CLAIMHOLDERS BEWARE: HR 2262 Is a Legislative Nightmare

House Resolution 2262 is without a doubt the worst piece of mining legislation I have yet to see. Passed by the House of Representatives on November 1, 2007, and now under consideration by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, HR 2262 is a model of tyranny the mining community can ill afford to ignore.

Space here does not permit a full exposition of the horrors contained in this legislation. A quick read-through of the bill was enough to convince me that if this act is not defeated, we may all be finished as miners, not just in Washington but anywhere in the U.S.

A few examples should suffice to show you what I'm talking about (emphasis supplied by me):

Although billed as the "Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007", the "Act" applies to all mining claims, placer as well as lode:

SEC. 3. APPLICATION RULES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act applies to any mining claim, millsite claim, or tunnel site claim located under the general mining laws, before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act, except as provided in subsection (b).

First comes the general money-grabbing provision which provides the justification for all that follows:

SEC. 102. ROYALTY.
(a) RESERVATION OF ROYALTY.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2) and subject to paragraph (3), production of all locatable minerals from any mining claim located under the general mining laws and maintained in compliance with this Act, or mineral concentrates or products derived from locatable minerals from any such mining claim, as the case may be, shall be subject to a royalty of 8 percent of the gross income from mining.

Note that this "royalty" is skimmed off the top; i.e. before any deductions for expenses incurred in producing the minerals. For small-scale miners, who almost without exception operate at a net loss, this royalty amounts to another direct hit in the pocketbook. But wait, it gets worse:

(4) The Secretary* may by rule require any person engaged in transporting a locatable mineral, concentrate, or product derived therefrom to carry on his or her person, in his or her vehicle, or in his or her immediate control, documentation showing, at a minimum, the amount, origin, and intended destination of the locatable mineral, concentrate, or product derived therefrom in such circumstances as the Secretary determines is appropriate.

(*Note: Unless otherwise qualified, the term "Secretary" refers to the Secretary of the Interior.)

Okay, people. Better make sure your papers are "in order" because, as you'll see next, they aren't kidding:

(d) ENTRY AND ACCESS.—Without advance notice and upon presentation of appropriate credentials, the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands the Secretary of Agriculture, or any authorized representative thereof—
(1) shall have the right of entry to, upon, or through the site of any claim, mineral activities, or any premises in which any records required to be maintained under this Act are located;

and

(4) may, on any mining claim located under the general mining laws and maintained in compliance with this Act, and without advance notice, stop and inspect any motorized form of transportation that such Secretary has probable cause to believe is carrying locatable minerals, concentrates, or products derived therefrom from a claim site for the purpose of determining whether the operator of such vehicle has documentation related to such locatable minerals, concentrates, or products derived therefrom as required by law, if such documentation is required under this Act; and

(5) may, if accompanied by any appropriate law enforcement officer, or an appropriate law enforcement officer alone, stop and inspect any motorized form of transportation which is not on a claim site if he or she has probable cause to believe such vehicle is carrying locatable minerals, concentrates, or products derived therefrom from a claim site on Federal lands or allocated to such claim site. Such inspection shall be for the purpose of determining whether the operator of such vehicle has the documentation required by law, if such documentation is required under this Act.

Please note that this legislation does not deem that any warrants are necessary for these "inspections." Apparently, you can simply be pulled over on the highway while traveling through a National Forest if some "law enforcement officer" takes a notion that you might have some black sand concentrates from your sluice box or dredge on board. And woe unto you if you lack the required "documentation".

Meanwhile, back at the National Headquarters for the Advancement of Tyranny (Congress), the minions of Darkness have crafted the following sweeping powers:

(d) AUDITS.—The Secretary is authorized to conduct such audits of all claim holders, operators, transporters, purchasers, processors, or other persons directly or indirectly involved in the production or sales of minerals covered by this Act, as the Secretary deems necessary for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the requirements of this section. For purposes of performing such audits, the Secretary shall, at reasonable times and upon request, have access to, and may copy, all books, papers and other documents that relate to compliance with any provision of this section by any person.

This section seems to mean that if, for example, you sell a gold nugget from your claim to a jeweler, both you and the jeweler (as well as the jeweler's customers) would be subject to "such audits" as both are "persons directly or indirectly involved in the production or sales of minerals covered by this Act". And I'm betting that "reasonable" in the above paragraph is as determined by some government official and not necessarily agreed to by the parties being "audited".

Okay, take a deep breath boys and girls, 'cause here's another one for the books:

(f) TEMPORARY CESSATION OF OPERATIONS.—(1) An operator conducting mineral activities under an operations permit in effect under this title may not temporarily cease mineral activities for a period greater than 180 days unless the Secretary concerned has approved such temporary cessation or unless the temporary cessation is permitted under the original permit.

This section represents the perfect "can't win" situation: You're in violation of the law if you mine and in violation of the law if you don't. For example, if the Gold and Fish Pamphlet prevents you from working your claim for a period "greater then 180 days", you would need to obtain approval from the appropriate "Secretary" in order to remain in compliance with the law, or else work in violation of the Gold and Fish Pamphlet. Does WDFW seek to, and in many cases actually keep you from working your claims for longer than 180 days at a stretch? You know the answer to that one as well as I do!

And as if all that's not enough, they just keep coming:

SEC. 306. FINANCIAL ASSURANCE.
(a) FINANCIAL ASSURANCE REQUIRED.—(1) After a permit is issued under this title and before any exploration or operations begin under the permit, the operator shall file with the Secretary, or for National Forest System lands the Secretary of Agriculture, evidence of financial assurance payable to the United States. The financial assurance shall be provided in the form of a surety bond, a trust fund, letters of credits, government securities, certificates of deposit, cash, or an equivalent form approved by such Secretary.

In other words, "How shall I make thee pay? Let me count the ways..."

But wait, they're not finished milking you yet:

SEC. 502. USER FEES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the Secretary of Agriculture may each establish and collect from persons subject to the requirements of this Act such user fees as may be necessary to reimburse the United States for the expenses incurred in administering such requirements. Fees may be assessed and collected under this section only in such manner as may reasonably be expected to result in an aggregate amount of the fees collected during any fiscal year which does not exceed the aggregate amount of administrative expenses referred to in this section.

Putting it another way, they not only want to take your gold and leave you the shaft, they want you to pay them their expenses for doing it.

Now, in case I've inadvertently given you the impression that this act is thoroughly and lopsidedly evil, I must in all fairness point out that they do allow you to challenge their actions in court, to wit:

(b) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—(1) Any final action by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture in promulgating regulations to implement this Act, or any other final actions constituting rulemaking to implement this Act, shall be subject to judicial review ONLY IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

There you have it, folks. They want to require miners, who for the most part reside and operate in the West, to travel nearly 3000 miles to have their "day in court". And, moreover, in a venue that is particularly alien - if not hostile - compared to the one in which they reside.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I only did a quick reading of this bill and these are the points that jumped out at me. Actually, there were a lot of other points that "jumped out" as well, but I wanted to keep this piece short enough that you would feel inclined to finish it. And out of deference to the gastronomic sensitivities of my readers.

For those of you whose digestive systems are up to it, the full 99 page "Thing From The District of Corruption" can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c110query.html. Under "Enter Search", select "Bill Number" from the drop-down box and enter "HR 2262" (without quotes) in the box to the right. Then click the "SEARCH" button at the bottom of the form. This action will take you to a page which shows all the current versions of the bill from which you may select the latest, or any other, as you choose.

Or you can simply contact your Senators by selecting your State in the upper right-hand corner at http://www.senate.gov/ and urge them to vote "NO!" on this most anti-American piece of legislation.

In my opinion, anyway.