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Heinrich Legislation to Clean Up Abandoned Mines Passes U.S. House of Representatives, Heads to President’s Desk to be Signed into Law

Bipartisan Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act clears final hurdle in Congress 

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) applauded the passage of his Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. Co-led with U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), this legislation will make it easier for “Good Samaritans,” such as state agencies, nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up and improve water quality in and around abandoned hardrock mines.

Heinrich and Risch hailed the Senate’s unanimous and bipartisan passage of the bill in July. The House companion legislation is led by U.S. Representatives Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), and Susie Lee (D-Nev.). The bill now heads to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. 

“For more than 25 years, Good Samaritans have tried to clean up abandoned mines but have faced significant hurdles and liability rules that hold them responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine — despite having no involvement with the mines before their cleanup efforts. With today’s passage, we’ve now cleared one of the final hurdles preventing these groups from helping to protect the land, water, fish, and wildlife our communities rely on. This victory belongs to every single person who rolled up their sleeves to fix this longstanding injustice, and I’d like to thank those who have carried the baton to get us to this point. I am grateful for President Biden’s support of the bill, and his signature will allow Good Samaritans to get to work,” said Heinrich.

“I introduced the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act with Senator Heinrich to remove unnecessary barriers to clean up long-abandoned mine sites in Idaho and across the United States. This work is long overdue. I am pleased to see our bill pass the House of Representatives with resounding bipartisan support and look forward to its swift signing into law,” said Risch.  

"This legislation has been decades in the making,” said Maloy. “I'm grateful for the bipartisan support of my colleagues and the many stakeholders across the country who helped us achieve this milestone. With my bill in place, state agencies, non-profits, mining companies and other volunteers can clean up abandoned mines without being held liable by the EPA or undergoing extensive permitting requirements. Thanks to this bill, Utahns will have the freedom to make their state a safer and cleaner place."

“Despite having no legal or financial responsibility to do so, state agencies, non-profits, and advocates are eager to contribute to abandoned hardrock mine cleanup efforts. But, right now, over-burdensome permitting requirements bar them from doing so,” said Peltola. “Too often, government red tape prevents good work from getting done — that’s why passing our Good Samaritan bill is huge for mine cleanup throughout Alaska!”

“Abandoned hardrock mines in Nevada and across the country are poisoning our waters, threatening tribal lands, and their hazardous landscapes have injured and killed Americans. For 25 years, Good Sam bills — which would clean up these mines — have stalled because of Washington politics. Today, Republicans and Democrats made history by finally empowering Good Samaritan organizations that are willing and able to assist this long overdue clean up,” said Lee. “Because of commonsense bipartisanship, our nation is now on a path to cleaner waters and safer landscapes."

Background

The U.S. has hundreds of thousands of abandoned hardrock mine features, of which at least 33,000 pose environmental hazards according to the GAO. Organizations that have no legal or financial responsibility to an abandoned mine – true Good Samaritans – want to volunteer to remediate some of these sites. Unfortunately, liability rules would leave these Good Samaritans legally responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine, even though they had no involvement with the mine prior to cleaning it up.

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act creates a pilot permitting program to enable not-for-profit cleanup efforts to move forward, while ensuring Good Samaritans have the skills and resources to comply with federal oversight. This pilot program is designed for lower risk projects that will improve water and soil quality or otherwise protect human health.

A one-page summary is here.

The text of the bill is here.

Heinrich championed a provision in the Infrastructure Law to establish the first-ever abandoned hardrock mine reclamation program in the Department of the Interior. With the passage of the Good Samaritan legislation, public-private partnerships can use this program to jumpstart abandoned mine cleanups.

In November, the Biden administration announced its support for the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act. 

The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Brain Schatz (D-Hawaii), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.).

In the House, the legislation is cosponsored U.S. Representatives John Curtis (R-Utah), Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.), Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Aaron Bean (R-Fla.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Blake Moore (R-Utah), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Garrett Graves (R-La.), Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Elijah Crane (R-Ariz.), Teresa Leger Fernández (D- N.M.), Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Kim Schrier (D-Wash.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Emilia Sykes (D-Ohio), Vince Fong (R-Calif.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Reuben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), and Glen Thompson (R-Pa.). 

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act has garnered widespread support from agencies and organizations:

States: Western Governor’s Association, Western States Water Council, Interstate Mining Compact Commission, National Association of Abandoned Mind Land Programs, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Attorney General of Colorado, Governor of Nevada. 

National conservation organizations: American Rivers, American Sportfishing Association, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife Federation, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, Conservation Alliance, Nature Conservancy, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited.

Mining industry organizations: National Mining Association, American Exploration and Mining Association.

Tribal leaders: National Congress of American Indians.

Outdoor Recreation organizations and businesses: American Fly Fishing Trade Association, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, Outdoor Alliance, and dozens of state and local organizations and businesses.

Wildlife and sportsmen’s organizations: American Fly Fishing Trade Association, American Sportfishing Association, Angler Action Foundation, Archery Trade Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Bass Anglers Sportsman Society (B.A.S.S), Bonefish & Tarpon Trust, Boone and Crockett Club, Campfire Club of America, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited, Fly Fishers International, Houston Safari Club, Izaak Walton League of America, Mule Deer Foundation, National Association of Forest Service Retirees, National Deer Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, National Wildlife Federation, New York State Conservation Council, North American Grouse Partnership, Orion: The Hunter’s Institute, Pheasants Forever, Pope & Young Club, Property and Environment Research Center, Public Lands Foundation, Quail Forever, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, The Nature Conservancy, The Wildlife Society, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.

“This is a victory for common sense. Senators Heinrich and Risch took a bipartisan approach to a non-partisan issue. Clean water is a basic human right,” said Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited. “This bill will allow organizations such as Trout Unlimited, local communities, and states to pilot new approaches to making our waters cleaner and our communities healthier. Bully for their leadership!”

“Today’s passage of bipartisan and bicameral Good Samaritan legislation out of the House of Representatives was the final step in securing a key solution to tackle the long-overdue cleanup of legacy abandoned mine sites. This bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, has been more than a decade in the making and will encourage the involvement of mining companies, conservation groups and local stakeholders in abandoned mine cleanup without fear of incurring additional legal liability. I look forward to the President signing this bipartisan bill into law allowing for responsible, much-needed land and water remediation efforts,” said Rich Nolan, President and CEO of the National Mining Association.

“AEMA celebrates today’s passage of the bipartisan Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hard Rock Mines Act, the culmination of nearly three decades of work by a broad range of stakeholders. Our members are proud to collaborate with the conservation community, states, and the federal government to address the cleanup of historic, pre-regulation sites. This pilot project program provides an opportunity to demonstrate that the process can work so we can progress to a broader Good Sam bill in the near future. I’d like to congratulate and thank Senators Risch and Heinrich, and Representatives Maloy and Peltola for their leadership, and all the bipartisan cosponsors for getting this important legislation across the finish line,” said Mark Compton, Executive Director of the American Exploration and Mining Association.

“Thanks to the tireless advocacy of Senators Heinrich and Risch, Representatives Maloy and Peltola, and a host of Good Samaritans in nonprofits and industry who have worked for decades to get something done, this bipartisan legislation is a big win for our nation’s waterways. Abandoned hardrock mines have left a legacy of waste and damage for rivers and streams across the country. The bill will provide a much-needed pathway for remediation work that will lead to cleaner water, improved public health and economic development that will enrich frontline communities,” said Tom Cors, Senior Director, Legislative Affairs, The Nature Conservancy.

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