S. 544 · 119th Congress

Mining Regulatory Clarity Act

Introduced on Feb 12, 2025 by Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). 4 cosponsors, 3 of them from another party. Latest action (Feb 11, 2026): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 334.

Stage
Reported by committee
Introduced
Feb 12, 2025
Cosponsors
4
3 from the other party
Policy area
Environmental Protection
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

A bill to provide for the location of multiple hardrock mining mill sites, to establish the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund, and for other purposes.

Subjects

  • Government trust funds
  • Land use and conservation
  • Mining

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in Senate, Feb 12, 2025). Public domain.

Mining Regulatory Clarity Act

This bill allows mining operators to use federal lands for activities ancillary to mining, such as waste disposal, regardless of whether those lands contain mineral deposits valuable enough to be mined (mineral validity). It also establishes the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund.

The bill addresses a 2022 decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit related to the Rosemont Copper Mine in Arizona (commonly known as the Rosemont decision, described further in CRS Report R48166). The court held that mining claims are only allowed where mineral validity has been established and that mill site claims are more appropriate means for establishing a mining waste disposal site under the Mining Act.

The bill allows a mining operator to (1) locate and include within its plan of operations as many mill site claims (e.g., areas for waste rock disposal) as are reasonably necessary for its operations, and (2) use or occupy public land in accordance with an approved plan of operations.

Additionally, the bill requires any revenue generated from fees for such mill site claims to be deposited into the Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund. The Department of the Interior must use the fund for certain abandoned hardrock mine reclamation activities.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Catherine Cortez MastoD-NVSponsor

Democrats · 1

Republicans · 3

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Feb 12, 2025Introduced in Senate
  2. Feb 12, 2025 · SenateRead twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  3. Mar 12, 2025 · SenateCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 119-46.
  4. Apr 9, 2025 · SenateCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
  5. Feb 11, 2026Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee without amendment. With written report No. 119-105.
  6. Feb 11, 2026 · SenateCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources. Reported by Senator Lee without amendment. With written report No. 119-105.
  7. Feb 11, 2026 · SenatePlaced on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 334.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. Barrick Gold of North America13 reports
    $2M reported (all issues)
  2. American Exploration & Mining Association6 reports
    $100K reported (all issues)
  3. Earthworks6 reports
    $210K reported (all issues)
  4. Kinross Gold U.S.A., Inc.6 reports
    $360K reported (all issues)
  5. National Mining Association6 reports
    $4.2M reported (all issues)
  6. Newmont Mining Corporation6 reports
    $300K reported (all issues)
  7. Pima County6 reports
    $40K reported (all issues)Federal contractor: PIMA COUNTY$149.2K in contracts, FY2026AI match · 100%
  8. Regeneration Enterprises, Inc.6 reports
    $300K reported (all issues)
  9. Perpetua Resources, Corp.5 reports
    $260K reported (all issues)
  10. LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS, INC4 reports
    $970K reported (all issues)
  11. Resolution Copper Mining LLC4 reports
    $120K reported (all issues)
  12. Securing America's Future Energy Alliance4 reports
    $200K reported (all issues)
  13. Trout Unlimited4 reports
    $480K reported (all issues)
  14. CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY3 reports
    $110.1K reported (all issues)
  15. Earthjustice Action3 reports
    $383.9K reported (all issues)
  16. Ioneer USA Corporation3 reports
    $90K reported (all issues)
  17. CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS, INC.2 reports
    $720K reported (all issues)
  18. DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE1 report
    $80K reported (all issues)
  19. National Parks Conservation Association1 report
    $127.3K reported (all issues)
  20. ZERO EMISSION TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION1 report
    $70K reported (all issues)

Reports filed in 2025, 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 10, 2026 · loaded Oct 10, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.