[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3858 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3858

To establish within the Office of Land and Emergency Management of the 
 Environmental Protection Agency the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and 
                    Plains, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 29, 2024

 Mr. Kelly (for himself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish within the Office of Land and Emergency Management of the 
 Environmental Protection Agency the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and 
                    Plains, 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 ``Legacy Mine Cleanup Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF MOUNTAINS, DESERTS, AND PLAINS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
                    (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
                of the Senate;
                    (C) the Committee on Environment and Public Works 
                of the Senate;
                    (D) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
                Pensions of the Senate;
                    (E) the Committee on Indian Affairs of the Senate;
                    (F) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
                Representatives;
                    (G) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 
                House of Representatives;
                    (H) the Committee on Transportation and 
                Infrastructure of the House of Representatives;
                    (I) the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
                of Representatives; and
                    (J) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 
                of the House of Representatives.
            (3) Covered mine site.--The term ``covered mine site'' 
        means the land, water, and surrounding watersheds where 
        extraction, beneficiation, or processing of hardrock ores or 
        minerals occurred, but has been discontinued, including 
        discontinued temporarily.
            (4) Indian country.--The term ``Indian country'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 1151 of title 18, United 
        States Code.
            (5) Navajo nation abandoned uranium mine site.--The term 
        ``Navajo Nation abandoned uranium mine site'' means an 
        abandoned uranium covered mine site on land of the Navajo 
        Nation.
            (6) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        Mountains, Deserts, and Plains established by subsection 
        (b)(1).
            (7) Regional office.--The term ``Regional Office'' means a 
        Regional Office of the Environmental Protection Agency.
    (b) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--There is established within the Office of 
        Land and Emergency Management of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains.
            (2) Director.--The Office shall be headed by a Director, to 
        be appointed by the Administrator (or a designee).
    (c) Purposes.--The purposes of the Office shall be--
            (1) to coordinate with the headquarters of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, Regional Offices, and 
        stakeholders response actions of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency at a covered mine site, including a covered mine site in 
        Indian country (as defined in section 1151 of title 18, United 
        States Code), in accordance with Federal law;
            (2) to establish and disseminate best practices for covered 
        mine site response actions, including identifying--
                    (A) innovative technologies and reuse approaches 
                that support and make progress toward those response 
                actions; and
                    (B) waste storage and disposal solutions;
            (3) to coordinate with the headquarters of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, Regional Offices, Federal land 
        management agencies, States, and voluntary nongovernmental 
        organizations, watershed groups, nonliable entities and mining 
        companies, and other entities voluntary response actions at 
        covered mine sites, where applicable, including timely issuance 
        of administrative guidance for nonliable parties;
            (4) to coordinate with the headquarters of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal Government 
        entities, pursuant to existing authorities under section 3303 
        of title 41, United States Code, hiring practices to support 
        small business concerns to carry out response actions at 
        covered mine sites;
            (5) to coordinate with the Secretary of the Interior, the 
        Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Health and Human 
        Services, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other Federal 
        agencies, as the Administrator determines to be appropriate, to 
        ensure interagency coordination of covered mine site response 
        actions, with priority given to coordinating response actions 
        at covered mine sites for which there is no potentially 
        responsible party; and
            (6) to coordinate other actions as the Administrator 
        determines to be appropriate, pursuant to existing authorities 
        of the Administrator--
                    (A) to support efforts to investigate, 
                characterize, or clean up a discharge, release, or 
                threat of release of a hazardous substance, pollutant, 
                or contaminant into the environment at or from a 
                covered mine site; or
                    (B) to establish best practices to protect and 
                improve human health and the environment and implement 
                appropriate reuse options, including through the use of 
                innovative technologies to recover valuable resources 
                from covered mine site features or areas, as 
                applicable.
    (d) Duties.--The Administrator shall carry out through the Office, 
at a minimum, the following duties:
            (1) Priority mine list.--
                    (A) In general.--Annually, the Administrator shall 
                identify covered mine sites that are prioritized for 
                response actions, which may include covered mine sites 
                that are or are not included on the National Priorities 
                List developed by the President in accordance with 
                section 105(a)(8)(B) of the Comprehensive Environmental 
                Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 
                U.S.C. 9605(a)(8)(B)).
                    (B) Creation of list; reports.--The Administrator 
                shall annually--
                            (i) create a list of covered mine sites 
                        identified under subparagraph (A); and
                            (ii) submit to the appropriate committees 
                        of Congress a report describing--
                                    (I) the methodology used to 
                                identify those covered mine sites under 
                                that subparagraph; and
                                    (II) the status of response actions 
                                carried out at covered mine sites on 
                                the list.
                    (C) Coordination.--The Administrator shall--
                            (i) regularly coordinate with Regional 
                        Offices, Federal agencies, States, Indian 
                        Tribes, and stakeholders to update the list of 
                        covered mine sites identified under 
                        subparagraph (A); and
                            (ii) regularly coordinate with Regional 
                        Offices on response actions and share best 
                        practices with respect to each covered mine 
                        site identified under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Process improvement.--
                    (A) In general.--The Administrator shall, pursuant 
                to existing authorities of the Administrator--
                            (i) identify best practices for developing, 
                        reviewing, and approving site assessments, 
                        remedial investigations, and feasibility 
                        studies for covered mine sites;
                            (ii) coordinate research relating to 
                        technologies and remedial and removal 
                        approaches that are the most successful in 
                        limiting the acute and chronic risks posted to 
                        human health and the environment by covered 
                        mine sites; and
                            (iii) support--
                                    (I) government-to-government 
                                consultations with Indian Tribes with 
                                respect to a covered mine site located 
                                within Indian country; and
                                    (II) efforts to provide regular 
                                updates to the Tribal governments 
                                involved in response actions for a 
                                covered mine site located on Tribal 
                                land under the jurisdiction of the 
                                Indian Tribe.
                    (B) Tribal consultation.--In supporting 
                consultations with Indian Tribes under subparagraph 
                (A)(iii)(I), and where a response action occurs within 
                Indian country, the Administrator, in addition to 
                existing applicable law and guidance, shall--
                            (i) as appropriate, invite potentially 
                        responsible parties, including Federal 
                        agencies, to participate in government-to-
                        government consultations with Indian Tribes; 
                        and
                            (ii) as appropriate, ensure consultations 
                        with Tribal allottees occur pursuant to section 
                        2 of the Act of February 5, 1948 (62 Stat. 18, 
                        chapter 45; 25 U.S.C. 324).
            (3) Interagency plans for uranium contamination on the 
        navajo nation; reports.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than September 30, 2027, 
                and not less frequently than once every 10 years 
                thereafter, the Administrator, in cooperation with 
                other relevant Federal agencies, including, at a 
                minimum, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Energy 
                Regulatory Commission, the Department of the Interior, 
                the Indian Health Service, and the Agency for Toxic 
                Substances and Disease Registry, and in consultation 
                with affected Tribal governments, shall develop a 10-
                year interagency plan for the coordination of the 
                Federal Government with States and Tribal governments 
                to carry out response actions at Navajo Nation 
                abandoned uranium mine sites, including--
                            (i) goals for the assessment of, and 
                        response actions at, Navajo Nation abandoned 
                        uranium mine sites;
                            (ii) target dates by which goals described 
                        in clause (i) are anticipated to be achieved, 
                        subject to appropriations;
                            (iii) the projected appropriations 
                        necessary to achieve goals described in clause 
                        (i) by the target dates described in clause 
                        (ii); and
                            (iv) the activities to be carried out by 
                        each Federal agency under the plan.
                    (B) Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the date 
                on which a plan is developed under subparagraph (A), 
                the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate 
                committees of Congress a report describing the 
                applicable plan.
            (4) Administrative and technical assistance.--The 
        Administrator shall, pursuant to existing authorities of the 
        Administrator, provide to States, units of local government, 
        Indian Tribes, and other entities technical assistance with 
        respect to response actions on covered mine sites.
    (e) No New Regulatory Authority.--Nothing in this section provides 
the Administrator with new regulatory authority not already established 
in law.
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