[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 240 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 240

 To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of the State of 
                  California, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 5, 1993

 Mr. Lehman (for himself and Mr. Miller of California) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of the State of 
                  California, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bodie Protection Act of 1992''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the historic Bodie gold mining district in the State of 
        California is the site of the largest and best preserved 
        authentic ghost town in the western United States;
            (2) the Bodie Bowl area contains important natural, 
        historical, and aesthetic resources;
            (3) Bodie was designated a National Historical Landmark in 
        1961 and a California State Historic Park in 1962, is listed on 
        the National Register of Historic Places, and is included in 
        the Federal Historic American Buildings Survey;
            (4) nearly 200,000 persons visit Bodie each year, providing 
        the local economy with important annual tourism revenues;
            (5) the town of Bodie is threatened by proposals to explore 
        and extract minerals: mining in the Bodie Bowl area may have 
        adverse physical and aesthetic impacts on Bodie's historical 
        integrity, cultural values, and ghosttown character as well as 
        on its recreational values and the area's flora and fauna;
            (6) the California State Legislature, on September 4, 1990, 
        requested the President and the Congress to direct the 
        Secretary of the Interior to protect the ghosttown character, 
        ambience, historic buildings, and scenic attributes of the town 
        of Bodie and nearby areas;
            (7) the California State Legislature also requested the 
        Secretary, if necessary to protect the Bodie Bowl area, to 
        withdraw the Federal lands within the area from all forms of 
        mineral entry and patent;
            (8) the National Park Service listed Bodie as a priority 
        one endangered National Historic Landmark in its fiscal year 
        1990 and 1991 report to Congress entitled ``Threatened and 
        Damaged National Historic Landmarks'' and recommended 
        protection of the Bodie area; and
            (9) it is necessary and appropriate to provide that all 
        Federal lands within the Bodie Bowl area are not subject to 
        location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of the United 
        States, subject to valid existing rights, and to direct the 
        Secretary to consult with the Governor of the State of 
        California before approving any mining activity plan within the 
        Bodie Bowl.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Bodie Bowl'' means the Federal lands and 
        interests in lands within the area generally depicted on the 
        map referred to in section 4(a).
            (2) The term ``mining'' means any activity involving 
        mineral prospecting, exploration, extraction, milling, 
        beneficiation, processing, and reclamation.
            (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF MINERAL MINING, LEASING AND DISPOSAL LAWS.

    (a) Restriction.--Subject to valid existing rights, after the date 
of enactment of this Act Federal lands and interests in lands within 
the area generally depicted on the map entitled ``Bodie Bowl'' and 
dated June 12, 1992, shall not be--
            (1) open to the location of mining and mill site claims 
        under the general mining laws of the United States;
            (2) subject to any lease under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
        U.S.C. 181 and following) or the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 
        (30 U.S.C. 100 and following), for lands within the Bodie Bowl; 
        and
            (3) available for disposal of mineral materials under the 
        Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 
        1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and following).
Such map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
Office of the Secretary, and appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land 
Management and the National Park Service. As soon as practicable after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a legal 
description of the Bodie Bowl area in the Federal Register.
    (b) Valid Existing Rights.--As used in this subsection, the term 
``valid existing rights'' in reference to the general mining laws means 
that a mining claim located on lands within the Bodie Bowl was properly 
located and maintained under the general mining laws prior to the date 
of enactment of this Act, was supported by a discovery of a valuable 
mineral deposit within the meaning of the general mining laws on the 
date of enactment of this Act, and that such claim continues to be 
valid.
    (c) Validity Review.--The Secretary shall undertake an expedited 
program to determine the validity of all unpatented mining claims 
located within the Bodie Bowl. The expedited program shall include an 
examination of all unpatented mining claims, including those for which 
a patent application has not been filed. If a claim is determined to be 
invalid, the Secretary shall promptly declare the claim to be null and 
void, except that the Secretary shall not challenge the validity of any 
claim located within the Bodie Bowl for the failure to do assessment 
work for any period after the date of enactment of this Act. The 
Secretary shall make a determination with respect to the validity of 
each claim referred to under this subsection within 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act.
    (d) Limitation on Patent Issuance.--
            (1) Mining claims.--(A) After January 11, 1993, no patent 
        shall be issued by the United States for any mining claim 
        located under the general mining laws within the Bodie Bowl 
        unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim concerned--
                    (i) a patent application was filed with the 
                Secretary on or before such date; and
                    (ii) all requirements established under sections 
                2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 
                30) for vein or lode claims and sections 2329, 2330, 
                2331, and 2333 of the Revised Statues (30 U.S.C. 35, 
                36, 37) for placer claims were fully complied with by 
                that date.
            (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to 
        in subparagraph (A) for any mining claim, the holder of the 
        claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent in the same 
        manner and degree to which such claim holder would have been 
        entitled to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and 
        until such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the 
        Secretary or by a court of the United States.
            (2) Mill site claims.--(A) After January 11, 1993, no 
        patent shall be issued by the United States for any mill site 
        claim located under the general mining laws within the Bodie 
        Bowl unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim 
        concerned--
                    (i) a patent application was filed with the 
                Secretary on or before January 11, 1993; and
                    (ii) all requirements applicable to such patent 
                application were fully complied with by that date.
            (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to 
        in subparagraph (A) for any mill site claim, the holder of the 
        claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent in the same 
        manner and degree to which such claim holder would have been 
        entitled to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and 
        until such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the 
        Secretary or by a court of the United States.

SEC. 5. MINERAL ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--Mineral exploration, mining, beneficiation, and 
processing activities on unpatented mining claims within the Bodie Bowl 
shall be subject to such regulations prescribed by the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Governor of the State of California, as the 
Secretary deems necessary to ensure that such mineral activities are 
conducted--
            (1) in accordance with the rules and regulations 
        promulgated under Public Law 94-429 (16 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) as 
        they relate to plan of operations, reclamation requirements, 
        and bonding; and
            (2) in a manner that does not cause any adverse effect on 
        the historic, cultural, recreational and natural resource 
        values of the Bodie Bowl area.
    (b) Restoration of Effects of Mining Exploration.--As soon as 
possible after the date of enactment of this Act, visible evidence or 
other effects of mining exploration activity within the Bodie Bowl 
conducted on or after September 1, 1988, shall be reclaimed by the 
operator in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to 
subsection (a).
    (c) Annual Expenditures; Filing.--The requirements for annual 
expenditures on unpatented mining claims imposed by Revised Statute 
2324 (30 U.S.C. 28) shall not apply to any such claim located within 
the Bodie Bowl. In lieu of filing the affidavit of assessment work 
referred to under section 314(a)(1) of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)(1)), the holder of any 
unpatented mining or mill site claim located within the Bodie Bowl 
shall only be required to file the notice of intention to hold the 
mining claim referred to in such section 314(a)(1).
    (d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate the regulations 
referred to in this section within 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act. For the purposes of this Act, the Bureau of Land 
Management shall promulgate and administer the rules and regulations 
referred to in section 5(a).

SEC. 6. STUDY.

    Beginning as soon as possible after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the 
National Park Service, shall review possible actions to preserve the 
scenic character, historical integrity, cultural and recreational 
values, flora and fauna, and ghost town characteristics of lands and 
structures within the Bodie Bowl. No later than 3 years after the date 
of such enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate a 
report that discusses the results of such review and makes 
recommendations as to which steps (including but not limited to 
acquisition of lands or valid mining claims) should be undertaken in 
order to achieve these objectives.

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