H.R. 1366 — Mining Regulatory Clarity Act

This section provides the short title of the Act as the “Mining Regulatory Clarity Act.”

This section establishes additional mill site authority for hardrock mining operations on public land and creates the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund. It allows a claimant or operator, where public land is needed for operations under an approved plan of operations, to locate as many mill site claims as are reasonably necessary, with each mill site limited to 5 acres, and provides that a mill site does not convey mineral rights, may not be patented, and may be located on the same tract as an existing lode or placer claim without affecting that claim’s validity. It defines “mill site,” “operations,” “operator,” “plan of operations,” and “public land,” and preserves existing Federal land withdrawal and environmental authorities, including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Wilderness Act, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Surface Resources Act of 1955. It also establishes a separate Treasury account, the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund, and directs that claim maintenance fees collected on mill sites located under this new authority be deposited into the Fund. The Secretary of the Interior may use amounts in the Fund, without further appropriation, only to carry out the abandoned hardrock mine land program under 30 U.S.C. 1245, with funds allocated 50 percent for grants to States and Indian Tribes and 50 percent for Federal land reclamation, and transferable under the existing statutory authority.