[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1796 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1796

 To withdraw all Federal land located within the Rainy River Drainage 
Basin in Minnesota from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 
   under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the 
mining laws and operation under the mineral leasing laws, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2015

 Ms. McCollum introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To withdraw all Federal land located within the Rainy River Drainage 
Basin in Minnesota from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 
   under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the 
mining laws and operation under the mineral leasing 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 ``National Park and Wilderness Waters 
Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) The Rainy River Drainage Basin headwaters begin in 
        northeastern Minnesota and flow north to Canada. Located within 
        Rainy River Drainage Basin are Voyageurs National Park and 
        Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which were established 
        by Congress to protect their unique and pristine water 
        resources.
            (2) Voyageurs National Park which is comprised of more than 
        218,000 acres, is a water based national park that contains 
        lakes, shorelines, and islands stretching along 55 miles of the 
        United States-Canadian border.
            (3) The Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness is the most 
        visited national wilderness area in the United States. It is 
        comprised of more than 1,000,000 acres and over 1,200 miles of 
        canoe routes in myriad lakes and rivers. It extends 
        approximately 150 miles along the United States-Canadian 
        border.
            (4) The mining of copper and other metals on Federal lands 
        in the Superior and Chippewa National Forests, within the Rainy 
        River Drainage Basin, poses a direct and long-term impact to 
        the pristine water quality of Voyageurs National Park and 
        Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness from sulfide-ore mining 
        contamination.
            (5) The risk of sulfide contamination to Voyageurs National 
        Park and Boundary Water Canoe Area Wilderness from the mining 
        of copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, gold, and silver on 
        Federal lands within the Rainy River Drainage Basin puts at 
        risk the nationally recognized natural resources of the area, 
        as well as the region's economically vibrant tourism industry 
        which generates an estimated $852,000,000 annually and sustains 
        more than 18,000 jobs.

SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF FEDERAL LAND.

    Subject to valid existing rights, the Federal lands within the 
Rainy River Drainage Basin in Minnesota are withdrawn from all forms 
of--
            (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land 
        laws;
            (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
            (3) operation under the mineral leasing and mineral 
        material laws.

SEC. 4. CONDITIONS FOR LEASES OR PERMITS INVOLVING MINING ACTIVITIES.

    (a) Major Federal Action.--Approval of any lease or permit in the 
Rainy River Drainage Basin is deemed to be a major Federal action 
significantly affecting the quality of the human environment if that 
lease or permit involves activities related to mineral production.
    (b) EIS.--An environmental impact statement conducted for the major 
Federal action described in subsection (a) shall include, among other 
issues, consideration of any potential impacts, as a result of such 
lease or permit, to units of the National Park System or land in the 
National Wilderness Preservation System located in the Rainy River 
Drainage Basin.
    (c) Suspension of Activities.--As a condition for the issuance or 
renewal of any lease or permit relating to mineral production, the 
entity receiving such lease or permit shall be required to seasonally 
monitor water quality throughout the Rainy River Drainage Basin. If any 
mining related contamination is detected in a unit of the National Park 
System or land in the National Wilderness Preservation System in the 
Rainy River Drainage Basin, all mining activities related to the 
contamination shall be immediately suspended until the head of the 
Federal agency that issues the lease or permit certifies that all 
contamination was remediated.
    (d) Remediation Plan; Bond.--The Federal agency shall not approve 
any mining related activities in the Rainy River Drainage Basin until 
the entity holding a lease or permit for that mining activity has 
submitted to the Federal agency--
            (1) an acceptable contamination remediation plan that 
        outlines the strategies and tactics that the entity would 
        undertake in the event that contamination is discovered; and
            (2) a full reclamation and performance bond that is 
        sufficient to return the affected area to its original 
        condition and treat any potential contamination for 50 years 
        following the conclusion of any mining activities.
    (e) Savings Clause.--The provisions of this section shall not apply 
to existing sand, gravel, and granite operations in the Rainy River 
Drainage Basin.
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