Affects

The Bureau of Land Management (the federal agency that manages public lands), the Secretary of the Interior (the cabinet official overseeing public lands), companies seeking mining rights on federal land, and potential buyers of the land's surface.

Key Provisions

• The federal government withdraws the land from all forms of mining claim location, entry and patent (ownership rights obtained through mining laws) (Sec. 2(a)(1)) • The land is withdrawn from mineral leasing, mineral materials and geothermal leasing laws (Sec. 2(a)(2)) • The Secretary of the Interior can still transfer the land's surface to others following the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 or the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, but must keep the mineral rights for the United States (Sec. 2(c)(1) and 2(c)(2))

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, companies cannot stake mining claims or obtain mining leases on the specified 4,288 acres. The federal government retains all mineral rights even if it transfers the land's surface to another party.

Important Definitions

Withdrawn: removed from a specific use or activity. Surface estate: ownership rights to the top layer of land. Mineral estate: ownership rights to resources beneath the surface.

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1221 To withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 27, 2023 Ms. STANSBURY (for herself, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development. 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 ‘‘Buffalo Tract Protec- 4 tion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 7 the Federal land described in subsection (b) is withdrawn 8 from all forms of— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Mar 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1221.IH H1221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1221 IH (1) location, entry, and patent under the mining 1 laws; and 2 (2) disposition under the mineral leasing, min- 3 eral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 4 (b) DESCRIPTION.—The Federal land referred to in 5 subsections (a) and (c) is the approximately 4,288 acres 6 of land administered by the Director of the Bureau of 7 Land Management and generally depicted as ‘‘Tract A’’, 8 ‘‘Tract B’’, ‘‘Tract C’’, and ‘‘Tract D’’ on the map entitled 9 ‘‘Placitas, New Mexico Area Map’’ and dated November 10 13, 2019. 11 (c) SURFACE ESTATE.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the reservation of 13 the mineral estate under paragraph (2), nothing in 14 this Act prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from 15 conveying the surface estate of the Federal land de- 16 scribed in subsection (b) in accordance with— 17 (A) the Federal Land Policy and Manage- 18 ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.); or 19 (B) the Act of June 14, 1926 (commonly 20 known as the ‘‘Recreation and Public Purposes 21 Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 869 et seq.). 22 (2) MINERAL ESTATE.—Any conveyance of the 23 surface estate of the Federal land described in sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Mar 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1221.IH H1221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1221 IH section (b) shall require a reservation of the mineral 1 estate to the United States. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:08 Mar 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1221.IH H1221 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.