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Public Lands: Interior Should Ensure Against Abuses From Hardrock Mining

RCED-86-48 Published: Mar 27, 1986. Publicly Released: Mar 27, 1986.
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Highlights

GAO evaluated how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) carries out its mining claim recording and environmental protection responsibilities under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, focusing on BLM procedures for ensuring that: (1) it gets enough information to determine the location and validity of mining claims on federal lands; and (2) mined lands are adequately reclaimed once mining activity ends. GAO conducted its work at 10 BLM offices in western states, where most of the mining activity within BLM jurisdiction occurs.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Interior The Secretary of the Interior should require the Director, BLM, to establish a uniform policy to review mining claim location information when the claims are recorded with BLM to ensure that the location information provided contains sufficiently detailed descriptions to enable land managers to find the location of claimed federal lands.
Closed – Implemented
On May 12, 1986, BLM instructed its state directors to screen mining claims when recorded.
Department of the Interior The Secretary of the Interior should require the Director, BLM, to establish a uniform policy to review mining claim location information when the claims are recorded with BLM to ensure that only those mining claims located on lands open to mineral exploration and development are recorded with BLM. Mining claims located on federal lands after the lands were withdrawn should be formally declared invalid by BLM.
Closed – Implemented
On May 12, 1986, BLM instructed its state directors to screen mining claims when recorded.
Department of the Interior To help ensure that federal lands damaged by mining operations conducted under the Mining Law of 1872 are reclaimed, the Secretary of the Interior should: (1) base his decision on whether to require a reclamation bond on the significance of land disturbance likely to result from the mining operation; and (2) require mine operators to post a bond in an amount large enough to cover the estimated costs of reclamation if their operations could cause significant land disturbance.
Closed – Not Implemented
Interior stated that, because of ever shrinking budgets, it needed to target management attention on a more limited bonding program aimed at those activities most likely to cause degredation. The targeted activities are primarily those conducted by claim holders who have a record of reclamation requirements noncompliance. Interior plans no further action on this recommendation.
Department of the Interior To enable BLM to better monitor the status of mining operations and operators' compliance with reclamation requirements, the Secretary of the Interior should amend the surface management regulations to require operators to furnish, as part of their notices of intent or plans of operations, the anticipated completion dates of their mining operations.
Closed – Not Implemented
The importance of this recommendation is closely associated with the recommendation on bonding. Because Interior does not plan to adopt a major part of that recommendation, and because Interior plans to address the intent of this recommendation, better reclamation through improved compliance inspections, this recommendation should be closed.

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Topics

Environmental policiesMineral rightsMiningMining industryNational parksSurety bondsSurface mining land reclamationWilderness areasMiningPublic lands