Sponsors (34)
The bill protects Oak Flat’s cultural, historic, and environmental values and increases public oversight, but that protection comes at the cost of foregone local mining-related jobs, revenues, and legal/financial uncertainty for claimants and some public stakeholders.
Indigenous communities and the public retain legal protection of Oak Flat: cultural and historic resources are recognized and the land is withdrawn from mining/leasing, preserving sacred sites and tribal interests.
Residents and nearby ecosystems avoid new mining-related harms—reduced risk of groundwater loss, land subsidence, and damage to recreation and local ecosystems—as the bill documents harms and withdraws the area from development.
Public awareness, federal oversight, and administrative burden shift: the bill records ownership and environmental/export risks (supporting congressional or agency review) while also reducing future federal leasing and permitting activity in the withdrawn area.
Rural communities, local workers, and small businesses lose potential jobs and local economic activity that mineral or geothermal development could have generated on Oak Flat.
Arizona taxpayers and local governments may face reduced revenues (federal receipts, state trust land development revenue) and potential fiscal costs if subsidence or related damages lower land value or require compensation, which could affect school funding and services.
Homeowners and agricultural users who rely on groundwater could experience reduced water availability and land subsidence that harms housing, agriculture, and local infrastructure if mining proceeds or if mitigation proves insufficient.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Repeals the 2014 Oak Flat land-exchange authorization and withdraws ~2,422 acres of federal land from mining, leasing, and most disposals to protect the site from mining.
Repeals the 2014 law that authorized a land exchange allowing Resolution Copper to acquire Oak Flat and withdraws roughly 2,422 acres of Tonto National Forest from mining claims, mineral leasing, and other disposal under federal public land and mining laws. The bill defines Oak Flat and Resolution Copper, cites environmental, cultural, and national-supply concerns tied to the proposed mine, and preserves the site from future mining development while recognizing existing valid rights as of enactment.
Introduced December 3, 2025 by Adelita S. Grijalva · Last progress December 3, 2025