I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 209
To improve the permitting process for mining on Federal land, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY9, 2023
Mr. S
TAUBER(for himself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mrs. BOEBERT,
Mr. G
RAVESof Louisiana, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. FINSTAD, Mr. OWENS, Mr.
M
CCLINTOCK, Mrs. FISCHBACH, Mr. STEWART, Ms. TENNEY, Mr.
O
BERNOLTE, Mr. BENTZ, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. FULCHER, and Mr.
E
MMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To improve the permitting process for mining on Federal
land, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Permitting for Mining 4
Needs Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
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(1) BYPRODUCT.—The term ‘‘byproduct’’ has 1
the meaning given such term in section 7002(a) of 2
the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)). 3
(2) I
NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 4
has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the 5
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 6
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 7
(3) M
INERAL.—The term ‘‘mineral’’ means any 8
mineral of a kind that is locatable (including, but 9
not limited to, such minerals located on ‘‘lands ac-10
quired by the United States’’, as such term is de-11
fined in section 2 of the Mineral Leasing Act for Ac-12
quired Lands) under the Act of May 10, 1872 13
(Chapter 152; 17 Stat. 91). 14
(4) S
ECRETARY.—Except as otherwise provided, 15
the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In-16
terior. 17
(5) S
TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 18
(A) a State; 19
(B) the District of Columbia; 20
(C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 21
(D) Guam; 22
(E) American Samoa; 23
(F) the Commonwealth of the Northern 24
Mariana Islands; and 25
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(G) the United States Virgin Islands. 1
SEC. 3. MINERALS SUPPLY CHAIN AND RELIABILITY. 2
Section 40206 of the Infrastructure Investment and 3
Jobs Act (30 U.S.C. 1607) is amended— 4
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘
CRIT-5
ICAL MINERALS ’’ and inserting ‘‘MINERALS’’; 6
(2) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol-7
lows: 8
‘‘(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 9
‘‘(1) L
EAD AGENCY.—The term ‘lead agency’ 10
means the Federal agency with primary responsi-11
bility for issuing a mineral exploration or mine per-12
mit or lease for a mineral project. 13
‘‘(2) M
INERAL.—The term ‘mineral’ has the 14
meaning given such term in section 2 of the Permit-15
ting for Mining Needs Act of 2023. 16
‘‘(3) M
INERAL EXPLORATION OR MINE PER -17
MIT.—The term ‘mineral exploration or mine permit’ 18
means— 19
‘‘(A) an authorization of the Bureau of 20
Land Management or the Forest Service, as ap-21
plicable, for exploration for minerals that re-22
quires analysis under the National Environ-23
mental Policy Act of 1969; 24
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‘‘(B) a plan of operations for a mineral 1
project approved by the Bureau of Land Man-2
agement or the Forest Service; or 3
‘‘(C) any other Federal permit or author-4
ization for a mineral project. 5
‘‘(4) M
INERAL PROJECT.—The term ‘mineral 6
project’ means a project— 7
‘‘(A) located on— 8
‘‘(i) a mining claim, millsite claim, or 9
tunnel site claim for any mineral; 10
‘‘(ii) lands open to mineral entry; or 11
‘‘(iii) a Federal mineral lease; and 12
‘‘(B) for the purposes of exploring for or 13
producing minerals.’’; 14
(3) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 15
place such term appears; 16
(4) in subsection (c)— 17
(A) by striking ‘‘critical mineral production 18
on Federal land’’ and inserting ‘‘mineral 19
projects’’; 20
(B) by inserting ‘‘, and in accordance with 21
subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘to the maximum extent 22
practicable’’; 23
(C) by striking ‘‘shall complete the’’ and 24
inserting ‘‘shall complete such’’; 25
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(D) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘critical 1
mineral-related activities on Federal land’’ and 2
inserting ‘‘mineral projects’’; 3
(E) in paragraph (8), by striking the 4
‘‘and’’ at the end; 5
(F) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘proce-6
dures.’’ and inserting ‘‘procedures; and’’; and 7
(G) by adding at the end the following: 8
‘‘(10) deferring to and relying on baseline data, 9
analyses, and reviews performed by State agencies 10
with jurisdiction over the environmental or reclama-11
tion permits for the proposed mineral project.’’; 12
(5) in subsection (d)— 13
(A) by striking ‘‘critical’’ each place such 14
term appears; and 15
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘mineral- 16
related activities on Federal land’’ and inserting 17
‘‘mineral projects’’; 18
(6) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘critical’’; 19
(7) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 20
place such term appears; 21
(8) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘critical’’ each 22
place such term appears; and 23
(9) by adding at the end the following: 24
‘‘(h) O
THERREQUIREMENTS.— 25
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‘‘(1) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT .—For pur-1
poses of maximizing efficiency and effectiveness of 2
the Federal permitting and review processes de-3
scribed under subsection (c), the lead agency in the 4
Federal permitting and review processes of a min-5
eral project shall (in consultation with any other 6
Federal agency involved in such Federal permitting 7
and review processes, and upon request of the 8
project applicant, an affected State government, 9
local government, or an Indian Tribe, or other entity 10
such lead agency determines appropriate) enter into 11
a memorandum of agreement with a project appli-12
cant where requested by applicant to carry out the 13
activities described in subsection (c). 14
‘‘(2) T
IMELINES AND SCHEDULES FOR NEPA 15
REVIEWS.— 16
‘‘(A) D
EADLINES.—Any timelines or 17
schedules established under subsection (c)(1) 18
relating to a review under section 102(2)(C) of 19
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 20
shall require that the review process not ex-21
ceed— 22
‘‘(i) 12 months for an environmental 23
assessment; and 24
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‘‘(ii) 24 months for an environmental 1
impact statement. 2
‘‘(B) E
XTENSION.—A project applicant 3
may enter into 1 or more agreements with a 4
lead agency to extend the deadlines described in 5
clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) by, 6
with respect to each such agreement, not more 7
than 6 months. 8
‘‘(C) A
DJUSTMENT OF TIMELINES .—At the 9
request of a project applicant, the lead agency 10
and any other entity which is a signatory to a 11
memorandum of agreement under paragraph 12
(1) may, by unanimous agreement, adjust— 13
‘‘(i) any deadlines described in sub-14
paragraph (A); and 15
‘‘(ii) any deadlines extended under 16
subparagraph (B). 17
‘‘(3) D
OCUMENT PREPARED BY PROJECT APPLI -18
CANT.—The lead agency with respect to a mineral 19
project may adopt an environmental impact state-20
ment or environmental assessment prepared by or 21
for a project applicant with respect to such project 22
if such document fulfills the requirements of section 23
102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 24
of 1969. 25
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‘‘(4) EFFECT ON PENDING APPLICATIONS .— 1
Upon a written request by a project applicant, the 2
requirements of this subsection shall apply to any 3
application for a mineral exploration or mine permit 4
or mineral lease that was submitted before the date 5
of the enactment of the Permitting for Mining 6
Needs Act of 2023.’’. 7
SEC. 4. FEDERAL REGISTER PROCESS IMPROVEMENT. 8
Section 7002(f) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 9
U.S.C. 1606(f)) is amended— 10
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘critical’’ both 11
places such term appears; and 12
(2) by striking paragraph (4). 13
SEC. 5. DESIGNATION OF MINING AS A COVERED SECTOR 14
FOR FEDERAL PERMITTING IMPROVEMENT 15
PURPOSES. 16
Section 41001(6)(A) of the FAST Act (42 U.S.C. 17
4370m(6)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘minerals produc-18
tion,’’ before ‘‘or any other sector’’. 19
SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF ACTIONS UNDER PRESIDENTIAL 20
DETERMINATION 2022–11 FOR FEDERAL PER-21
MITTING IMPROVEMENT PURPOSES. 22
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Except as provided by subsection 23
(c), an action described in subsection (b) shall be— 24
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(1) treated as a covered project, as defined in 1
section 41001(6) of the Fixing America’s Surface 2
Transportation Act (42 U.S.C. 4370m(6)), without 3
regard to the requirements of that section; and 4
(2) included in the Permitting Dashboard main-5
tained pursuant to section 41003(b) of that Act (42 6
13 U.S.C. 4370m–2(b)). 7
(b) A
CTIONSDESCRIBED.—An action described in 8
this subsection is an action taken by the Secretary of De-9
fense pursuant to Presidential Determination 2022–11 10
(87 Fed. Reg. 19775; relating to certain actions under 11
section 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950) to 12
create, maintain, protect, expand, or restore sustainable 13
and responsible domestic production capabilities 14
through— 15
(1) supporting feasibility studies for mature 16
mining, beneficiation, and value-added processing 17
projects; 18
(2) byproduct and co-product production at ex-19
isting mining, mine waste reclamation, and other in-20
dustrial facilities; 21
(3) modernization of mining, beneficiation, and 22
value-added processing to increase productivity, envi-23
ronmental sustainability, and workforce safety; or 24
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(4) any other activity authorized under section 1
303(a)(1) of the Defense Production Act of 1950 15 2
(50 U.S.C. 4533(a)(1)). 3
(c) E
XCEPTION.—An action described in subsection 4
(b) may not be treated as a covered project or be included 5
in the Permitting Dashboard under subsection (a) if the 6
project sponsor (as defined in section 41001(18) of the 7
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (42 U.S.C. 8
4370m(18))) requests that the action not be treated as 9
a covered project. 10
SEC. 7. MINERAL EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES WITH LIMITED 11
SURFACE DISTURBANCE. 12
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, not later 13
than 15 calendar days after receiving a notice in such 14
time, place, and manner as the applicable Secretary deter-15
mines appropriate describing the exploration activities and 16
subsequent reclamation activities, the Secretary of the In-17
terior with respect to lands administered by the Secretary, 18
and the Secretary of Agriculture with respect to National 19
Forest System lands, shall— 20
(1) review and determine completeness of the 21
notice; and 22
(2) allow mineral exploration activities other 23
than casual use to proceed if— 24
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(A) the surface disturbance on Federal 1
land will not exceed 5 acres; 2
(B) the Secretary determines that the no-3
tice is complete; and 4
(C) financial assurance is provided. 5
SEC. 8. USE OF MINING CLAIMS FOR ANCILLARY ACTIVI-6
TIES. 7
Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation 8
Act of 1993 (30 U.S.C. 28f) is amended by adding at the 9
end the following: 10
‘‘(e) S
ECURITY OFTENURE.— 11
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.— 12
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—A claimant shall have 13
the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations 14
on public land, with or without the discovery of 15
a valuable mineral deposit, if— 16
‘‘(i) such claimant makes a timely 17
payment of the location fee required by 18
section 10102 and the claim maintenance 19
fee required by subsection (a); or 20
‘‘(ii) in the case of a claimant who 21
qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d), 22
such claimant makes a timely payment of 23
the location fee and complies with the re-24
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quired assessment work under the general 1
mining laws. 2
‘‘(B) O
PERATIONS DEFINED .—For the 3
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘oper-4
ations’ means— 5
‘‘(i) any activity or work carried out 6
in connection with prospecting, exploration, 7
processing, discovery and assessment, de-8
velopment, or extraction with respect to a 9
locatable mineral; 10
‘‘(ii) the reclamation of an area dis-11
turbed by an activity described in subpara-12
graph (A); and 13
‘‘(iii) any activity reasonably incident 14
to an activity described in subparagraphs 15
(A) or (B), whether on a mining claim or 16
not, including the construction and mainte-17
nance of facilities, roads, transmission 18
lines, pipelines, and any other necessary 19
infrastructure or means of access on public 20
land. 21
‘‘(2) F
ULFILLMENT OF FEDERAL LAND POLICY 22
AND MANAGEMENT ACT .—A claimant that fulfills 23
the requirements of this section and section 10102 24
shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of any 25
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provision of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-1
ment Act that requires the payment of fair market 2
value to the United States for use of public lands 3
and resources relating to use of such lands and re-4
sources authorized by the general mining laws. 5
‘‘(3) S
AVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub-6
section may be construed to diminish— 7
‘‘(A) the rights of entry, use, and occu-8
pancy of a claimant under the general mining 9
laws; or 10
‘‘(B) the rights of a claimant under the 11
general mining laws.’’. 12
SEC. 9. ENSURING CONSIDERATION OF URANIUM AS A 13
CRITICAL MINERAL. 14
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 7002(a)(3)(B)(i) of the 15
Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)(3)(B)(i)) is 16
amended to read as follows: 17
‘‘(i) oil, oil shale, coal, or natural 18
gas;’’. 19
(b) U
PDATE.—Not later than 60 days after the date 20
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting 21
through the Director of the United States Geological Sur-22
vey, shall publish in the Federal Register an update to 23
the final list established in section 7002(c)(3) of the En-24
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ergy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(c)(3)) in accordance 1
with subsection (a) of this section. 2
SEC. 10. LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-4
sion of law, a claim arising under Federal law seeking ju-5
dicial review of a permit, license, or approval issued by 6
a Federal lead agency for a mining project shall be barred 7
unless it is filed not later than 120 days after the permit, 8
license, or approval is final pursuant to the law under 9
which the agency action is taken, unless a shorter time 10
is specified in the Federal law pursuant to which judicial 11
review is allowed. 12
(b) S
AVINGSCLAUSE.—Nothing in this section shall 13
create a right to judicial review or place any limit on filing 14
a claim that a person has violated the terms of a permit, 15
license, or approval. 16
Æ
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