Sponsors (2)
The bill raises and standardizes per-claim fees (with an exemption for very small miners) and dedicates surplus revenue to conservation and restoration—trading higher costs for many claimants and reduced Interior budget flexibility for predictable funding and targeted environmental benefits.
Very small mining operators (≤10 claims, ≤200 acres, < $50,000 gross) are exempt from maintenance fees and assessment-work requirements, reducing costs and preserving viability for micro-scale miners.
All claimants gain a predictable, location-tiered per-claim fee schedule tied to proximity to parks/monuments, with required inflation adjustments and advance notice—making compliance simpler and keeping fees consistent in real dollars.
Excess fee revenues are directed to conservation, historic preservation, state programs, and restoration funds rather than general Treasury receipts, providing new, dedicated funding for land, cultural, and restoration work (including benefits for tribal lands and states).
Many claimants—especially those with claims near parks or monuments—face much higher per-claim fees (up to about $1,100), significantly increasing operating costs and potentially forcing cutbacks or abandonment of claims.
Aggregation rules may group related claims/owners and disqualify some operators from the small-miner exemption, raising fees for family-linked or otherwise related operators who previously qualified as small miners.
Claimants and states far from covered areas still must pay nontrivial fees (albeit lower), which can be a substantial burden for rural claim holders with many claims.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced December 11, 2025 by Melanie Ann Stansbury · Last progress December 11, 2025
Revises how hardrock mining claim maintenance fees are set and used by creating a distance-based fee schedule tied to proximity to certain protected federal lands, exempting small miners, allowing inflation adjustments, and directing excess revenues to conservation, tribal, state, and restoration funds. The bill makes a paid maintenance fee substitute for annual assessment-work filings under the Mining Law of 1872 and clarifies terms and administrative authorities for the Secretary of the Interior. The revision also authorizes user fees to cover administrative costs, requires periodic inflation adjustments with advance notice, defines key terms (including small miner and covered area), and prescribes a formula to allocate excess maintenance-fee revenue among federal conservation programs, tribal historic preservation, and states.