119-hr978

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 978 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 978

 To rescind Public Land Order 7917, to reinstate mineral leases and 
 permits in the Superior National Forest, to ensure timely review of 
 Mine Plans of Operations, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 5, 2025

Mr. Stauber (for himself, Mr. Finstad, Mrs. Fischbach, Mr. Fulcher, Mr. 
 Tiffany, Mr. Begich, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Hunt, Ms. Maloy, Ms. Hageman, 
and Mr. Gosar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To rescind Public Land Order 7917, to reinstate mineral leases and 
 permits in the Superior National Forest, to ensure timely review of 
 Mine Plans of Operations, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Superior National Forest Restoration 
Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. SUPERIOR NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS IN MINNESOTA.

    (a) Rescission.--The order titled ``Public Land Order No. 7917 for 
Withdrawal of Federal Lands; Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, 
MN'', issued by the Bureau of Land Management and dated January 31, 
2023, is hereby rescinded.

    (b) Timely Review.--The Secretary shall complete all necessary 
environmental and regulatory reviews, including processes subject to 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
for all Mine Plans of Operations within the Superior National Forest 
lands in the State of Minnesota--

    (1) with respect to a Mine Plan of Operations submitted or 
 resubmitted in the 10-year period beginning on the date of the 
 enactment of this section, not later than 18 months after the 
 date on which such Mine Plan of Operations is submitted or 
 resubmitted; and

    (2) with respect to a Mine Plan of Operations reviewed 
 pursuant to this section, all necessary supplemental 
 environmental and regulatory reviews shall be reviewed by the 
 Secretary not later than 6 months after the date on which such 
 supplemental Mine Plan of Operations is submitted, and all 
 necessary regulatory and environmental permits shall be issued 
 not later than 6 months after the Mine Plan of Operations is 
 approved.
            (c) Reissuance of Mineral Leases.--

    (1) In general.--The Secretary shall issue each mineral 
 lease, preference right lease, and prospecting permit canceled 
 by the Secretary relating to lands within Superior National 
 Forest during the period beginning on January 31, 2021, and 
 ending on the date of the enactment of this section. Such 
 mineral leases, preference right leases, and prospecting 
 permits shall be reissued on the same terms as were in effect 
 on the date of such cancellations, except that--
        (A) prospecting permits shall be reissued with 
 their original terms and conditions as established upon 
 initial issuance; and
        (B) all mineral leases and preference right leases 
 shall be modified to--
            (i) an initial term of 20 years beginning 
 on the date of the enactment of this section;
            (ii) a nondiscretionary right to renewal 
 for 5 subsequent 10-year terms; and
            (iii) a right to make reasonable 
 adjustments of the rental and royalty terms at 
 renewal.

    (2) Judicial review.--A lease or permit issued under 
 paragraph

    (1) is not subject to judicial review.
            (d) Issuance of New Preference Right Leases.--

    (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
 law, not later than 5 days after the date of the enactment of 
 this section, the Secretary shall grant preference right leases 
 for any preference right lease applications that were rejected 
 after January 31, 2021, and prior to the date of the enactment 
 of this section and have received a notice of preliminary 
 valuable deposit determination.

    (2) Lease terms.--Such preference right leases shall be 
 issued with terms consistent with subsection
            (c) (1) .

    (e) Permits for Use of Surface Lands.--With respect to lands 
subject to a lease pursuant to subsection
            (d) , the Secretary, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, may issue permits for 
the use of surface lands not included in the lease for purposes 
connected with, and reasonably necessary to, the exploration, 
development, and use of the deposits covered by the lease.

    (f) Secretary Defined.--For the purposes of this section, the term 
``Secretary'' means--

    (1) the Secretary of the Interior; or

    (2) when used with respect to any unit of the National 
 Forest System, the Secretary of Agriculture.
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