Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB209 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 118THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 209
55 To improve the permitting process for mining on Federal land, and for
66 other purposes.
77 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
88 JANUARY9, 2023
99 Mr. S
1010 TAUBER(for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mrs. BOEBERT,
1111 Mr. G
1212 RAVESof Louisiana, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. FINSTAD, Mr. OWENS, Mr.
1313 M
1414 CCLINTOCK, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. STEWART, Ms. TENNEY, Mr.
1515 O
1616 BERNOLTE, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. FULCHER, and Mr.
1717 E
1818 MMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
1919 mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
2020 culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
2121 each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
2222 tion of the committee concerned
2323 A BILL
2424 To improve the permitting process for mining on Federal
2525 land, and for other purposes.
2626 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2727 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2828 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2929 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Permitting for Mining 4
3030 Needs Act of 2023’’. 5
3131 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
3232 In this Act: 7
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3636 (1) BYPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has 1
3737 the meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of 2
3838 the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 3
3939 (2) I
4040 NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 4
4141 has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 5
4242 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 6
4343 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 7
4444 (3) M
4545 INERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ means any 8
4646 mineral of a kind that is locatable (including, but 9
4747 not limited to, such minerals located on ‘‘lands ac-10
4848 quired by the United States’’, as such term is de-11
4949 fined in section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac-12
5050 quired Lands) under the Act of May 10, 1872 13
5151 (Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 91). 14
5252 (4) S
5353 ECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 15
5454 the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In-16
5555 terior. 17
5656 (5) S
5757 TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 18
5858 (A) a State; 19
5959 (B) the District of Columbia; 20
6060 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 21
6161 (D) Guam; 22
6262 (E) American Samoa; 23
6363 (F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 24
6464 Mariana Islands; and 25
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6868 (G) the United States Virgin Islands. 1
6969 SEC. 3. MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN AND RELIABILITY. 2
7070 Section 40206 of the Infrastructure Investment and 3
7171 Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1607) is amended— 4
7272 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
7373 CRIT-5
7474 ICAL MINERALS ’’ and inserting ‘‘MINERALS’’; 6
7575 (2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-7
7676 lows: 8
7777 ‘‘(a) D
7878 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 9
7979 ‘‘(1) L
8080 EAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 10
8181 means the Federal agency with primary responsi-11
8282 bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine per-12
8383 mit or lease for a mineral project. 13
8484 ‘‘(2) M
8585 INERAL.—The term ‘mineral’ has the 14
8686 meaning given such term in section 2 of the Permit-15
8787 ting for Mining Needs Act of 2023. 16
8888 ‘‘(3) M
8989 INERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER -17
9090 MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 18
9191 means— 19
9292 ‘‘(A) an authorization of the Bureau of 20
9393 Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap-21
9494 plicable, for exploration for minerals that re-22
9595 quires analysis under the National Environ-23
9696 mental Policy Act of 1969; 24
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100100 ‘‘(B) a plan of operations for a mineral 1
101101 project approved by the Bureau of Land Man-2
102102 agement or the Forest Service; or 3
103103 ‘‘(C) any other Federal permit or author-4
104104 ization for a mineral project. 5
105105 ‘‘(4) M
106106 INERAL PROJECT.—The term ‘mineral 6
107107 project’ means a project— 7
108108 ‘‘(A) located on— 8
109109 ‘‘(i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 9
110110 tunnel site claim for any mineral; 10
111111 ‘‘(ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 11
112112 ‘‘(iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 12
113113 ‘‘(B) for the purposes of exploring for or 13
114114 producing minerals.’’; 14
115115 (3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 15
116116 place such term appears; 16
117117 (4) in subsection (c)— 17
118118 (A) by striking ‘‘critical mineral production 18
119119 on Federal land’’ and inserting ‘‘mineral 19
120120 projects’’; 20
121121 (B) by inserting ‘‘, and in accordance with 21
122122 subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘to the maximum extent 22
123123 practicable’’; 23
124124 (C) by striking ‘‘shall complete the’’ and 24
125125 inserting ‘‘shall complete such’’; 25
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129129 (D) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘critical 1
130130 mineral-related activities on Federal land’’ and 2
131131 inserting ‘‘mineral projects’’; 3
132132 (E) in paragraph (8), by striking the 4
133133 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 5
134134 (F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘proce-6
135135 dures.’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures; and’’; and 7
136136 (G) by adding at the end the following: 8
137137 ‘‘(10) deferring to and relying on baseline data, 9
138138 analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies 10
139139 with jurisdiction over the environmental or reclama-11
140140 tion permits for the proposed mineral project.’’; 12
141141 (5) in subsection (d)— 13
142142 (A) by striking ‘‘critical’’ each place such 14
143143 term appears; and 15
144144 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘mineral- 16
145145 related activities on Federal land’’ and inserting 17
146146 ‘‘mineral projects’’; 18
147147 (6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘critical’’; 19
148148 (7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 20
149149 place such term appears; 21
150150 (8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 22
151151 place such term appears; and 23
152152 (9) by adding at the end the following: 24
153153 ‘‘(h) O
154154 THERREQUIREMENTS.— 25
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158158 ‘‘(1) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT .—For pur-1
159159 poses of maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of 2
160160 the Federal permitting and review processes de-3
161161 scribed under subsection (c), the lead agency in the 4
162162 Federal permitting and review processes of a min-5
163163 eral project shall (in consultation with any other 6
164164 Federal agency involved in such Federal permitting 7
165165 and review processes, and upon request of the 8
166166 project applicant, an affected State government, 9
167167 local government, or an Indian Tribe, or other entity 10
168168 such lead agency determines appropriate) enter into 11
169169 a memorandum of agreement with a project appli-12
170170 cant where requested by applicant to carry out the 13
171171 activities described in subsection (c). 14
172172 ‘‘(2) T
173173 IMELINES AND SCHEDULES FOR NEPA 15
174174 REVIEWS.— 16
175175 ‘‘(A) D
176176 EADLINES.—Any timelines or 17
177177 schedules established under subsection (c)(1) 18
178178 relating to a review under section 102(2)(C) of 19
179179 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 20
180180 shall require that the review process not ex-21
181181 ceed— 22
182182 ‘‘(i) 12 months for an environmental 23
183183 assessment; and 24
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187187 ‘‘(ii) 24 months for an environmental 1
188188 impact statement. 2
189189 ‘‘(B) E
190190 XTENSION.—A project applicant 3
191191 may enter into 1 or more agreements with a 4
192192 lead agency to extend the deadlines described in 5
193193 clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) by, 6
194194 with respect to each such agreement, not more 7
195195 than 6 months. 8
196196 ‘‘(C) A
197197 DJUSTMENT OF TIMELINES .—At the 9
198198 request of a project applicant, the lead agency 10
199199 and any other entity which is a signatory to a 11
200200 memorandum of agreement under paragraph 12
201201 (1) may, by unanimous agreement, adjust— 13
202202 ‘‘(i) any deadlines described in sub-14
203203 paragraph (A); and 15
204204 ‘‘(ii) any deadlines extended under 16
205205 subparagraph (B). 17
206206 ‘‘(3) D
207207 OCUMENT PREPARED BY PROJECT APPLI -18
208208 CANT.—The lead agency with respect to a mineral 19
209209 project may adopt an environmental impact state-20
210210 ment or environmental assessment prepared by or 21
211211 for a project applicant with respect to such project 22
212212 if such document fulfills the requirements of section 23
213213 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 24
214214 of 1969. 25
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218218 ‘‘(4) EFFECT ON PENDING APPLICATIONS .— 1
219219 Upon a written request by a project applicant, the 2
220220 requirements of this subsection shall apply to any 3
221221 application for a mineral exploration or mine permit 4
222222 or mineral lease that was submitted before the date 5
223223 of the enactment of the Permitting for Mining 6
224224 Needs Act of 2023.’’. 7
225225 SEC. 4. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 8
226226 Section 7002(f) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 9
227227 U.S.C. 1606(f)) is amended— 10
228228 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical’’ both 11
229229 places such term appears; and 12
230230 (2) by striking paragraph (4). 13
231231 SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF MINING AS A COVERED SECTOR 14
232232 FOR FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT 15
233233 PURPOSES. 16
234234 Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 17
235235 4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘minerals produc-18
236236 tion,’’ before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 19
237237 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS UNDER PRESIDENTIAL 20
238238 DETERMINATION 2022–11 FOR FEDERAL PER-21
239239 MITTING IMPROVEMENT PURPOSES. 22
240240 (a) I
241241 NGENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 23
242242 (c), an action described in subsection (b) shall be— 24
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245245 •HR 209 IH
246246 (1) treated as a covered project, as defined in 1
247247 section 41001(6) of the Fixing America’s Surface 2
248248 Transportation Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)), without 3
249249 regard to the requirements of that section; and 4
250250 (2) included in the Permitting Dashboard main-5
251251 tained pursuant to section 41003(b) of that Act (42 6
252252 13 U.S.C. 4370m–2(b)). 7
253253 (b) A
254254 CTIONSDESCRIBED.—An action described in 8
255255 this subsection is an action taken by the Secretary of De-9
256256 fense pursuant to Presidential Determination 2022–11 10
257257 (87 Fed. Reg. 19775; relating to certain actions under 11
258258 section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950) to 12
259259 create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore sustainable 13
260260 and responsible domestic production capabilities 14
261261 through— 15
262262 (1) supporting feasibility studies for mature 16
263263 mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing 17
264264 projects; 18
265265 (2) byproduct and co-product production at ex-19
266266 isting mining, mine waste reclamation, and other in-20
267267 dustrial facilities; 21
268268 (3) modernization of mining, beneficiation, and 22
269269 value-added processing to increase productivity, envi-23
270270 ronmental sustainability, and workforce safety; or 24
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274274 (4) any other activity authorized under section 1
275275 303(a)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 15 2
276276 (50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(1)). 3
277277 (c) E
278278 XCEPTION.—An action described in subsection 4
279279 (b) may not be treated as a covered project or be included 5
280280 in the Permitting Dashboard under subsection (a) if the 6
281281 project sponsor (as defined in section 41001(18) of the 7
282282 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (42 U.S.C. 8
283283 4370m(18))) requests that the action not be treated as 9
284284 a covered project. 10
285285 SEC. 7. MINERAL EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES WITH LIMITED 11
286286 SURFACE DISTURBANCE. 12
287287 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later 13
288288 than 15 calendar days after receiving a notice in such 14
289289 time, place, and manner as the applicable Secretary deter-15
290290 mines appropriate describing the exploration activities and 16
291291 subsequent reclamation activities, the Secretary of the In-17
292292 terior with respect to lands administered by the Secretary, 18
293293 and the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to National 19
294294 Forest System lands, shall— 20
295295 (1) review and determine completeness of the 21
296296 notice; and 22
297297 (2) allow mineral exploration activities other 23
298298 than casual use to proceed if— 24
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302302 (A) the surface disturbance on Federal 1
303303 land will not exceed 5 acres; 2
304304 (B) the Secretary determines that the no-3
305305 tice is complete; and 4
306306 (C) financial assurance is provided. 5
307307 SEC. 8. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY ACTIVI-6
308308 TIES. 7
309309 Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 8
310310 Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 9
311311 end the following: 10
312312 ‘‘(e) S
313313 ECURITY OFTENURE.— 11
314314 ‘‘(1) I
315315 N GENERAL.— 12
316316 ‘‘(A) I
317317 N GENERAL.—A claimant shall have 13
318318 the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations 14
319319 on public land, with or without the discovery of 15
320320 a valuable mineral deposit, if— 16
321321 ‘‘(i) such claimant makes a timely 17
322322 payment of the location fee required by 18
323323 section 10102 and the claim maintenance 19
324324 fee required by subsection (a); or 20
325325 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 21
326326 qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d), 22
327327 such claimant makes a timely payment of 23
328328 the location fee and complies with the re-24
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332332 quired assessment work under the general 1
333333 mining laws. 2
334334 ‘‘(B) O
335335 PERATIONS DEFINED .—For the 3
336336 purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘oper-4
337337 ations’ means— 5
338338 ‘‘(i) any activity or work carried out 6
339339 in connection with prospecting, exploration, 7
340340 processing, discovery and assessment, de-8
341341 velopment, or extraction with respect to a 9
342342 locatable mineral; 10
343343 ‘‘(ii) the reclamation of an area dis-11
344344 turbed by an activity described in subpara-12
345345 graph (A); and 13
346346 ‘‘(iii) any activity reasonably incident 14
347347 to an activity described in subparagraphs 15
348348 (A) or (B), whether on a mining claim or 16
349349 not, including the construction and mainte-17
350350 nance of facilities, roads, transmission 18
351351 lines, pipelines, and any other necessary 19
352352 infrastructure or means of access on public 20
353353 land. 21
354354 ‘‘(2) F
355355 ULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY 22
356356 AND MANAGEMENT ACT .—A claimant that fulfills 23
357357 the requirements of this section and section 10102 24
358358 shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of any 25
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362362 provision of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-1
363363 ment Act that requires the payment of fair market 2
364364 value to the United States for use of public lands 3
365365 and resources relating to use of such lands and re-4
366366 sources authorized by the general mining laws. 5
367367 ‘‘(3) S
368368 AVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-6
369369 section may be construed to diminish— 7
370370 ‘‘(A) the rights of entry, use, and occu-8
371371 pancy of a claimant under the general mining 9
372372 laws; or 10
373373 ‘‘(B) the rights of a claimant under the 11
374374 general mining laws.’’. 12
375375 SEC. 9. ENSURING CONSIDERATION OF URANIUM AS A 13
376376 CRITICAL MINERAL. 14
377377 (a) I
378378 NGENERAL.—Section 7002(a)(3)(B)(i) of the 15
379379 Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3)(B)(i)) is 16
380380 amended to read as follows: 17
381381 ‘‘(i) oil, oil shale, coal, or natural 18
382382 gas;’’. 19
383383 (b) U
384384 PDATE.—Not later than 60 days after the date 20
385385 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 21
386386 through the Director of the United States Geological Sur-22
387387 vey, shall publish in the Federal Register an update to 23
388388 the final list established in section 7002(c)(3) of the En-24
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392392 ergy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(3)) in accordance 1
393393 with subsection (a) of this section. 2
394394 SEC. 10. LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW. 3
395395 (a) I
396396 NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-4
397397 sion of law, a claim arising under Federal law seeking ju-5
398398 dicial review of a permit, license, or approval issued by 6
399399 a Federal lead agency for a mining project shall be barred 7
400400 unless it is filed not later than 120 days after the permit, 8
401401 license, or approval is final pursuant to the law under 9
402402 which the agency action is taken, unless a shorter time 10
403403 is specified in the Federal law pursuant to which judicial 11
404404 review is allowed. 12
405405 (b) S
406406 AVINGSCLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 13
407407 create a right to judicial review or place any limit on filing 14
408408 a claim that a person has violated the terms of a permit, 15
409409 license, or approval. 16
410410 Æ
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