Heinrich, Risch Applaud House Committee Passage of Their Legislation to Clean Up Abandoned Mines
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) applauded the passage of the House companion to their legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The legislation would make it easier for “Good Samaritans,” such as state agencies, local governments, 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. But the bill still needs to pass in the House before it can go to the President to be signed into law. The House companion legislation is being led by U.S. Representatives Celeste Maloy (R-Utah) and Mary Peltola (D-Alaska).
“Tens of thousands of abandoned mines continue to threaten our communities and pollute the land, water, fish, and wildlife we rely on. We should be empowering ‘Good Samaritan’ organizations who want to step up to help clean them up,” said Heinrich.“I’m proud to see our commonsense, bipartisan legislation that would create a path for these groups to clean up abandoned mine sites in New Mexico and across our country move one step closer to final passage in the House. I won’t stop working on this until we get this through the House and to the President.”
“Today’s passage of my bill with Senator Heinrich, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, out of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is another step toward this commonsense legislation becoming law,” said Risch. “This bill will empower Good Samaritans to conduct vital remediation work at long abandoned mine sites, and I urge the House of Representatives to vote on this legislation immediately. My sincere thanks to Representatives Maloy and Peltola for their efforts in guiding this legislation through the committee.”
“This bill is a win for Utah. Right now, ‘Good Samaritans’ are not legally able to clean up abandoned hardrock mines, stopping remediation efforts before they even begin. Passage of this bill was the necessary next step towards allowing the cleanup of thousands of abandoned hardrock mine sites scattered across Utah and the West without the threat of taking on liability from the EPA. I will continue working with my House colleagues to make sure we get it across the finish line,” said Maloy.
“Despite having no legal or financial responsibility, state agencies, non-profits, and advocates are eager to contribute to abandoned hardrock mine cleanup efforts, but over-burdensome permitting requirements bar them from doing so. Too often, government red tape prevents good work from getting done—that’s why passing our Good Samaritan bill out of committee is a great step forward,” said Peltola.
The U.S. has over 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features, of which 22,500 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.
The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act has garnered widespread support from organizations, including American Exploration and Mining Association, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, Ecoflight, Fly Fishers International, Izaak Walton League of America, National Deer Association, National Mining Association, National Wildlife Federation, Property and Environment Research Center, Regeneration, Rivian, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and Trout Unlimited.
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