US Congress House Bill 1796 (Prior Session Legislation)

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Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: Introduced on April 15 2015 - 25% progression, died in committee
Action: 2015-04-30 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Pending: House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Committee
Text: Latest bill text (Introduced) [PDF]

National Park and Wilderness Waters Protection Act Withdraws federal lands within the Rainy River Drainage Basin in Minnesota from all forms of: (1) entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws; (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and (3) operation under the mineral leasing and mineral material laws. Deems the approval of any lease or permit in the Basin involving activities related to mineral production to be a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. Requires an environmental impact statement conducted for such an action to include consideration of any potential impacts to units of the National Park System (NPS) or land in the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) located in the Basin. Conditions the issuance or renewal of any such lease or permit on a requirement that the permittee or lessee seasonally monitor water quality throughout the Basin. Requires all mining activities to be suspended if any mining related contamination is detected in any NPS unit or NWPS land in the Basin until all contamination has been remediated. Bars a federal agency from approving any mining related activities in the Basin until the entity holding a lease or permit for that activity has submitted: (1) an acceptable contamination remediation plan, and (2) a full reclamation and performance bond sufficient to return the affected area to its original condition and treat any potential contamination for 50 years following the conclusion of any mining activities. Exempts existing sand, gravel, and granite operations in the Basin.

National Park and Wilderness Waters Protection Act

Rep. Betty McCollum [D-MN]

Date	Chamber	Action
2015-04-30	House	Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
2015-04-15	House	Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
2015-04-15	House	Introduced in House

HB2072 (Related) 2015-05-26 - Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.

Type	Source
Summary	https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1796/all-info
Text	https://www.congress.gov/114/bills/hr1796/BILLS-114hr1796ih.pdf