[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4610 Introduced in House (IH)]

  2d Session
                                H. R. 4610

  To require the Secretary of the Interior to make reimbursement for 
certain damages incurred as a result of bonding regulations adopted by 
 the Bureau of Land Management on February 28, 1997, and subsequently 
             determined to be in violation of Federal law.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 1998

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

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                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of the Interior to make reimbursement for 
certain damages incurred as a result of bonding regulations adopted by 
 the Bureau of Land Management on February 28, 1997, and subsequently 
             determined to be in violation of Federal law.

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

SECTION 1. REIMBURSEMENT.

    (a) Requirement.--The Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter in 
this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall reimburse all private 
and public entities for all monetary damages incurred as a result of 
the bonding regulations promulgated by the Secretary on February 28, 
1997, (43 C.F.R. 3809) that were determined by the U.S. District Court 
for the District of Columbia on May 13, 1998, (Northwest Mining 
Association v. Bruce Babbitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior, 
et al., Case No.97-1013) to have been adopted in violation of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    (b) Claims.--Any private or public entity may submit a claim for 
such damages to the Secretary for reimbursement under this Act. Such 
claim shall be supported by evidence showing that the damages were 
caused by the bonding regulations. Unless the Secretary finds within 90 
days after receipt of the claim that the damages were not caused, in 
whole or in part, by such regulations, the Secretary shall make 
reimbursement to the claimant within such 90 day period.
    (c) Appeals.--Any claim submitted by a private or public entity in 
accordance with the directives herein in this law that have been 
rejected by the Secretary, shall have a right to an appeal of the 
matter to the State court of competent jurisdiction in which the 
Claimant is domiciled. Claimant, upon request, shall have the right to 
a civil trial by jury in the event the amount in dispute, litigation 
costs included, is $20,000 or greater.
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