[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 240 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 42
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 240
[Report No. 103-87]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of the State of
California, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 11, 1993
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
Union Calendar No. 42
103d CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 240
[Report No. 103-87]
To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of the State of
California, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 5, 1993
Mr. Lehman (for himself and Mr. Miller of California) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
May 11, 1993
Additional sponsor: Ms. Woolsey
May 11, 1993
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January
5, 1993]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area of the State of
California, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bodie Protection Act of 1993''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) the historic Bodie gold mining district in the State of
California is the site of the largest and best preserved
authentic ghost town in the western United States;
(2) the Bodie Bowl area contains important natural,
historical, and aesthetic resources;
(3) Bodie was designated a National Historical Landmark in
1961 and a California State Historic Park in 1962, is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places, and is included in
the Federal Historic American Buildings Survey;
(4) nearly 200,000 persons visit Bodie each year, providing
the local economy with important annual tourism revenues;
(5) the town of Bodie is threatened by proposals to explore
and extract minerals: mining in the Bodie Bowl area may have
adverse physical and aesthetic impacts on Bodie's historical
integrity, cultural values, and ghosttown character as well as
on its recreational values and the area's flora and fauna;
(6) the California State Legislature, on September 4, 1990,
requested the President and the Congress to direct the
Secretary of the Interior to protect the ghosttown character,
ambience, historic buildings, and scenic attributes of the town
of Bodie and nearby areas;
(7) the California State Legislature also requested the
Secretary, if necessary to protect the Bodie Bowl area, to
withdraw the Federal lands within the area from all forms of
mineral entry and patent;
(8) the National Park Service listed Bodie as a priority
one endangered National Historic Landmark in its fiscal year
1990 and 1991 report to Congress entitled ``Threatened and
Damaged National Historic Landmarks'' and recommended
protection of the Bodie area; and
(9) it is necessary and appropriate to provide that all
Federal lands within the Bodie Bowl area are not subject to
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of the United
States, subject to valid existing rights, and to direct the
Secretary to consult with the Governor of the State of
California before approving any mining activity plan within the
Bodie Bowl.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ``Bodie Bowl'' means the Federal lands and
interests in lands within the area generally depicted on the
map referred to in section 4(a).
(2) The term ``mineral activities'' means any activity
involving mineral prospecting, exploration, extraction,
milling, beneficiation, processing, and reclamation.
(3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF MINERAL MINING, LEASING AND DISPOSAL LAWS.
(a) Restriction.--Subject to valid existing rights, after the date
of enactment of this Act Federal lands and interests in lands within
the area generally depicted on the map entitled ``Bodie Bowl'' and
dated June 12, 1992, shall not be--
(1) open to the entry or location of mining and mill site
claims under the general mining laws of the United States;
(2) subject to any lease under the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 181 and following) or the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970
(30 U.S.C. 100 and following), for lands within the Bodie Bowl;
and
(3) available for disposal of mineral materials under the
Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of
1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and following).
Such map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the
Office of the Secretary, and appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land
Management and the National Park Service. As soon as practicable after
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a legal
description of the Bodie Bowl area in the Federal Register.
(b) Valid Existing Rights.--As used in this subsection, the term
``valid existing rights'' in reference to the general mining laws means
that a mining claim located on lands within the Bodie Bowl was properly
located and maintained under the general mining laws prior to the date
of enactment of this Act, was supported by a discovery of a valuable
mineral deposit within the meaning of the general mining laws on the
date of enactment of this Act, and that such claim continues to be
valid.
(c) Validity Review.--The Secretary shall undertake an expedited
program to determine the validity of all unpatented mining claims
located within the Bodie Bowl. The expedited program shall include an
examination of all unpatented mining claims, including those for which
a patent application has not been filed. If a claim is determined to be
invalid, the Secretary shall promptly declare the claim to be null and
void, except that the Secretary shall not challenge the validity of any
claim located within the Bodie Bowl for the failure to do assessment
work for any period after the date of enactment of this Act. The
Secretary shall make a determination with respect to the validity of
each claim referred to under this subsection within 2 years after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(d) Limitation on Patent Issuance.--
(1) Mining claims.--(A) After January 11, 1993, no patent
shall be issued by the United States for any mining claim
located under the general mining laws within the Bodie Bowl
unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim concerned--
(i) a patent application was filed with the
Secretary on or before such date; and
(ii) all requirements established under sections
2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and
30) for vein or lode claims and sections 2329, 2330,
2331, and 2333 of the Revised Statues (30 U.S.C. 35,
36, 37) for placer claims were fully complied with by
that date.
(B) If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to
in subparagraph (A) for any mining claim, the holder of the
claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent in the same
manner and degree to which such claim holder would have been
entitled to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and
until such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the
Secretary or by a court of the United States.
(2) Mill site claims.--(A) After January 11, 1993, no
patent shall be issued by the United States for any mill site
claim located under the general mining laws within the Bodie
Bowl unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim
concerned--
(i) a patent application was filed with the
Secretary on or before January 11, 1993; and
(ii) all requirements applicable to such patent
application were fully complied with by that date.
(B) If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to
in subparagraph (A) for any mill site claim, the holder of the
claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent in the same
manner and degree to which such claim holder would have been
entitled to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and
until such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the
Secretary or by a court of the United States.
SEC. 5. MINERAL ACTIVITIES.
(a) In General.--Notwithstanding the last sentence of section
302(b) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and in
accordance with this Act and other applicable law, the Secretary shall
require that mineral activities be conducted in the Bodie Bowl so as
to--
(1) avoid adverse effects on the historic, cultural,
recreational and natural resource values of the Bodie Bowl; and
(2) minimize other adverse impacts to the environment.
(b) Restoration of Effects of Mining Exploration.--As soon as
possible after the date of enactment of this Act, visible evidence or
other effects of mining exploration activity within the Bodie Bowl
conducted on or after September 1, 1988, shall be reclaimed by the
operator in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to
subsection (d).
(c) Annual Expenditures; Filing.--The requirements for annual
expenditures on unpatented mining claims imposed by Revised Statute
2324 (30 U.S.C. 28) shall not apply to any such claim located within
the Bodie Bowl. In lieu of filing the affidavit of assessment work
referred to under section 314(a)(1) of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)(1)), the holder of any
unpatented mining or mill site claim located within the Bodie Bowl
shall only be required to file the notice of intention to hold the
mining claim referred to in such section 314(a)(1).
(d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate rules to implement
this section, in consultation with the Governor of the State of
California, within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
Such rules shall be no less stringent than the rules promulgated
pursuant to the Act of September 28, 1976 entitled ``An Act to provide
for the regulation of mining activity within, and to repeal the
application of mining laws to, areas of the National Park System, and
for other purposes'' (Public Law 94-429; 16 U.S.C. 1901-1912).
SEC. 6. STUDY.
Beginning as soon as possible after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall review possible actions to
preserve the scenic character, historical integrity, cultural and
recreational values, flora and fauna, and ghost town characteristics of
lands and structures within the Bodie Bowl. No later than 3 years after
the date of such enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee
on Natural Resources of the United States House of Representatives and
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States
Senate a report that discusses the results of such review and makes
recommendations as to which steps (including but not limited to
acquisition of lands or valid mining claims) should be undertaken in
order to achieve these objectives.