[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2818 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2818

To repeal the pilot recreation fee program, and to establish a royalty 
 on hardrock minerals, the proceeds of which are to be used for public 
  recreational sites managed by the Department of the Interior or the 
         United States Forest Service, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 1997

 Mr. DeFazio (for himself, Ms. Furse, Mr. Markey, Mr. Stark, Mr. Frank 
 of Massachusetts, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Ms. Hooley of Oregon, and 
 Mr. Luther) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Resources.

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To repeal the pilot recreation fee program, and to establish a royalty 
 on hardrock minerals, the proceeds of which are to be used for public 
  recreational sites managed by the Department of the Interior or the 
         United States Forest Service, 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. REPEAL OF DEMONSTRATION FEE PROGRAM.

    Section 101(c) of the Act of April 26, 1996, entitled ``An Act 
making appropriations for fiscal year 1996 to make a further 
downpayment toward a balanced budget, and for other purposes.'' (Public 
Law 104-134) is amended by striking section 315 (16 U.S.C. 460l-6a) 
(relating to the recreational fee demonstration program) under the 
heading ``Title III--General Provisions''.

SEC. 2. HARDROCK MINERAL ROYALTY.

    (a) Reservation of Royalty.--Each person producing locatable 
minerals (including associated minerals) from any mining claim located 
under the general mining laws, or mineral concentrates derived from 
locatable minerals produced from any mining claim located under the 
general mining laws, as the case may be, shall pay the United States a 
royalty of 5 percent of the net smelter return from the production of 
such locatable minerals or concentrates, as the case may be.
    (b) Royalty Payments.--Each person responsible for making royalty 
payments under this section shall make such payments to the Secretary 
not later than 30 days after the end of the calendar month in which the 
mineral or mineral concentrates are produced and first placed in 
marketable condition, consistent with prevailing practices in the 
industry.
    (c) Reporting Requirements.--All persons holding mining claims 
located under the general mining laws shall provide to the Secretary 
such information as determined necessary by the Secretary to ensure 
compliance with this section, including, but not limited to, quarterly 
reports, records, documents, and other data. Such reports may also 
include, but not be limited to, pertinent technical and financial data 
relating to the quantity, quality, and amount of all minerals extracted 
from the mining claim.
    (d) Audits.--The Secretary is authorized to conduct such audits of 
all persons holding mining claims located under the general mining laws 
as he deems necessary for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the 
requirements of this section.
    (e) Disposition of Receipts.--All receipts from royalties collected 
pursuant to this section shall be available, without further 
appropriation, to the following agencies in the percentages specified:
            (1) Forest Service (20 percent).
            (2) National Park Service (70 percent).
            (3) Fish and Wildlife Service (3 percent).
            (4) Bureau of Land Management (6 percent).
Such receipts shall be used to increase the quality of the visitor 
experience at public recreational sites, for backlogged repair and 
maintenance projects (including projects relating to health and safety) 
at such sites, and for interpretation, signage, habitat or facility 
enhancement, resource preservation, annual operation and maintenance of 
public recreation sites, and law enforcement relating to public use of 
such areas. In addition, 1 percent of the receipts shall be available 
to the Department of the Interior to offset the costs of administering 
the royalty imposed under this section.
    (f) Compliance.--Any person holding mining claims located under the 
general mining laws who knowingly or willfully prepares, maintains, or 
submits false, inaccurate, or misleading information required by this 
section, or fails or refuses to submit such information, shall be 
subject to a civil penalty of not more than $10,000 imposed by the 
Secretary.
    (g) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect with respect to 
minerals produced from a mining claim in calendar months beginning 
after the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``locatable minerals'' means minerals not 
        subject to disposition under any of the following:
                    (A) The Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 and 
                following).
                    (B) The Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 100 
                and following).
                    (C) The Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the 
                Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and following).
                    (D) The Mineral Leasing for Acquired Lands Act (30 
                U.S.C. 351 and following).
            (2) The term ``net smelter return'' has the same meaning 
        provided in section 613 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
        (26 U.S.C. 613) for ``gross income from mining''.
            (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (4) The term ``general mining laws'' means those Acts which 
        generally comprise chapters 2, 12A, and 16, and sections 161 
        and 162 of title 30, United States Code.
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