To establish within the Environmental Protection Agency the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains, and for other purposes.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Legacy Mine Cleanup Act creates an Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains inside EPA's solid-waste program office. The office would coordinate EPA headquarters, regional offices, federal land-management agencies, states, Indian Tribes, voluntary cleanup groups, nonliable entities, and mining companies on cleanup actions at abandoned hardrock mine sites. It must identify and prioritize covered mine sites annually, provide technical assistance, disseminate best practices, encourage small-business contracting opportunities, report annually to Congress, and prepare a 10-year plan for Navajo Nation abandoned uranium mine cleanup.
Who Benefits and How
Communities near contaminated hardrock mine sites benefit from more coordinated cleanup planning and technical assistance. Navajo Nation communities near abandoned uranium mines benefit from a dedicated 10-year interagency cleanup plan. Indian Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, state environmental agencies, local governments, voluntary cleanup organizations, nonliable mine-cleanup entities, environmental remediation companies, and small cleanup businesses benefit from clearer EPA coordination, best practices, and contracting pathways.
Who Bears the Burden and How
EPA must stand up the new office, coordinate internally and with other federal agencies, identify priority sites, manage technical assistance, and submit annual reports. The Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Indian Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Interior Department, Agriculture Department, and other federal partners must coordinate on Navajo uranium mine planning and legacy-mine cleanup. The bill does not create new mining-company liability, but it pulls mining companies and nonliable entities into voluntary cleanup coordination.
Key Provisions
- Establishes the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains inside EPA.
- Requires annual identification, prioritization, and reporting for abandoned hardrock mine cleanup sites.
- Directs EPA to provide technical assistance and publish best practices for covered mine site cleanup.
- Encourages small-business contracting opportunities in mine cleanup work.
- Requires coordination with federal land-management agencies, states, Indian Tribes, voluntary cleanup organizations, nonliable entities, and mining companies.
- Requires a 10-year interagency cleanup plan for Navajo Nation abandoned uranium mine sites.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes an EPA Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains to coordinate cleanup of abandoned hardrock mine contamination, provide technical assistance, report annually to Congress, and produce a 10-year interagency plan for Navajo Nation abandoned uranium mine sites.
Key Policy Areas
Environment, Tribal Affairs, Mining, Government Operations
Primary Purpose
Establishes an EPA Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains to coordinate cleanup of abandoned hardrock mine contamination, provide technical assistance, report annually to Congress, and produce a 10-year interagency plan for Navajo Nation abandoned uranium mine sites.
Policy Domains
Section 2 - EPA Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains
Identified Gains
- Navajo Nation communities near abandoned uranium mines
- Indian Tribes with contaminated mine sites
- Environmental remediation companies
- Small environmental cleanup businesses
- Voluntary cleanup organizations
- Nonliable mine-cleanup entities
Identified Costs
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Department of Energy
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission
- Indian Health Service
- Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed SenateReported by Mrs. Capito, with an amendment
Passed Senate (inferred from es version)
Mr. Kelly (for himself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency
Positive-direction: Indian Tribes with contaminated mine sites, Navajo Nation communities near abandoned uranium mines
Negative-direction: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Indian Health Service, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Environmental remediation companies, Nonliable mine-cleanup entities, Small environmental cleanup businesses
Communities near contaminated hardrock mine sites
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "office"
- → Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains
- "administrator"
- → Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An abandoned uranium covered mine site on Navajo Nation land.
Federal, State, Tribal, local, or private land and related water resources affected by past hardrock mining activities.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology