WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced the Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025, legislation that would reform the broken and outdated 1872 Mining Law. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) leads companion legislation in the Senate.

This bill will modernize and reform the country’s 150-year-old hardrock mining law, which has remained nearly unchanged since its enactment. Minerals like copper, lithium, and nickel are essential for our clean energy future, but the Mining Law of 1872 is severely outdated for the current reality. Mining has caused immeasurable destruction and is the nation’s number one source of toxic pollution. Our sacred places, wilderness, recreation access, and public health are under constant and serious threat from mining activities.

“For more than a century and a half, the mining industry has operated under an outdated, free-for-all system that gives them carte blanche to pollute and destroy, while American taxpayers get stuck with the cleanup bill. Under the Mining Law of 1872, foreign-owned companies, even companies controlled by our adversaries with egregious track records of human rights abuses and environmental harms, can mine our publicly-owned minerals. These companies then ship our minerals abroad without paying a cent back to the American people or even committing for these minerals to support the U.S. economy. It’s past time to reject this harmful status quo and move forward with commonsense reforms that protect Americans and ensure a more responsible, accountable mining industry that actually benefits Americans,” said Representative Grijalva. “Securing the minerals we need for our clean energy future cannot come at the cost of our environment, our health and safety, or tribal sovereignty. I want to thank Senator Luján for lending his leadership to join me in this effort and encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the same.”

“Elon Musk and President Trump are putting a chainsaw to our federal workforce and public lands protections. If Republicans were serious about eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, they would join me in reforming this Civil War-era mining law that has allowed mining companies to exploit our gold, silver, and critical minerals from public lands without paying their fair share and stiffing the American taxpayer with the cleanup costs. It’s far past time that we update this law to crack down on actual waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Senator Luján. “I am proud to lead this legislation to modernize the broken 1872 Mining Law to reduce waste, protect taxpayers, generate revenue, and protect public lands. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this legislation passed.”

The Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act would:

• Modernize mine planning by ending mining companies’ unfettered access to public resources. The bill establishes a leasing system, leveling the playing field with other uses of public lands.
• Finally make industry clean up their abandoned mines by sending a portion of new royalty revenue to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation Program to make industry, not taxpayers, pay for cleanup. This process is already in place for abandoned coal mines, which are cleaned up with fees paid by industry.
• Set clear and strong environmental standards for mining activities and long-term reclamation.
• Ensure a fair return for taxpayers by establishing a 12.5% royalty on new mining operations and an 8% royalty on existing operations, with an exemption for miners earning less than $50,000 in mining income.
• Require federal agencies to conduct meaningful consultation with tribes prior to permitting mining operations that will impact tribal communities.
• Protect special places by giving federal land managers clear authority to protect certain natural areas from future mining.

The full bill text can be found here.