Mining bill expands public-land use while funding abandoned-site cleanup
H.R. 1366 — Mining Regulatory Clarity Act · Filed by Mark Amodei (R-NV) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 14, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill allows hardrock mining operators to claim up to 5 acres of public land per mill site (for waste disposal and mining operations) without acquiring mineral rights, and establishes a fund fed by maintenance fees on these mill sites to pay for abandoned mine cleanup. The bill clarifies that mill sites cannot be patented (converted to private ownership) and does not restore mining rights on withdrawn lands.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism expands mining operators' ability to use public land for mill sites while establishing a dedicated fund for abandoned mine remediation. It is neither pure deregulation nor pure environmental protection—it trades expanded operational access for a cleanup funding mechanism.
What the text implies
- The bill allows mill sites on 'nonmineral land' and land where mineral character is undetermined, potentially expanding mining footprint beyond traditionally mineral-rich areas.
- Maintenance fees on mill sites fund the cleanup account, creating a financial incentive for operators to maintain claims; if claims are abandoned, the fund loses revenue.
- The bill explicitly preserves the government's right to regulate mining in withdrawn areas and does not restore extinguished rights, but the practical effect of allowing multiple mill sites on open land may increase pressure for future withdrawals to be opened.
- Mill sites convey no mineral rights but do convey use and occupancy rights, creating a distinction that may be litigated if operators attempt to extract minerals incidentally to 'operations.'
- The fund's allocation follows the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's formula, tying cleanup priorities to that statute's definitions rather than to site-specific environmental need.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens gain a dedicated funding stream for abandoned mine cleanup (a genuine public benefit), but lose exclusive control over public lands as mining operators gain the right to locate multiple mill sites for waste disposal. The bill does not restore mining rights on withdrawn lands, preserving some environmental protections, but expands operational footprint on open public lands.
Who stands to gain
- hardrock mining operators (expanded access to public land for mill sites)
- mining companies with existing lode or placer claims (ability to add multiple mill sites)
Named in the bill
Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, General Mining Law of 1872, Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Wilderness Act, Endangered Species Act of 1973, National Historic Preservation Act, Surface Resources Act of 1955
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Feb 14, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Feb 14, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Sep 3, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Sep 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 17”
- Dec 18, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 219 - 198 (Roll no. 358).”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
19 lobbying clients named this bill on 33 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $3,911,030 in lobbying spend. A filing names 5 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 96% of bills with at least one filing.
Mark Amodei, the sponsor, reported $174,019 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Mining Association — $820,000 on 1 filing
- Barrick Gold of North America — $600,000 on 2 filings
- Americans for Prosperity — $390,000 on 1 filing
- Earthjustice Action — $376,600 on 2 filings
- League of Conservation Voters — $230,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,049 characters) on May 20, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Mining bill expands public-land use while funding abandoned-site cleanup” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr1366 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.