Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1315 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1315
5	5	To authorize compensation to individuals, organizations, and companies im-
6	6	pacted by the Gold King Mine wastewater spill of 2015, and for other
7	7	purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	FEBRUARY13, 2025
10	10	Mr. H
11	11	URDof Colorado introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
12	12	Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on the
13	13	Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
14	14	each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
15	15	tion of the committee concerned
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To authorize compensation to individuals, organizations, and
18	18	companies impacted by the Gold King Mine wastewater
19	19	spill of 2015, and for other purposes.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
21	21	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22	22	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
23	23	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gold King Mine Spill 4
24	24	Compensation Act of 2025’’. 5
25	25	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
26	26	In this Act: 7
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29	29	•HR 1315 IH
30	30	(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1
31	31	trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-2
32	32	mental Protection Agency. 3
33	33	(2) BPMD
34	34	CONTAMINATION.—The term 4
35	35	‘‘BPMD contamination’’ means a release or threat-5
36	36	ened release of hazardous substances that occurred 6
37	37	or is occurring on or before the date of enactment 7
38	38	of this Act at or from mining-related sources within 8
39	39	the Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund Site in 9
40	40	San Juan County, Colorado, Environmental Protec-10
41	41	tion Agency Docket ID No. EPA HQ–OLEM2016– 11
42	42	0152, as published in the final rule of the Environ-12
43	43	mental Protection Agency entitled ‘‘National Prior-13
44	44	ities List’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 62397 (September 9, 14
45	45	2016)), including all areas of that site that the En-15
46	46	vironmental Protection Agency has ever defined or 16
47	47	described for purposes of, or in relation to, the Na-17
48	48	tional Priorities List developed by the President in 18
49	49	accordance with section 105(a)(8)(B) of the Com-19
50	50	prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, 20
51	51	and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 21
52	52	9605(a)(8)(B)). 22
53	53	(3) C
54	54	OVERED CLAIM .—The term ‘‘covered 23
55	55	claim’’ means a written request for monetary com-24
56	56	pensation of a certain amount under chapter 171 of 25
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59	59	•HR 1315 IH
60	60	title 28, United States Code (commonly known as 1
61	61	the ‘‘Federal Tort Claims Act’’), submitted to the 2
62	62	Administrator on or before August 5, 2017, by an 3
63	63	injured person for compensation for covered dam-4
64	64	ages. 5
65	65	(4) C
66	66	OVERED DAMAGES.— 6
67	67	(A) I
68	68	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 7
69	69	damages’’ means any of the following types of 8
70	70	adequately documented, as determined by the 9
71	71	Administrator, damages suffered by an injured 10
72	72	person as a result of the Gold King Mine spill 11
73	73	that is otherwise uncompensated: 12
74	74	(i) Injury. 13
75	75	(ii) Lost business income incurred 14
76	76	during the period beginning on August 5, 15
77	77	2015, and ending on December 31, 2015, 16
78	78	excluding lost business income from vaca-17
79	79	tion rentals. 18
80	80	(iii) Expenses arising from relocating 19
81	81	livestock and providing alternative water 20
82	82	supplies incurred during the period begin-21
83	83	ning on August 5, 2015, and ending on 22
84	84	October 15, 2015. 23
85	85	(iv) Diminished yield or loss of agri-24
86	86	cultural crops occurring during the period 25
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89	89	•HR 1315 IH
90	90	beginning on August 5, 2015, and ending 1
91	91	on December 31, 2015. 2
92	92	(B) E
93	93	XCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 3
94	94	damages’’ does not include— 4
95	95	(i) costs for response (as defined in 5
96	96	section 101 of the Comprehensive Environ-6
97	97	mental Response, Compensation, and Li-7
98	98	ability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601)); or 8
99	99	(ii) emotional distress. 9
100	100	(5) G
101	101	OLD KING MINE SPILL.—The term ‘‘Gold 10
102	102	King Mine spill’’ means the release, on August 5, 11
103	103	2015, of more than 3,000,000 gallons of acid mine 12
104	104	drainage containing heavy metals from the Gold 13
105	105	King Mine located in San Juan County, Colorado, 14
106	106	into downstream waters, including the Animas and 15
107	107	San Juan Rivers, that occurred during a removal 16
108	108	site evaluation by the Environmental Protection 17
109	109	Agency. 18
110	110	(6) I
111	111	NJURED PERSON.— 19
112	112	(A) I
113	113	N GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-20
114	114	graph (B), the term ‘‘injured person’’ means a 21
115	115	homeowner, a livestock grazer, a farmer, or a 22
116	116	recreation company or other business— 23
117	117	(i) that, as a result of the Gold King 24
118	118	Mine spill, suffered covered damages; 25
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121	121	•HR 1315 IH
122	122	(ii) that has not, prior to the date of 1
123	123	enactment of this Act, entered into a set-2
124	124	tlement agreement with the United States 3
125	125	for any amount exceeding $2,500, or had 4
126	126	a judgment entered by any court in any 5
127	127	case related to BPMD contamination or 6
128	128	the Gold King Mine spill; and 7
129	129	(iii) to which the Administrator— 8
130	130	(I) denied a covered claim; or 9
131	131	(II) did not fully compensate the 10
132	132	individual or entity for covered dam-11
133	133	ages described in a covered claim. 12
134	134	(B) L
135	135	IMITATIONS.—The term ‘‘injured 13
136	136	person’’ only includes an individual or entity de-14
137	137	scribed in subparagraph (A) that— 15
138	138	(i) has, on or before August 5, 2017, 16
139	139	submitted a covered claim to the Adminis-17
140	140	trator; 18
141	141	(ii) if the entity is a business, is in op-19
142	142	eration as of the date of a payment under 20
143	143	this Act; and 21
144	144	(iii) if the entity is a business, does 22
145	145	not own a mine or perform any mine-re-23
146	146	lated business. 24
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150	150	(7) INJURY.—The term ‘‘injury’’ has the same 1
151	151	meaning as the term ‘‘injury or loss of property, or 2
152	152	personal injury or death’’ as used in section 3
153	153	1346(b)(1) of title 28, United States Code. 4
154	154	SEC. 3. COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF GOLD KING MINE 5
155	155	SPILL. 6
156	156	(a) I
157	157	NGENERAL.—Each injured person shall be enti-7
158	158	tled to receive from the United States compensation for 8
159	159	covered damages suffered by the injured person as a result 9
160	160	of the Gold King Mine spill. 10
161	161	(b) I
162	162	NVESTIGATION OFCLAIMS.— 11
163	163	(1) I
164	164	N GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, on 12
165	165	behalf of the United States, investigate, consider, as-13
166	166	certain, adjust, determine, grant, deny, or settle any 14
167	167	covered claim for covered damages asserted in the 15
168	168	covered claim by an injured person for covered dam-16
169	169	ages suffered as a result of the Gold King Mine 17
170	170	spill. 18
171	171	(2) A
172	172	PPLICABILITY OF STATE LAW .—Except as 19
173	173	otherwise provided in this Act, the laws of the State 20
174	174	of Colorado shall apply to the calculation of covered 21
175	175	damages. 22
176	176	(3) E
177	177	XTENT OF DAMAGES .—Any payment 23
178	178	under this Act— 24
179	179	(A) shall be limited to— 25
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182	182	•HR 1315 IH
183	183	(i) actual compensatory damages 1
184	184	measured by injuries suffered; and 2
185	185	(ii) the amount originally claimed by 3
186	186	the injured person in the covered claim; 4
187	187	and 5
188	188	(B) shall not include— 6
189	189	(i) interest before or after settlement 7
190	190	or payment of a covered claim; or 8
191	191	(ii) punitive damages. 9
192	192	(c) P
193	193	AYMENT OFCOVEREDCLAIMS.— 10
194	194	(1) D
195	195	ETERMINATION REQUIRED .—Not later 11
196	196	than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 12
197	197	Act, the Administrator shall determine and fix the 13
198	198	amount, if any, to be paid for the covered claim. 14
199	199	(2) P
200	200	ARAMETERS OF DETERMINATION .—In de-15
201	201	termining and settling a covered claim, the Adminis-16
202	202	trator shall determine only— 17
203	203	(A) whether the claimant is an injured per-18
204	204	son; 19
205	205	(B) whether the injury that is the subject 20
206	206	of the covered claim resulted from the Gold 21
207	207	King Mine spill; 22
208	208	(C) the amount, if any, to be allowed and 23
209	209	paid under this Act; and 24
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213	213	(D) the person or persons entitled to re-1
214	214	ceive the amount. 2
215	215	(d) A
216	216	CCEPTANCE OFAWARD.—The acceptance by a 3
217	217	claimant of any payment under this Act shall— 4
218	218	(1) be final and conclusive on the claimant with 5
219	219	respect to all covered claims arising out of or relat-6
220	220	ing to the same subject matter; 7
221	221	(2) constitute a complete release of all covered 8
222	222	claims against the United States (including any 9
223	223	agency or employee of the United States) under 10
224	224	chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code (com-11
225	225	monly known as the ‘‘Federal Tort Claims Act’’), or 12
226	226	any other Federal or State law, arising out of or re-13
227	227	lating to the same subject matter; and 14
228	228	(3) include a certification by the claimant, 15
229	229	made under penalty of perjury and subject to the 16
230	230	provisions of section 1001 of title 18, United States 17
231	231	Code, that the covered claim is true and correct. 18
232	232	(e) E
233	233	LECTION OFREMEDY.— 19
234	234	(1) I
235	235	N GENERAL.—An injured person may elect 20
236	236	to seek compensation from the United States for 1 21
237	237	or more injuries resulting from the Gold King Mine 22
238	238	spill by— 23
239	239	(A) pursuing compensation under a cov-24
240	240	ered claim; 25
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243	243	•HR 1315 IH
244	244	(B) filing a claim or bringing a civil action 1
245	245	under chapter 171 of title 28, United States 2
246	246	Code; or 3
247	247	(C) bringing an authorized civil action 4
248	248	under any other provision of law. 5
249	249	(2) E
250	250	FFECT OF ELECTION .—An election by an 6
251	251	injured person to seek compensation in any manner 7
252	252	described in paragraph (1) shall be final and conclu-8
253	253	sive on the claimant with respect to all injuries re-9
254	254	sulting from the Gold King Mine spill that are suf-10
255	255	fered by the claimant. 11
256	256	(3) N
257	257	O EFFECT ON ENTITLEMENTS .—Nothing 12
258	258	in this Act affects any right of a claimant to file a 13
259	259	claim for benefits under any Federal entitlement 14
260	260	program. 15
261	261	(f) J
262	262	UDICIALREVIEW.— 16
263	263	(1) I
264	264	N GENERAL.—Any claimant aggrieved by a 17
265	265	final decision of the Administrator under this Act 18
266	266	may, not later than 60 days after the date on which 19
267	267	the decision is issued, bring a civil action in the 20
268	268	United States District Court for the District of Col-21
269	269	orado, to modify or set aside the decision, in whole 22
270	270	or in part. 23
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274	274	(2) RECORD.—The court shall hear a civil ac-1
275	275	tion under paragraph (1) on the record made before 2
276	276	the Administrator. 3
277	277	(3) S
278	278	TANDARD.—The decision of the Adminis-4
279	279	trator incorporating the findings of the Adminis-5
280	280	trator shall be upheld if the decision is supported by 6
281	281	substantial evidence on the record considered as a 7
282	282	whole. 8
283	283	(g) R
284	284	EPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 9
285	285	on which all covered claims have been processed under this 10
286	286	Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report 11
287	287	that describes— 12
288	288	(1) the amounts claimed; 13
289	289	(2) a brief description of the nature of the cov-14
290	290	ered claims; and 15
291	291	(3) the disposition of the covered claims, includ-16
292	292	ing the amount of any payment under this Act. 17
293	293	SEC. 4. APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS. 18
294	294	(a) I
295	295	NGENERAL.—There are appropriated to the Ad-19
296	296	ministrator for fiscal year 2025, out of any amounts in 20
297	297	the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as are 21
298	298	necessary, but not to exceed $3,300,000, for the payment 22
299	299	of claims in accordance with this Act, to remain available 23
300	300	until expended. 24
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304	304	(b) EMERGENCYREQUIREMENT.—The entire amount 1
305	305	made available under subsection (a) is designated by Con-2
306	306	gress as an emergency requirement under section 3
307	307	251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 4
308	308	Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)). 5
309	309	Æ
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