[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1085 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1085

To address certain anachronistic provisions of the general mining laws, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2001

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To address certain anachronistic provisions of the general mining laws, 
                        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 ``Mining Claim Maintenance Act of 
2001''.

SEC. 2. REFERENCES.

    Any reference in this Act to the ``general mining laws'' is a 
reference to those Acts which generally comprise chapters 2, 12A, 16, 
161 and 162 of title 30 of the United States Code.

                       TITLE I--MINING CLAIM FEES

SEC. 101. MAINTENANCE FEE.

    (a) Claim Maintenance Fee.--Except as provided in subsections (c), 
(d), and (e), the holder of each unpatented mining claim, mill or 
tunnel site located pursuant to the general mining laws, whether 
located before or after the enactment of this Act, shall pay to the 
Secretary of the Interior, on or before August 31 of each year, a claim 
maintenance fee of $100 per claim. Such claim maintenance fee shall be 
in lieu of the assessment work requirement contained in the general 
mining laws and the related filing requirements contained in section 
314 (a) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c)).
    (b) Time of Payment.--The claim maintenance fee payable pursuant to 
subsection (a) for any assessment year (as defined under the general 
mining laws) shall be paid before the commencement of the assessment 
year. The location fee imposed under section 102 shall be payable not 
later than 90 days after the date of location.
    (c) Oil Shale Claims Subject to Claim Maintenance Fees Under Energy 
Policy Act of 1992.--This section shall not apply to any oil shale 
claims for which a fee is required to be paid under section 2511(e)(2) 
of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (106 Stat. 3111; 30 U.S.C. 242).
    (d) Waiver for Patent Applicants.--(1) The Secretary may waive the 
claim maintenance fee required under this section for a claimant who 
certifies in writing to the Secretary that on the date the payment was 
due, the claimant and all related parties--
            (A) had filed a patent application with the Secretary on or 
        before September 30, 1994; and
            (B) had fully complied with 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 Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and 
        37) for placer claims, and section 2337 of the Revised Statutes 
        (30 U.S.C. 42) for mill site claims, by that date.
    (e) Exceptions for Claimants Holding 10 or Fewer Mining Claims.--
            (1) In general.--A claimant may elect to perform the 
        assessment work required under the general mining laws in lieu 
        of paying the maintenance fee required under this section if 
        the claimant who certifies in writing to the Secretary that on 
        the date the payment was due, the claimant and all related 
        parties--
                    (A) are producing hard rock minerals under a valid 
                notice or plan of operation which production results in 
                not less than $1,500 and not more than $800,000 in 
                gross revenues per year from a total of 10 or fewer 
                claims, as certified by the claimant;
                    (B) are performing exploration work to disclose, 
                expose, or otherwise make known possible valuable 
                mineralization on a total of 10 or fewer claims under a 
                valid notice or plan of operation; and
                    (C) have less than 10 acres of unreclaimed surface 
                disturbance from such mining activity or such 
                exploration work.
            (2) Claimants electing to do assessment work.--A claimant 
        holding 10 or fewer mining claims, who elects to do the 
        assessment work required by the general mining laws in lieu of 
        paying the claim maintenance fee required under this section 
        shall be required to meet the filing requirements of section 
        314(a) and (c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
        (43 U.S.C. 1744 (a) and (c)) on such 10 or fewer claims and 
        shall certify the performance of such assessment work to the 
        Secretary of the Interior by August 31 of each year.
            (3) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
                    (1) With respect to any claimant, the term 
                ``related party'' means--
                            (A) the spouse and dependent children (as 
                        defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue 
                        Code of 1986), of the claimant; and
                            (B) a person who controls, is controlled 
                        by, or is under common control with the 
                        claimant.
                    (2) The term ``control'' includes actual control, 
                legal control, and the power to exercise control, 
                through or by common directors, officers, stockholders, 
                a voting trust, or a holding company or investment 
                company, or any other means.

SEC. 102. LOCATION FEE.

    Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for every unpatented 
mining claim, mill or tunnel site located after the date of enactment 
of this title, pursuant to the general mining laws, the locator shall, 
at the time the location notice is recorded with the Bureau of Land 
Management, pay to the Secretary of the Interior a location fee, in 
addition to the claim maintenance fee required by section 101, of 
$25.00 per claim.

SEC. 103. CO-OWNERSHIP.

    The co-ownership provisions of the general mining laws shall remain 
in effect, except that in applying such provisions, the annual claim 
maintenance fee required under this title shall, where applicable, 
replace applicable assessment requirements and expenditures.

SEC. 104. FAILURE TO PAY.

    Failure to pay the claim maintenance fee or the location fee on the 
date due as required by this title shall conclusively constitute a 
forfeiture of the unpatented mining claim, mill or tunnel site by the 
claimant and the claim shall be deemed null and void by operation of 
law.

SEC. 105. OTHER REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Federal Land Policy and Management Act Requirements.--Nothing 
in this title shall change or modify the requirements of section 314(b) 
of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1744(b)), of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
U.S.C. 1744(c)) related to filings required by section 314(b), and such 
requirements shall remain in effect with respect to claims, and mill or 
tunnel sites for which fees are required to be paid under this section.
    (b) Revised Statutes Section 2324.--The third sentence of section 
2324 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 28) is amended by inserting 
after ``On each claim located after the tenth day of May, eighteen 
hundred and seventy-two,'' the following: ``that is granted a waiver 
under section 101 (d) or (e) of the Mining Claim Maintenance Act of 
2001''.
    (c) Fee Adjustments.--(1) The Secretary of the Interior shall 
adjust the fees required by this title to reflect changes in the 
Consumer Price Index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the 
Department of Labor every 5 years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, or more frequently if the Secretary determines an adjustment 
to be reasonable.
    (2) The Secretary shall provide claimants notice of any adjustment 
made under this subsection not later than July 1 of any year in which 
the adjustment is made.
    (3) A fee adjustment under this subsection shall begin to apply the 
first assessment year (as defined under the general mining laws) which 
begins at noon on the first day of September after the adjustment is 
made.

SEC. 106. REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate rules and 
regulations to carry out the terms and conditions of this title as soon 
as practicable after the date of the enactment of this title.

                    TITLE II--LIMITATION ON PATENTS

SEC. 201. MINING CLAIMS

    After the date of enactment of this Act, no patent shall be issued 
by the United States for any mining claim located under the general 
mining laws or under this Act unless the Secretary determines that, for 
the claim concerned--
            (1) a patent application was filed with the Secretary on or 
        before September 30, 1994; and
            (2) 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 Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 36, and 37) for placer claims 
        were fully complied with by that date.
If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to in paragraphs (1) 
and (2) 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.

SEC. 202. MILL SITES.

    After the date of enactment of this Act, no patent shall be issued 
by the United States for any mill site claim located under the general 
mining laws unless the Secretary determines that for the mill site 
concerned--
            (1) a patent application for such land was filed with the 
        Secretary on or before September 30, 1994; and
            (2) all requirements applicable to such patent application 
        were fully complied with by that date.
    If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to in paragraphs 
(1) and (2) 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.
                                 <all>