Natural Resources and Mining Law Blog
On December 18, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1366, the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2025, legislation that seeks to overturn a 2022 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that upended more than four decades of regulatory practice governing hardrock mining on federal lands. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV) and co-led by Representative Steven Horsford (D-NV), creates a new statutory category of “mill sites” for ancillary mining activities and establishes an Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund to support remediation of legacy mining sites. The bill can be viewed here.
The legislation follows President Trump’s March 20, 2025, Executive Order 14157, “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” (which we discuss on our blog: President Trump’s March 20 Executive Order Bolsters Domestic Mineral Production Through Permitting, Leasing, and Funding) which directed the National Energy Dominance Council to prepare recommendations to Congress “to clarify the treatment of waste rock, tailings, and mine waste disposal under the Mining Act of 1872.” The Executive Order explicitly recognized that the Rosemont decision and subsequent agency interpretations created uncertainty by requiring operators to validate all mining claims—including those used solely for waste disposal—before obtaining plan of operations approval.
The Rosemont Decision