After Passing Senate and House, Bipartisan Legislation Heads to President’s Desk
Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper applauded House passage of their Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act. This legislation, which would make it easier for ‘Good Samaritans’ such as state agencies, local governments, and nonprofits, and other groups, to clean up abandoned hardrock mines, passed the Senate unanimously in July and it now heads to the President’s desk.
“Thousands of abandoned mines pollute our ecosystems and threaten our watersheds in Colorado and across the West,” said Bennet. “This bill will make it easier for our state, local governments, and nonprofits to clean up these mines, reduce pollution, and improve water quality. It’s common sense for Coloradans, and I look forward to President Biden signing it into law.”
“Tens of thousands of abandoned mines across Colorado and the West are releasing acid and heavy metals into our water,” said Hickenlooper. “Good faith actors are ready to help clean up these mines. All we have to do is cut the red tape and let them.”
Across the United States, thousands of abandoned hardrock mines pose environmental hazards to surrounding communities, environments, and watersheds. Organizations that have no legal or financial responsibility to an abandoned mine want to volunteer to remediate some of these sites. Unfortunately, liability rules would leave these ‘Good Samaritans’ legally responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine, even though they had no involvement with the mine prior to cleaning it up.
The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act creates a pilot permitting program to enable not-for-profit cleanup efforts to move forward, while ensuring Good Samaritans have the skills and resources to comply with federal oversight. This pilot program is designed for lower risk projects that will improve water and soil quality or otherwise protect human health.
“Colorado voices have long called for legislation to empower Good Samaritans to conduct mine remediation projects, and with more than 23,000 abandoned mines statewide, the significance for our waters is clear. We look forward to seeing one or more pilot projects under this bill take place here in Colorado, so that we and our partners can finally roll up our sleeves and get to work improving water quality. Colorado’s U.S. Senators have been leaders on Good Samaritan legislation for decades, and we thank Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper for all their hard work and dedication in bringing this commonsense legislation to fruition,” said David Nickum, Executive Director, Colorado Trout Unlimited.
“As a founding member of the Willow Creek Reclamation Committee in the late 1999 near Creede, Colorado, I worked on the first version of Good Samaritan legislation introduced in 2004. Today’s passage is the culmination of a long-time effort to remove the roadblocks for grassroots watershed groups to take action in cost-effective ways to remove contamination from historic mining in the Mountain West. Thank you to Senator Bennet for his efforts to get this across the finish line,” Zeke Ward, Commissioner-elect, Mineral County.
“Mineral County is pleased to hear that the Good Samaritan legislation has passed and we are hopeful the President will sign it soon. We express our gratitude to the courageous hard work of those in Congress that brought it about. Our County has been fortunate to have a Stakeholder Group actively engaged in cleanup of the Willow Creek Watershed since 1999. It is our sincere hope the Pilot Projects this legislation permits will demonstrate the viability of getting more done to improve environmental conditions utilizing the volunteers we are calling Good Samaritans,” said Scott Lamb, Chair of the Board of County Commissioners, Mineral County.
Last year, Bennet joined U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and James Risch (R-Idaho) to reintroduce the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act. Bennet introduced earlier versions of this legislation with colleagues in 2013 and in 2016 following the Gold King Mine spill in Colorado. In 2022, Bennet and Heinrich introduced the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act to modernize our nation’s severely outdated hardrock mining law. The text of the bill is available HERE.