Sponsors (2)
The bill centralizes federal coordination and creates a 10‑year plan to accelerate assessment, cleanup, and reuse of abandoned uranium and other mine sites—improving health, safety, and reuse prospects for tribal and nearby communities—while increasing federal costs, adding oversight burdens for some private parties, and risking resource shifts or implementation delays unless funded and managed carefully.
Tribal residents and nearby Indigenous communities will receive a coordinated federal program and an interagency 10‑year plan to prioritize assessment and cleanup of abandoned uranium and other mine sites.
People living near covered mine sites (including rural communities) may see reduced exposure to hazardous substances through EPA-supported investigations, characterization, and remediation using existing authorities.
State and local governments (and federal partners) will benefit from clearer interagency coordination among Interior, Agriculture, Energy, HHS, NRC, DOE, ATSDR and EPA, which can streamline responses and clarify agency roles for complex contaminated-site work.
Taxpayers may face increased federal costs because the 10‑year plan must include projected appropriations to conduct assessments and cleanups.
Expanding EPA coordination and establishing new priorities could shift agency resources away from other programs unless Congress provides additional funding, affecting federal operations and potentially service levels.
Private landowners and mining companies near prioritized sites could face added oversight, expectations to participate in voluntary cleanup coordination, or increased costs and potential liabilities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates an EPA office to coordinate cleanup, reuse, and best practices for legacy and abandoned mine sites and to promote voluntary remediation and resource recovery.
Creates a new Office inside the EPA to coordinate investigation, cleanup, reuse, and best practices for legacy and abandoned mine sites (including sites in Indian country). The Office will be led by a Director appointed by the EPA Administrator and will use existing federal authorities (for example CERCLA, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Good Samaritan Remediation law) to promote cleanup actions, innovative technologies, waste storage/disposal solutions, and reuse/resource recovery at covered mine sites. The Office must coordinate EPA headquarters and Regional Offices with federal land managers, other federal agencies, States, Indian Tribes (including specific attention to Navajo Nation abandoned uranium mine sites), nongovernmental organizations, nonliable entities, and mining companies. It also encourages small business contracting opportunities consistent with procurement law and prioritizes sites lacking potentially responsible parties. The text does not specify new appropriations, deadlines, or new legal liabilities for states or tribes.
Introduced September 9, 2025 by Mark Edward Kelly · Last progress November 20, 2025