Published: December 11, 2024 |

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U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Martin Heinrich’s (D-N.M.) legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation would make it easier for “Good Samaritans,” such as state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up abandoned hardrock mines.

Risch and Heinrich applauded the Senate’s unanimous and bipartisan passage of the bill in July. The House companion legislation is led by U.S. Representatives Celeste Maloy (R-Utah), Mary Peltola (D-Alaska), and Susie Lee (D-Nev.). The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.

“I introduced the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act with Senator Heinrich to remove unnecessary barriers to clean up long-abandoned mine sites in Idaho and across the United States. This work is long overdue. I am pleased to see our bill pass the House of Representatives with resounding bipartisan support and look forward to its swift signing into law,” said Idaho Senator Jim Risch.

“For more than 25 years, Good Samaritans have tried to clean up abandoned mines but have faced significant hurdles and liability rules that hold them responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine — despite having no involvement with the mines before their cleanup efforts. With today’s passage, we’ve now cleared one of the final hurdles preventing these groups from helping to protect the land, water, fish, and wildlife our communities rely on,” said New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich.

The U.S. has more than 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features, of which 22,500 pose environmental hazards according to the GAO. Organizations that have no legal or financial responsibility to an abandoned mine — true Good Samaritans — want to volunteer to remediate some of these sites. Unfortunately, liability rules would leave these Good Samaritans legally responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine, even though they had no involvement with the mine prior to cleaning it up.

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act creates a pilot permitting program to enable not-for-profit cleanup efforts to move forward, while ensuring Good Samaritans have the skills and resources to comply with federal oversight. This pilot program is designed for lower risk projects, which will improve water and soil quality or otherwise protect human health.

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act is supported by a host of industry and conservation groups including, the American Exploration and Mining Association, the National Mining Association, Trout Unlimited, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation.

“AEMA celebrates today’s passage of the bipartisan Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hard Rock Mines Act, the culmination of nearly three decades of work by a broad range of stakeholders. Our members are proud to collaborate with the conservation community, states, and the federal government to address the cleanup of historic, pre-regulation sites. This pilot project program provides an opportunity to demonstrate that the process can work so we can progress to a broader Good Sam bill in the near future. I’d like to congratulate and thank Senators Risch and Heinrich, and Representatives Maloy and Peltola for their leadership, and all the bipartisan cosponsors for getting this important legislation across the finish line,” said Mark Compton, executive director of the American Exploration and Mining Association.

“Today’s passage of bipartisan and bicameral Good Samaritan legislation out of the House of Representatives was the final step in securing a key solution to tackle the long-overdue cleanup of legacy abandoned mine sites. This bill, which passed the Senate unanimously, has been more than a decade in the making and will encourage the involvement of mining companies, conservation groups and local stakeholders in abandoned mine cleanup without fear of incurring additional legal liability,” said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association.

“This is a victory for common sense. Senators Heinrich and Risch took a bipartisan approach to a non-partisan issue. Clean water is a basic human right. This bill will allow organizations such as Trout Unlimited, local communities, and states to pilot new approaches to making our waters cleaner and our communities healthier,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited.

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