Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act Bound for Full Senate Approval

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Martin Heinrich’s (D-N.M.) legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, today passed out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee with overwhelming support. This legislation would make it easier for “Good Samaritans,” such as state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up and improve water quality in and around abandoned hardrock mines.

“Today’s committee passage of the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act puts us one step closer to cleaning up long-abandoned hardrock mines. I encourage the full Senate to pass Senator Heinrich and my commonsense legislation to allow Good Samaritans to conduct this important remediation work,” said Risch.  

“Gaining the bipartisan support of the Environment and Public Works Committee on our Good Samaritan Act is a major milestone. Our bipartisan legislation will allow Good Samaritan groups to clean up the abandoned mines that are threatening our communities in New Mexico and the land, water, fish, and wildlife we rely on. This bill is commonsense and now it’s ready for Senate passage so these Good Samaritans can get to work,” said Heinrich.

The U.S. has over 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 legislation has received support from the Idaho Mining Association, American Exploration and Mining Association, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, Ecoflight, Fly Fishers International, Izaak Walton League of America, National Deer Association, National Mining Association, National Wildlife Federation, Property and Environment Research Center, Regeneration, Rivian, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited, and others.

# # #