[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4323 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4323

 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations for 
the safe and environmentally responsible reopening of abandoned mines, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 2016

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations for 
the safe and environmentally responsible reopening of abandoned mines, 
                        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 ``Abandoned Mine Reclamation Safety 
Act''.

SEC. 2. REOPENING OF ABANDONED MINES.

    (a) Regulations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior, in 
        consultation with other relevant agencies, shall promulgate 
        regulations for the safe and environmentally responsible 
        reopening of abandoned mines for the sole purpose of 
        facilitating cleanup or remediation of conditions at such 
        mines.
            (2) Contents.--Such regulations shall--
                    (A) be applicable to both coal mines and noncoal 
                mines;
                    (B) ensure that an abandoned mine is reopened in a 
                manner that--
                            (i) protects the safety of workers involved 
                        in the reopening of the abandoned mine; and
                            (ii) minimizes the risk of a blowout or 
                        other uncontrolled release of water into the 
                        environment;
                    (C) require emergency response and notification 
                plans to be developed before reopening any abandoned 
                mine that poses a risk of an uncontrolled release of 
                water into the environment;
                    (D) provide for the long-term care and maintenance 
                of hardrock mine bulkheads;
                    (E) require approval by a professional engineer of 
                plans to reopen abandoned mine sites; and
                    (F) incorporate recommendations from the Bureau of 
                Reclamation report entitled ``Technical Evaluation of 
                the Gold King Mine Incident San Juan County, Colorado'' 
                and dated October 2015.
            (3) Timing.--The Secretary shall publish proposed 
        regulations under this subsection by no later than 6 months 
        after the completion of the study under subsection (b), or if 
        no such study is conducted, by no later than 18 months after 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Study.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior may seek to 
        enter into an arrangement with the National Academies of 
        Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study to 
        identify best practices for reopening abandoned mines for the 
        purpose of facilitating cleanup or remediation of conditions at 
        such mines, and to make recommendations for regulatory and 
        legislative action with respect to such reopenings.
            (2) Timing.--Any study under this subsection shall be 
        completed by no later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
        of this Act.
    (c) Identification of High-Risk Sites.--The Secretary of the 
Interior shall initiate a program to identify and regularly monitor 
known surface and underground abandoned mine sites and features that 
pose the highest risk of an inadvertent release of water into the 
environment.
    (d) Financial Assurance Requirements Not Affected.--Nothing in this 
section affects the authority of the Secretary or any Federal agency 
from imposing any requirement to provide a bond, surety, or other 
financial assurance for abandoned mine cleanup.
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