[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1281 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1281

 To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to provide for 
 security of tenure for use of mining claims for ancillary activities, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 25, 2023

 Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Sinema, and 
  Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to provide for 
 security of tenure for use of mining claims for ancillary activities, 
                        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 Regulatory Clarity Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY ACTIVITIES.

    Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (30 
U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Security of Tenure.--
            ``(1) Claimant rights.--
                    ``(A) Definition of operations.--In this paragraph, 
                the term `operations' means--
                            ``(i) with respect to a locatable mineral, 
                        any activity or work carried out in connection 
                        with--
                                    ``(I) prospecting;
                                    ``(II) exploration;
                                    ``(III) discovery and assessment;
                                    ``(IV) development;
                                    ``(V) extraction; or
                                    ``(VI) processing;
                            ``(ii) the reclamation of an area disturbed 
                        by an activity described in clause (i); and
                            ``(iii) any activity reasonably incident to 
                        an activity described in clause (i) or (ii), 
                        regardless of whether that incidental activity 
                        is carried out on a mining claim, including the 
                        construction and maintenance of any road, 
                        transmission line, pipeline, or any other 
                        necessary infrastructure or means of access on 
                        public land for a support facility.
                    ``(B) Rights to use, occupation, and operations.--A 
                claimant shall have the right to use, occupy, and 
                conduct operations on public land, with or without the 
                discovery of a valuable mineral deposit, if--
                            ``(i) the claimant makes a timely payment 
                        of the location fee required by section 10102 
                        and the claim maintenance fee required by 
                        subsection (a); or
                            ``(ii) in the case of a claimant who 
                        qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d)--
                                    ``(I) the claimant makes a timely 
                                payment of the location fee required by 
                                section 10102; and
                                    ``(II) the claimant complies with 
                                the required assessment work under the 
                                general mining laws.
            ``(2) Fulfillment of federal land policy and management act 
        of 1976.--A claimant that fulfills the requirements of this 
        section and section 10102 shall be deemed to satisfy any 
        requirements under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
        of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) for the payment of fair market 
        value to the United States for the use of public land and 
        resources pursuant to the general mining laws.
            ``(3) Savings clause.--Nothing in this subsection 
        diminishes any right (including a right of entry, use, or 
        occupancy) of a claimant.''.
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