[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 22 (Thursday, February 6, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E154-E155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


        INTRODUCTION OF ABANDONED HARDROCK MINES RECLAMATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 5, 2003

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the 
Abandoned Hardrock Mines Reclamation Act. This bill is designed to help 
promote the cleanup of abandoned and inactive hardrock mines that are a 
menace to the environment and public health throughout the country, but 
especially in the West. I introduced a similar bill in the 107th 
Congress. This bill contains a number of changes that were developed in 
consultation with interested parties, including representatives of the 
Western Governors' Association, the hardrock mining industry, and 
environmental groups. More detail regarding these changes is included 
at the end of this statement.

                             The Background

  For over one hundred years, miners and prospectors have searched for 
and developed valuable ``hardrock'' minerals--gold, silver, copper, 
molybdenum, and others. Hardrock mining has played a key role in the 
history of Colorado and other States, and the resulting mineral wealth 
has been an important aspect of our economy and the development of 
essential products. However, as all westerners know, this history has 
too often been marked by a series of ``boom'' times followed by a 
``bust'' when mines were no longer profitable. When these busts came, 
too often the miners would abandon their workings and move on, seeking 
riches over the next mountain. The resulting legacy of unsafe open mine 
shafts and acid mine drainages can be seen throughout the country and 
especially on the western public lands where mineral development was 
encouraged to help settle our region.

                              The Problems

  The problems caused by abandoned and inactive mines are very real and 
very large--including acidic water draining from old tunnels, heavy 
metals leaching into streams, killing fish and tainting water supplies, 
open vertical mine shafts, dangerous highwalls, large open pits, waste 
rock piles that are unsightly and dangerous, and hazardous, dilapidated 
structures.
  And, unfortunately, many of our current environmental laws, designed 
to mitigate the impact from operating hardrock mines, are of limited 
effectiveness when applied to abandoned and inactive mines. As a 
result, many of these old mines go on polluting streams and rivers and 
potentially risking the health of people who live nearby or downstream.

                          Obstacles to Cleanup

  Right now there are two serious obstacles to progress. One is a 
serious lack of funds for cleaning up sites for which no private person 
or entity can be held liable. The other obstacle is legal. While the 
Clean Water Act is one of the most effective and important of our 
environmental laws, as applied it can mean that someone undertaking to 
clean up an abandoned or inactive mine will be exposed to the same 
liability that would apply to a party responsible for creating the 
site's problems in the first place. As a result, would-be ``good 
Samaritans'' understandably have been unwilling to volunteer their 
services to clean up abandoned and inactive mines.
  Unless these fiscal and legal obstacles are overcome, often the only 
route to clean up abandoned mines will be to place them on the Nation's 
Superfund list. Colorado has experience with that approach, so 
Coloradans know that while it can be effective it also has 
shortcomings. For one thing, just being placed on the Superfund list 
does not guarantee prompt cleanup. The site will have to get in line 
behind other listed sites and await the availability of financial 
resources. In addition, as many communities within or near Superfund 
sites know, listing an area on the Superfund list can create concerns 
about stigmatizing an area and potentially harming nearby property 
values.
  We need to develop an alternative approach that will mean we are not 
left only with the options of doing nothing or creating additional 
Superfund sites--because while in some cases the Superfund approach may 
make the most sense, in many others there could be a more direct and 
effective way to remedy the problem.

                     Western Governors Want Action

  For years, the Governors of our western States have recognized the 
need for action to address this serious problem. The Western Governors' 
Association has several times adopted resolutions on the subject. The 
most recent, adopted in August of 2001, was entitled ``Cleaning Up 
Abandoned Mines'' and was proposed by Governor Bill Owens of Colorado 
along with Governors Guinn of Nevada, Janklow of South Dakota, and 
Johnson of New Mexico. The bill I am introducing today is based 
directly on those recommendations by the Western Governors. It 
addresses both the lack of resources and the liability risks to those 
doing cleanups.

                          Outline of the Bill


                      title i. funds for cleanups

  Title I addresses the lack of resources. It would create a 
reclamation fund paid for by a modest fee applied to existing hardrock 
mining operations. The fund would be used by the Secretary of the 
Interior to assist projects to reclaim and restore lands and waters 
adversely affected by abandoned or inactive hardrock mines.
  A similar method already exists to fund clean up of abandoned coal 
mines. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) 
provides for fees on coal production.
  Similarly, my bill provides for fees on mineral production from 
producing hardrock mines on Federal lands or lands that were Federal 
before issuance of a mining-law patent. Fees would be paid to the 
Secretary of the Interior and would be deposited in a new Abandoned 
Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund in the U.S. Treasury. Money in that fund 
would earn interest and would be available for reclamation of abandoned 
hardrock mines. The method of calculating fees is similar to that used 
by the State of Nevada, which collects production-based fees from mines 
in that State. Because over the years there have been proposals to 
establish royalties for hardrock production, in order to provide a 
greater return to the American people, they would require the Secretary 
of the Interior to reduce payments under this title so as to offset any 
royalties hardrock producers may pay in the future. This is intended to 
avoid possible inequitable treatment of a producer covered by both the 
royalty and Title I of this bill.
  Funds in the new reclamation fund would be available for 
appropriation for grants to eligible States to complete inventories of 
abandoned hardrock mine sites, as mentioned above. A State with sites 
covered by the bill could receive a grant of up to $2 million annually 
for this purpose. In addition, money from the fund would be available 
for cleanup work at eligible sites. To be eligible, a site would have 
to be within a State subject to operation of the general mining laws 
that has completed its Statewide inventory. Within those States, 
eligible sites would be those--(1) where former hardrock-mining 
activities had permanently ceased as of the date of the bill's 
enactment; (2) that are not on the National Priorities List under the 
Superfund law; (3) for which there are no identifiable owners or 
operators; and (4) that lack sufficient minerals to make further 
mining, remining, or reprocessing of minerals economically feasible. 
Sites designated for remedial action under the Uranium Mill Tailings 
Radiation Control Act of 1978 or subject to planned or ongoing response 
or natural resource damage action under the Superfund law would not be 
eligible for cleanup funding from the new reclamation fund. The 
Interior Department could use money from the fund to do cleanup work 
itself or could authorize use of the money for cleanup work by a holder 
of one of the new ``good Samaritan'' permits provided for in Title II 
of the bill.


              Title II. Protection for ``Good Samaritans''

  Title II addresses the threat of long-term liability. To help 
encourage the efforts of ``good Samaritans,'' the bill would create a 
new program under the Clean Water Act under which qualifying 
individuals and entities could obtain permits to conduct cleanups of 
abandoned or inactive hardrock mines. These permits would give some 
liability protection to those volunteering to clean up these sites, 
while also requiring the permit holders to meet certain requirements. 
The bill specifies who can secure these permits, what would be required 
by way of a cleanup plan, and the extent of liability exposure. 
Notably, unlike regular Clean Water Act point-source (``NPDES'') 
permits, these new permits would not require meeting specific standards 
for specific pollutants and would not impose liabilities for monitoring 
or long-term maintenance and operations. These permits would terminate 
upon completion of cleanup, if a regular Clean Water Act permit is 
issued for the same site, or if a permit holder encounters unforeseen 
conditions beyond the holder's control.
  Together, these two parts of the bill could help us begin to address 
a problem that has frustrated Federal and State agencies throughout the 
country and make progress in cleaning up from an unwelcome legacy of 
our mining history.

         Differences Between This Bill and the Previous Version

  Since the introduction of my original bill in the 107th Congress, I 
have been working with a variety of people interested in this subject. 
My staff joined discussions with a group that included representation 
of the western States through the auspices of the Western Governors' 
Association, the mining industry (including hardrock mining companies 
in Colorado and the Colorado and national mining associations), the 
environmental community, and relevant State and Federal agencies. The 
discussions were very productive, and led to much progress toward 
developing consensus

[[Page E155]]

solutions to a variety of concerns. This revised version of the bill 
reflects those discussions and I wish to express my personal thanks to 
those who participated. The significant changes in this version of the 
bill include the following:


                                Title I

  Use of existing administrative system to disperse fees. At the 
request of the States, the bill requires the Secretary of the Interior 
to use the existing mine cleanup fund disbursement system under the 
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). This will help 
facilitate the administration of the fund under the bill, reduced 
duplication and improve efficiency. For States that do not have a 
program under SMCRA, the Secretary is authorized to disperse funds in 
those eligible States as long as those States have a State-authorized 
abandoned mine cleanup program.''

  Allocation of funds to the States. The bill specifies that 25 percent 
of the funds collected by the fee shall go back to the States where 
such fees originated; 50 percent of the funds collected annually will 
be expended in eligible States in relation to the extent of mining 
activity that occurred in those States during the years 1900 to 1980 
(that is, from the turn of the last century until enactment of 
Superfund (more formally, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, and Liability Act (CRCLA)); and the balance of the fund 
will be used elsewhere at the discretion of the Secretary.
  Fee Off-set in case a royalty is applied. During the discussions over 
the bill, the mining industry expressed concerns regarding the fee 
title provision. They indicated that, as a general matter, the industry 
is not opposed to helping fund the cleanup of abandoned mines, but they 
were concerned that in the context of any potential reform of the 
General Mining Law of 1872, miners may be required to pay a royalty for 
hardrock minerals extracted from public lands in addition to the fee 
imposed in this bill and thus subjecting them to paying twice. This 
bill addresses that concern by providing that a fee collected under 
this bill would be reduced by an amount equal to any royalty 
established in the future that is credited to the hardrock reclamation 
fund.


                                Title II

  Delegation to the States. The bill expressly authorizes the EPA to 
delegate the authority to issue ``good Samaritan'' reclamation permits 
to eligible States. This was done at the request of the States.
  Cooperating Parties. At the request of mining community 
representatives, the bill adds new provisions for ``cooperating 
parties'' that would be authorized to assist remediating parties with 
cleanup work under ``good Samaritan'' permits. These cooperating 
parties would also enjoy the liability protections afforded to full 
remediating parties. This will enable the mining industry to employ its 
expertise and capabilities to assist in the cleanups.
  Long-term Protection. The bill requires that cleanup plans include an 
obligation that the cleanup efforts will be maintained and operated to 
ensure continued long-term benefits from work accomplished at each 
site.
  Recoverable Value. At the request of many of the parties in the 
discussions, the bill allows remediating parties to beneficially use 
any materials found at the site during the cleanup. These materials 
could include any residual hardrock minerals that are present at the 
site. However, any value recouped from any sale of these materials 
would have to be used to defray the costs of the cleanup or to help 
cleanup of other abandoned hardrock mines.
  I think these changes are improvements that will further facilitate 
the cleanup of thousands of abandoned hardrock mines in the West.

                          ____________________