Old mining sites like this can found all across Colorado. Some mining claims go as far back as the 19th century.
A big shout-out to Trout Unlimited, who has been working on this since.. it seems like forever (more than 25 years, according to Senator Heinrich). one take from Utah:
Pres. Joe Biden has signed Rep. Celeste Maloy’s (R-UT) Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act into law. Co-led with Reps. Mary Sattler Peltola (D-AK) and Susie Lee (D-NV), this legislation will establish a pilot program under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow “Good Samaritans” – such as non-profits, local governments, and state agencies – to obtain permits to clean up abandoned hardrock mines.
“Today, we celebrate Utahns having more freedom,” said Rep. Maloy. “With this bill signed into law, Utahns can bypass bureaucratic hurdles and senseless lawsuits to clean up abandoned mines for the benefit of their communities. This achievement is the culmination of decades of bipartisan work, and I want to thank everyone who helped get this commonsense bill across the finish line.”
“Despite having no legal or financial responsibility to do so, state agencies, non-profits, and advocates are eager to contribute to abandoned hardrock mine cleanup efforts,” said Rep. Peltola. “But, right now, over-burdensome permitting requirements bar them from doing so. Too often, government red tape prevents good work from getting done—that’s why passing our Good Samaritan bill is huge for mine cleanup throughout Alaska!”
“Abandoned hardrock mines in Nevada and across the country are poisoning our waters, threatening Tribal lands, and their hazardous landscapes have injured and killed Americans. For 25 years, bills like this one to clean up these mines have stalled because of Washington politics. Today, we made history by finally empowering nonprofits and agencies that are willing and able to assist this long overdue clean up,” said Rep. Lee. “Because of commonsense bipartisanship, our nation is now on a path to cleaner waters and safer landscapes.”
The Senate companion legislation is led by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jim Risch (R-ID).
“After years of red tape and unnecessary barriers, Good Samaritans willing to clean up long-abandoned mine sites can finally move forward with meaningful remediation. I’m proud to have led the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act with Senator Heinrich and look forward to the positive impacts this law will have on our land and water in Idaho,” said Senator Risch.
“Our Good Samaritan legislation is now the law of the land, after more than 25 years of hard work to get it over the finish line. Good Samaritans will no longer face hurdles preventing them from helping to protect the land, water, fish, and wildlife our communities rely on. This victory belongs to every single person who rolled up their sleeves to fix this longstanding roadblock, and I’d like to thank those who have carried the baton to get us to this point. Now it’s time to get to work to clean up abandoned mines in New Mexico and across the country, making our water cleaner and lands safer,” said Senator Heinrich.
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
In new to this website so seeking information: Curious how this works… will $$ be appropriated to the non profit agencies for help with clean up? Will there be oversight on the “how-to’s” of the operations? How will the hazardous materials be handled?
Thanks for expanding my knowledge base!
The new law envisions that the clean-up will be accompanied by processing old mine tailings to sell minerals necessary to finance the cleanups. 😉
I thought it was just so folk like TU who want to clean up won’t be legally liable?
Yes, Sharon, the bill also lessens liability while cleaning up (aka “mining”) these sites. The key feature of the bill, however, is the funding mechanism, which allows the Good Samaritan to mine and process minerals during the clean-up.
Again, a little more light please 🙂 Who is TU? and “The Good Samaritan”? are these established already non-profit organizations?
Hi Cindy: “TU” is the cryptic “Thank You” that younger people text to one another to save keystrokes. It’s rapidly becoming part of our everyday language, like FYI and OMG. You’re welcome.
I think it was Trout Unlimited in this case.
TU!
Thank You!