By Susan Morée, NM Political Report
President Joe Biden signed the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024.
Biden Tuesday signed the bipartisan legislation, cosponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, along with Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho.
The act allows nonprofit groups, state agencies and other groups to apply for a Good Samaritan permit from the Environmental Protection Agency and remediate abandoned hard rock mining sites without being liable for the past, present or future damage caused by mining.
The act does not include coal mining, but would cover hard rock mining, such as gold and copper mines. Currently, abandoned hard rock mining impacts 100,000 miles of streams and rivers.
The bill passed the U.S. Senate unanimously in July. It passed the House of Representatives, sponsored by Rep. Celeste Maloy, R-Utah, Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and Susie Lee, D-Nevada, by voice vote.
U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Gabe Vasquez, both Democrats from New Mexico, were cosponsors of the legislation, as was U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-New Mexico, in the Senate.
Heinrich said through a news release that groups or state agencies that clean up abandoned mines “will no longer face hurdles preventing them from helping to protect the land, water, fish, and wildlife our communities rely on.”
“Our Good Samaritan legislation is now the law of the land, after more than 25 years of hard work to get it over the finish line. This victory belongs to every single person who rolled up their sleeves to fix this longstanding roadblock, and I’d like to thank those who have carried the baton to get us to this point. Now it’s time to get to work to clean up abandoned mines in New Mexico and across the country, making our water cleaner and lands safer,” Heinrich said.