[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1690 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1690

  To preserve the multiple use land management policy in the State of 
                    Arizona, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 12, 2011

Mr. McCain (for himself, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Barrasso) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To preserve the multiple use land management policy in the State of 
                    Arizona, 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 ``Northern Arizona Mining Continuity 
Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) over the past 20 years, a form of low-impact, safe, and 
        environmentally responsible underground ``breccia pipe'' 
        uranium mining has been conducted in northern Arizona, 
        particularly in an area located beyond the northern boundaries 
        of the Grand Canyon National Park known as the ``Arizona 
        Strip'';
            (2) according to United States Geological Survey estimates, 
        the Arizona Strip--
                    (A) has the potential of becoming the second most 
                important uranium-producing region in the United 
                States; and
                    (B) contains approximately 375,000,000 pounds of 
                high-grade uranium ore with the energy equivalent of 
                13,000,000,000 barrels of oil, which is approximately 
                the quantity of recoverable oil originally found in 
                Prudhoe Bay, Alaska;
            (3) in 1984, during the last uranium boom, Congress enacted 
        the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public 
        Law 98-406), which--
                    (A) is recognized as a historic compromise between 
                environmental and uranium mining interests; and
                    (B) affirmed the continued multiple use management 
                of Federal land on the Arizona Strip that was not 
                designated as wilderness by that Act;
            (4) continued development of resources on the Arizona Strip 
        would significantly boost economic growth in the area, provide 
        for permanent well-paying jobs, and serve as a source of 
        revenue to the Federal Government and State and local 
        governments;
            (5) on July 21, 2009, the Department of the Interior 
        published a notice entitled ``Notice of Proposed Withdrawal and 
        Opportunity for Public Meeting; Arizona'' (74 Fed. Reg. 35887), 
        which--
                    (A) proposed the withdrawal of approximately 
                1,000,000 acres of Federal locatable minerals in 
                northern Arizona from the location of new mining claims 
                over concerns that the uranium mining could impact the 
                Grand Canyon watershed; and
                    (B) made no mention of the Arizona Wilderness Act 
                of 1984 (16 U.S.C. 1132 note; Public Law 98-406) or the 
                resource management plans that have governed mineral 
                resource development on the Arizona Strip; and
            (6) the February 2011 Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
        for the proposed withdrawal determined there is no conclusive 
        evidence from well and spring sampling data that modern-day 
        breccia pipe uranium mining operations in the northern portion 
        of the Grand Canyon region has impacted the chemical quality of 
        groundwater in the regional-aquifer.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION OF PROPOSED MINING WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT CONGRESSIONAL 
              APPROVAL.

    (a) In General.--Except by express authorization by Congress 
referencing this section and notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, the Secretary of the Interior shall not extend, renew, or issue a 
notice of segregation or withdrawal of the public land and National 
Forest System land (including a portion of the land) described in 
Public Land Order 7773 (76 Fed. Reg. 37826 (June 28, 2011)).
    (b) Effect of Notice.--Any notice of segregation or withdrawal of 
the land described in subsection (a) shall have no legal effect.
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