Heinrich, Risch Bill to Clean Up Abandoned Mines Clears Major Committee Milestone

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Jim Risch’s (R-Idaho)  legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee with strong bipartisan support. This 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. 

“Gaining the bipartisan support of the Environment and Public Works Committee on our Good Samaritan Act is a major milestone. Our bipartisan legislation will allow Good Samaritan groups to clean up the abandoned mines that are threatening our communities in New Mexico and the land, water, fish, and wildlife we rely on. This bill is commonsense and now it’s ready for Senate passage so these Good Samaritans can get to work,” said Heinrich. 

“Committee’s passage of the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act puts us one step closer to cleaning up long-abandoned hardrock mines. I encourage the full Senate to pass Senator Heinrich and my commonsense legislation to allow Good Samaritans to conduct this important remediation work,” said Risch.  

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, which will improve water and soil quality or otherwise protect human health. 

The legislation has received support from the National Congress of American Indians, American Rivers, National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs, Interstate Mining Compact Commission, Western States Water Council, Idaho Mining Association, American Exploration and Mining Association, Backcountry Hunters and 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.