Tom Udall: “I rise today to mark the passage of H.R. 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act. H.R. 2262 takes long overdue…”

“I rise today to mark the passage of H.R. 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act. H.R. 2262 takes long overdue action to reform the 1872 Mining Act. That law, the General Mining Act of 1872, was written to encourage westward expansion and to generate the supply of minerals needed in our Nation. Back in 1872, a charge of $5 an acre to mine hard rock minerals in remote areas of the undeveloped west was probably a pretty fair price. The fact that the price is still the same today is simply ludicrous. As a result, private companies, both domestic and foreign, have been able to profit handsomely by mining on public lands without the need to pay the American people any royalties or to even clean up the messes they leave behind. By some estimates, the antiquated 1872 Mining Act has allowed over $245 billion worth of minerals to be extracted from more than 3.4 million acres of public lands without returning to the American people, the owners of those lands, a single cent in royalties. Today, we took a necessary step toward bringing this policy into the modern era.”