[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4573 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4573

 For the purposes of providing for the full and complete disclosure of 
  information relating to applications for mineral patents under the 
                          Mining Law of 1872.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 1994

  Mr. Rahall introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 For the purposes of providing for the full and complete disclosure of 
  information relating to applications for mineral patents under the 
                          Mining Law of 1872.

    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 ``Mineral Patent Public Right-To-Know 
Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF PATENT INFORMATION.

    (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or regulation to the 
contrary, the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the 
``Secretary'') shall provide for the full and complete disclosure, upon 
request by any party, of all information submitted to the Secretary by 
an applicant for a patent for a mining claim or mill site pursuant to 
the general mining laws of the United States, and of all information 
developed by the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service, as 
the case may be, as part of its evaluation of the validity of such 
mining claim or mill site for the purposes of a patent application.
    (b) The Secretary shall not issue a patent for a mining claim or 
mill site pursuant to the general mining laws of the United States 
until opportunity for hearing and public comment.

                                 <all>