Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3495 To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals on public domain lands, consistent with the principles of self-initiation of mining claims, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. GRIJALVA (for himself, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. TONKO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. WATERS, Ms. TOKUDA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. PORTER, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, and Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To modify the requirements applicable to locatable minerals on public domain lands, consistent with the principles of self-initiation of mining claims, and for other pur- poses. 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3495 IH (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 1 this Act is as follows: 2 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions and references. Sec. 3. Application rules. TITLE I—MINERAL LEASING, EXPLORATION, AND DEVELOPMENT Sec. 101. Closure to entry and location. Sec. 102. Limitation on patents. Sec. 103. Prospecting licenses and hardrock leases. Sec. 104. Competitive leasing. Sec. 105. Small miner’s lease. Sec. 106. Land containing nonhardrock minerals; other uses. Sec. 107. Royalty. Sec. 108. Existing production. Sec. 109. Hardrock mining claim maintenance fee. Sec. 110. Effect of payments for use and occupancy of claims. Sec. 111. Protection of special places. Sec. 112. Suitability determination. TITLE II—CONSULTATION PROCEDURE Sec. 201. Requirement for consultation. TITLE III—ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS OF MINERAL EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT Sec. 301. General standard for hardrock mining on Federal land. Sec. 302. Permits. Sec. 303. Exploration permit. Sec. 304. Operations permit. Sec. 305. Persons ineligible for permits. Sec. 306. Financial assurance. Sec. 307. Operation and reclamation. Sec. 308. State law and regulation. TITLE IV—ABANDONED HARDROCK MINE RECLAMATION PROGRAM Sec. 401. Funds credited to the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation Pro- gram. Sec. 402. Displaced material reclamation fee. TITLE V—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS Sec. 501. Policy functions. Sec. 502. User fees and inflation adjustment. Sec. 503. Inspection and monitoring. Sec. 504. Citizens suits. Sec. 505. Administrative and judicial review. Sec. 506. Reporting requirements. Sec. 507. Enforcement. Sec. 508. Regulations. Sec. 509. Oil shale claims. VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3495 IH Sec. 510. Savings clause. Sec. 511. Availability of public records. Sec. 512. Miscellaneous powers. Sec. 513. Mineral materials. Sec. 514. Effective date. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS AND REFERENCES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—As used in this Act: 2 (1) The term ‘‘Abandoned Hardrock Mine Rec- 3 lamation Program’’ means the program established 4 by section 40704 of the Infrastructure Investment 5 and Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1245). 6 (2) The term ‘‘adjacent land’’ means any land 7 not more than 2 miles from the boundary of a de- 8 scribed land tract. 9 (3) The term ‘‘affiliate’’ means, with respect to 10 any person, any of the following: 11 (A) Any person that controls, is controlled 12 by, or is under common control with such per- 13 son. 14 (B) Any partner of such person. 15 (C) Any person owning at least 10 percent 16 of the voting shares of such person. 17 (4) The term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 18 the term in section 3502 of title 44, United States 19 Code. 20 (5) The term ‘‘applicant’’ means any person ap- 21 plying for a lease, license, or permit under this Act 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3495 IH or a modification to or a renewal of a lease, license, 1 or permit issued under this Act. 2 (6) The term ‘‘beneficiation’’ means the crush- 3 ing and grinding of hardrock mineral ore and such 4 processes as are employed to free the mineral from 5 other constituents, including physical and chemical 6 separation techniques. 7 (7) The term ‘‘casual use’’— 8 (A) means mineral activities that do not 9 ordinarily result in any disturbance of Federal 10 land and resources; 11 (B) includes collection of geochemical, 12 rock, soil, or mineral specimens using 13 handtools, hand panning, or nonmotorized sluic- 14 ing; and 15 (C) does not include— 16 (i) the use of mechanized earth-mov- 17 ing equipment, suction dredging, or explo- 18 sives; 19 (ii) the use of motor vehicles in areas 20 closed to off-road vehicles; 21 (iii) the construction of roads or drill 22 pads; or 23 (iv) the use of toxic or hazardous ma- 24 terials. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3495 IH (8) The term ‘‘claim holder’’ means— 1 (A) any person holding a mining claim, 2 millsite, or tunnel site located under the general 3 mining laws or this Act and maintained in com- 4 pliance with such laws; and 5 (B) any agent of such person. 6 (9) The term ‘‘control’’ means having the abil- 7 ity, directly or indirectly, to determine (without re- 8 gard to whether exercised through 1 or more cor- 9 porate structures) the manner in which an entity 10 conducts mineral activities, through any means, in- 11 cluding— 12 (A) ownership interest; 13 (B) authority to commit the real or finan- 14 cial assets of the entity; 15 (C) position as a director, officer, or part- 16 ner of the entity; or 17 (D) contractual arrangement. 18 (10) The term ‘‘displaced material’’ means any 19 raw ore or waste dislodged from its location by 20 human disturbance, including from hardrock mineral 21 activities. 22 (11) The term ‘‘exploration’’— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3495 IH (A) means creating surface disturbance, 1 other than casual use, to evaluate the type, ex- 2 tent, quantity, or quality of minerals present; 3 (B) includes mineral activities associated 4 with sampling, drilling, and analyzing hardrock 5 mineral values; and 6 (C) does not include extraction of mineral 7 material for commercial use or sale. 8 (12) The term ‘‘Federal land’’— 9 (A) means any land, and any interest in 10 land, that is owned by the United States; and 11 (B) does not include— 12 (i) lands in the National Park System; 13 (ii) Indian lands; or 14 (iii) lands on the Outer Continental 15 Shelf. 16 (13) The term ‘‘hardrock mineral’’— 17 (A) means any mineral that was subject to 18 location under the general mining laws as of the 19 effective date of this Act, and that is not sub- 20 ject to disposition under— 21 (i) the Mineral Leasing Act (30 22 U.S.C. 181 et seq.); 23 (ii) the Geothermal Steam Act of 24 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3495 IH (iii) the Act of July 31, 1947, com- 1 monly known as the Materials Act of 1947 2 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); or 3 (iv) the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac- 4 quired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.); and 5 (B) does not include any mineral that is 6 subject to a restriction against alienation im- 7 posed by the United States and is— 8 (i) held in trust by the United States 9 for any Indian or Indian Tribe, as defined 10 in section 2 of the Indian Mineral Develop- 11 ment Act of 1982 (25 U.S.C. 2101); or 12 (ii) owned by any Indian or Indian 13 Tribe, as defined in that section. 14 (14) The term ‘‘Indian lands’’ means— 15 (A) lands held in trust for the benefit of 16 an Indian Tribe or Indian; 17 (B) lands held by an Indian Tribe or In- 18 dian subject to a restriction by the United 19 States against alienation; or 20 (C) lands held by an Alaska Native village, 21 village corporation, or regional corporation, as 22 defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska 23 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 24 et seq.). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3495 IH (15) The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ means any In- 1 dian Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized 2 group or community, including any Alaska Native 3 village, village corporation, or regional corporation, 4 as defined in or established pursuant to the Alaska 5 Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et 6 seq.), that is recognized as eligible for the special 7 programs and services provided by the United States 8 to Indians because of their status as Indians. 9 (16) The term ‘‘mining claim’’ means any min- 10 ing claim made pursuant to— 11 (A) this Act; or 12 (B) the Mining Law of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 13 22 et seq.) before the effective date of this Act. 14 (17) The term ‘‘mineral activities’’ means any 15 activity carried out on a mining claim, millsite, or 16 tunnel site, authorized by a lease, license, or permit 17 issued under this Act, for, related to, or incidental 18 to, mineral exploration, mining, beneficiation, proc- 19 essing, or reclamation activities for any hardrock 20 mineral. 21 (18) The term ‘‘National Conservation System 22 unit’’ means any unit of the National Park System, 23 National Wildlife Refuge System, National Wild and 24 Scenic Rivers System, National Wilderness Preserva- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3495 IH tion System, National Landscape Conservation Sys- 1 tem, or National Trails System, or a National Con- 2 servation Area, a National Recreation Area, a Wil- 3 derness Study Area, a National Monument, or any 4 unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System 5 or lands within the National Forest System, includ- 6 ing the following: 7 (A) National Volcanic Monuments. 8 (B) Recreation Areas, Scenic Recreation 9 Areas, and Winter Recreation Areas. 10 (C) Scenic Areas, Scenic-Research Areas, 11 Scenic Highways, and National Scenic and 12 Wildlife Areas. 13 (D) National Game and Wildlife Preserves. 14 (E) Special Management, Wildlife, Con- 15 servation, and Protection Areas, including bo- 16 tanical, hydrological (watershed), geological, 17 historical, paleontological, and zoological areas. 18 (F) Experimental Forests, Ranges, and 19 Watersheds. 20 (G) Research Sites and Research Natural 21 Areas. 22 (H) Inventoried Roadless Area, Colorado 23 Roadless Area, and Idaho Roadless Area. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 3495 IH (I) Recommended Wilderness and Primi- 1 tive Areas. 2 (19) The term ‘‘operator’’ means— 3 (A) any person proposing or authorized by 4 a permit issued under this Act to conduct min- 5 eral activities; and 6 (B) any agent of such person. 7 (20) The term ‘‘person’’ means an individual, 8 Indian Tribe, partnership, association, society, joint 9 venture, joint stock company, firm, company, cor- 10 poration, cooperative, or other organization and any 11 instrumentality of State or local government, includ- 12 ing any publicly owned utility or publicly owned cor- 13 poration of State or local government. 14 (21) The term ‘‘processing’’ means processes 15 downstream of beneficiation employed to prepare 16 hardrock mineral ore into a final marketable prod- 17 uct, including smelting and electrolytic refining. 18 (22) The term ‘‘raw ore’’ means ore in its un- 19 processed form, containing profitable amounts of a 20 hardrock mineral. 21 (23) The term ‘‘reclamation’’ means taking 22 measures following the disturbance of Federal land 23 by mineral activities to meet applicable performance 24 standards and achieve conditions required by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 3495 IH Secretary concerned at the conclusion of such min- 1 eral activities, including, where applicable— 2 (A) isolation, control, or removal of acid- 3 forming, toxic, or deleterious substances; 4 (B) regrading and reshaping to conform 5 with adjacent landforms, facilitate revegetation, 6 control drainage, and minimize erosion; 7 (C) rehabilitation of fisheries or wildlife 8 habitat; 9 (D) placement of growth medium and es- 10 tablishment of self-sustaining revegetation; 11 (E) removal or stabilization of buildings, 12 structures, or other support facilities; 13 (F) plugging of drill holes and closure of 14 underground workings; and 15 (G) providing for post-mining monitoring, 16 maintenance, or treatment. 17 (24) The term ‘‘sacred site’’ means any specific 18 delineated location on Federal land that is identified 19 by an Indian Tribe— 20 (A) as sacred by virtue of its established 21 religious significance to, or ceremonial use by, 22 an Indian religion; or 23 (B) to be of established cultural signifi- 24 cance. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Jun 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3495.IH H3495 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 3495 IH (25) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 1 of the Interior, unless otherwise specified. 2 (26) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 3 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture (acting 4 through the Chief of the Forest Service) with 5 respect to National Forest System land; and 6 (B) the Secretary of the Interior (acting 7 through the Director of the Bureau of Land 8 Management) with respect to other Federal 9 land. 10 (27)(A) The term ‘‘small miner’’ means a per- 11 son (including all related parties thereto) that— 12 (i) holds not more than 10 mining claims, 13 millsites, or tunnel sites, or any combination 14 thereof, on Federal land; 15 (ii) is a claim holder or operator with re- 16 spect to not more than 200 acres of Federal 17 land; 18 (iii) certifies to the Secretary in writing 19 that the person had annual gross income in the 20 preceding calendar year from mineral produc- 21 tion i [Text truncated for display. 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