30 U.S.C. § 1245 — Abandoned hardrock mine reclamation

(a) Within 90 days after November 15, 2021, the Secretary of the Interior, called the Secretary here, must establish a program to inventory, assess, decommission, reclaim, respond to hazardous-substance releases on, and remediate abandoned hardrock-mine land, based on need, public health and safety, potential environmental harm, and other land-use priorities. (b) Subject to available funds, the Secretary must give competitive or formula grants to States and Indian Tribes with jurisdiction over abandoned hardrock-mine land to reclaim it. (c) Funds may be used only for Federal, State, Tribal, local, and private land affected by past hardrock mining and water resources crossing or next to it, including (1) resources used for or affected by mining and abandoned or inadequately reclaimed before November 15, 2021, and (2) land for which the Secretary finds no claim holder, liable party, operator, or other person remains responsible for reclamation after abandoning the site before required reclamation was complete. (d)(1) Funds must be used for the inventory, assessment, decommissioning, reclamation, hazardous-release response, and remediation described in (a). (2) They may not fulfill obligations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 that were agreed to in a settlement or imposed by a court, whether payment or work. (e)(1) Congress authorizes $3,000,000,000, available until spent: 50 percent for grants under (b), and 50 percent for the Secretary’s eligible activities on Federal land. (2) The Secretary may transfer the latter amount to the Agriculture Secretary for activities on National Forest System land.