UPDATE – Nov. 4, 2021:

The House Rules Committee released an updated version of Build Back Better bill on November 3, 2021. The hardrock provisions outlined in the original post were removed. Instead, a provision in the new bill appropriates $3 million to the Bureau of Land Management for FY2022 to revise rules and regulations to prevent damage from hardrock mining. This is a missed opportunity for taxpayers to finally get a fair return on the valuable hardrock resources extracted from federal lands. Without a revenue stream from royalties or a reclamation fee to recuperate the cost of abandoned mine cleanup, taxpayers will continue to shoulder the full cost of reclamation.

ORIGINAL POST – Nov. 1, 2021:

The House Rules Committee print of the Build Back Better bill (released on October 28) for the FY 2022 budget reconciliation process includes provisions to finally start collecting revenue for taxpayers on hardrock mineral production from federal lands, aiming to direct approximately $100 million in new revenue towards abandoned mine cleanup.

Currently, the production of gold, silver, uranium, and other hardrock, aka “locatable,” minerals is governed by the General Mining Law of 1872. The antiquated law does not require mining companies to pay any royalties on mineral production, like producers of coal, oil, natural gas, and all other natural resources have to pay to compensate taxpayers for developing publicly owned resources. That means taxpayers don’t get any return on the more than $5 billion in hardrock minerals produced from federal lands every year.

What the current House text does:

Establishes a royalty on hardrock production on federal lands

• A royalty of 4% on operators’ gross income from mining activities on federal lands is established for all new operations as well as any expanded operations of current mines.
• A royalty of 2% is established for income from existing hardrock mining operations.
• Small miners, defined as operators with less than $100,000 in gross income in the previous year, are exempt from the royalty.
• The Department of the Interior is authorized to write rules to govern royalty payments and fines and forfeitures if payments are not made.
• Royalty becomes effective immediately after passage.

Provides funding for abandoned hardrock mine reclamation

• From the royalties collected, $997 million is appropriated for use through FY2031 for the following:

“for all activities necessary to inventory, assess, decommission, reclaim, respond to hazardous substance releases on, and remediate abandoned locatable minerals mine land, including to revise rules and regulations to prevent undue degradation of public lands due to hardrock mining activities.”