text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Bodie Protection Act of 1993''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds that--
              (1) the historic Bodie gold mining district in the State of 
          California is the site of the largest and best preserved 
          authentic ghost town in the western United States;
              (2) the Bodie Bowl area contains important natural, 
          historical, and aesthetic resources;
              (3) Bodie was designated a National Historical Landmark in 
          1961 and a California State Historic Park in 1962, is listed on 
          the National Register of Historic Places, and is included in 
          the Federal Historic American Buildings Survey;
              (4) nearly 200,000 persons visit Bodie each year, providing 
          the local economy with important annual tourism revenues;
              (5) the town of Bodie is threatened by proposals to explore 
          and extract minerals: mining in the Bodie Bowl area may have 
          adverse physical and aesthetic impacts on Bodie's historical 
          integrity, cultural values, and ghost town character as well as 
          on its recreational values and the area's flora and fauna;
              (6) the California State Legislature, on September 4, 1990, 
          requested the President and the Congress to direct the 
          Secretary of the Interior to protect the ghost town character, 
          ambience, historic buildings, and scenic attributes of the town 
          of Bodie and nearby areas;
              (7) the California State Legislature also requested the 
          Secretary, if necessary to protect the Bodie Bowl area, to 
          withdraw the Federal lands within the area from all forms of 
          mineral entry and patent;
              (8) the National Park Service listed Bodie as a priority 
          one endangered National Historic Landmark in its fiscal year 
          1990 and 1991 report to Congress entitled ``Threatened and 
          Damaged National Historic Landmarks'' and recommended 
          protection of the Bodie area; and
              (9) it is necessary and appropriate to provide that all 
          Federal lands within the Bodie Bowl area are not subject to 
          location, entry, and patent under the mining laws of the United 
          States, subject to valid existing rights, and to direct the 
          Secretary to consult with the Governor of the State of 
          California before approving any mining activity plan within the 
          Bodie Bowl.
  
  SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
  
      For purposes of this Act:
              (1) The term ``Bodie Bowl'' means the Federal lands and 
          interests in lands within the area generally depicted on the 
          map referred to in section 4(a).
              (2) The term ``mining'' means any activity involving 
          mineral prospecting, exploration, extraction, milling, 
          beneficiation, processing, and reclamation.
              (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
          Interior.
  
  SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF MINERAL MINING, LEASING AND DISPOSAL LAWS.
  
      (a) Restriction.--Subject to valid existing rights, after the date 
  of enactment of this Act Federal lands and interests in lands within 
  the area generally depicted on the map entitled ``Bodie Bowl'' and 
  dated June 12, 1992, shall not be--
              (1) open to the location of mining and mill site claims 
          under the general mining laws of the United States;
              (2) subject to any lease under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 
          U.S.C. 181 and following) or the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 
          (30 U.S.C. 100 and following), for lands within the Bodie Bowl; 
          and
              (3) available for disposal of mineral materials under the 
          Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 
          1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 and following).
  Such map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 
  Office of the Secretary, and appropriate offices of the Bureau of Land 
  Management and the National Park Service. As soon as practicable after 
  the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall publish a legal 
  description of the Bodie Bowl area in the Federal Register.
      (b) Valid Existing Rights.--As used in this subsection, the term 
  ``valid existing rights'' in reference to the general mining laws means 
  that a mining claim located on lands within the Bodie Bowl was properly 
  located and maintained under the general mining laws prior to the date 
  of enactment of this Act, was supported by a discovery of a valuable 
  mineral deposit within the meaning of the general mining laws on the 
  date of enactment of this Act, and that such claim continues to be 
  valid.
      (c) Validity Review.--The Secretary shall undertake an expedited 
  program to determine the validity of all unpatented mining claims 
  located within the Bodie Bowl. The expedited program shall include an 
  examination of all unpatented mining claims, including those for which 
  a patent application has not been filed. If a claim is determined to be 
  invalid, the Secretary shall promptly declare the claim to be null and 
  void, except that the Secretary shall not challenge the validity of any 
  claim located within the Bodie Bowl for the failure to do assessment 
  work for any period after the date of enactment of this Act. The 
  Secretary shall make a determination with respect to the validity of 
  each claim referred to under this subsection within 2 years after the 
  date of enactment of this Act.
      (d) Limitation on Patent Issuance.--
              (1) Mining claims.--(A) After March 8, 1992, no patent 
          shall be issued by the United States for any mining claim 
          located under the general mining laws within the Bodie Bowl 
          unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim concerned--
                      (i) a patent application was filed with the 
                  Secretary on or before such date; and
                      (ii) all requirements established under sections 
                  2325 and 2326 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 29 and 
                  30) for vein or lode claims and sections 2329, 2330, 
                  2331, and 2333 of the Revised Statutes (30 U.S.C. 35, 
                  36, 37) for placer claims were fully complied with by 
                  that date.
              (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to 
          in subparagraph (A) for any mining claim, the holder of the 
          claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent in the same 
          manner and degree to which such claim holder would have been 
          entitled to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and 
          until such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the 
          Secretary or by a court of the United States.
              (2) Mill site claims.--(A) After March 8, 1992, no patent 
          shall be issued by the United States for any mill site claim 
          located under the general mining laws within the Bodie Bowl 
          unless the Secretary determines that, for the claim concerned--
                      (i) a patent application was filed with the 
                  Secretary on or before March 8, 1992; and
                      (ii) all requirements applicable to such patent 
                  application were fully complied with by that date.
              (B) If the Secretary makes the determinations referred to 
          in subparagraph (A) for any mill site claim, the holder of the 
          claim shall be entitled to the issuance of a patent in the same 
          manner and degree to which such claim holder would have been 
          entitled to prior to the enactment of this Act, unless and 
          until such determinations are withdrawn or invalidated by the 
          Secretary or by a court of the United States.
  
  SEC. 5. MINERAL ACTIVITIES.
  
      (a) In General.--Mineral exploration, mining, beneficiation, and 
  processing activities on unpatented mining claims within the Bodie Bowl 
  shall be subject to such regulations prescribed by the Secretary, in 
  consultation with the Governor of the State of California, as the 
  Secretary deems necessary to ensure that such mineral activities are 
  conducted--
              (1) in accordance with the rules and regulations 
          promulgated under Public Law 94-429 (16 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) as 
          they relate to plan of operations, reclamation requirements, 
          and bonding; and
              (2) in a manner that does not cause any adverse effect on 
          the historic, cultural, recreational and natural resource 
          values of the Bodie Bowl area.
      (b) Restoration of Effects of Mining Exploration.--As soon as 
  possible after the date of enactment of this Act, visible evidence or 
  other effects of mining exploration activity within the Bodie Bowl 
  conducted on or after September 1, 1988, shall be reclaimed by the 
  operator in accordance with regulations prescribed pursuant to 
  subsection (a).
      (c) Annual Expenditures; Filing.--The requirements for annual 
  expenditures on unpatented mining claims imposed by Revised Statute 
  2324 (30 U.S.C. 28) shall not apply to any such claim located within 
  the Bodie Bowl. In lieu of filing the affidavit of assessment work 
  referred to under section 314(a)(1) of the Federal Land Policy and 
  Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1744(a)(1)), the holder of any 
  unpatented mining or mill site claim located within the Bodie Bowl 
  shall only be required to file the notice of intention to hold the 
  mining claim referred to in such section 314(a)(1).
      (d) Regulations.--The Secretary shall promulgate the regulations 
  referred to in this section within 90 days after the date of enactment 
  of this Act. For the purposes of this Act, the Bureau of Land 
  Management shall promulgate and administer the rules and regulations 
  referred to in section 5(a).
  
  SEC. 6. STUDY.
  
      Beginning as soon as possible after the date of enactment of this 
  Act, the Secretary of the Interior, through the Director of the 
  National Park Service, shall review possible actions to preserve the 
  scenic character, historical integrity, cultural and recreational 
  values, flora and fauna, and ghost town characteristics of lands and 
  structures within the Bodie Bowl. No later than 3 years after the date 
  of such enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
  Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States House of 
  Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 
  the United States Senate a report that discusses the results of such 
  review and makes recommendations as to which steps (including but not 
  limited to acquisition of lands or valid mining claims) should be 
  undertaken in order to achieve these objectives.
target: Bodie Protection Act of 1993 - Prohibits the Bodie Bowl (California) from being available for any mineral mining, leasing, or disposal activities, except under valid existing claims.  Directs the Secretary of the Interior to undertake an expedited validity review of all unpatented mining claims located within the Bodie Bowl.  Prescribes limitations for the issuance of patents for mining and mill site claims on such lands. 
  Subjects mineral exploration, mining, beneficiation, and processing on unpatented mining claims within the Bodie Bowl to regulations prescribed to ensure that such activities do not adversely affect historic, cultural, recreational, and natural resource values of the Bodie Bowl. 
  Mandates reclamation of the effects of mining exploration by mining operators. 
  Exempts the holder of any unpatented mining or mill site claim within the Bodie Bowl from specified statutory expenditure and filing requirements.  Declares that, in lieu of filing a certain affidavit of assessment work, such holder shall only be required to file a specified notice of intention to hold certain mining claims. 
  Directs the Secretary to:  (1) review possible actions to preserve specified characteristics of the Bodie Bowl; and (2) report to certain congressional committees recommendations to achieve such preservation.
feat_title: Bodie Protection Act of 1993