Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 1366, known as the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2025. The legislation, introduced by Representative Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), aims to provide regulatory stability for mining projects by creating a new category of mill sites on federal lands for ancillary activities.
Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) commented on the bill’s passage: “The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act restores regulatory certainty that was lost due to the misguided 2022 Rosemont decision. The bill reaffirms that mining support activities are an essential part of responsible mineral development. It encourages domestic mineral production at a moment when America’s economy and national security depend on mining more than ever. I would like to thank Representative Amodei for his leadership on this important legislation.”
Representative Mark Amodei added: “Strengthening our domestic mineral supply chain isn’t optional, it’s demanded to ensure we don’t fall further behind China. Western states are sitting on a wealth of resources and a critical opportunity to break our dangerous reliance on foreign adversaries while powering our own economy. The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act restores decades of established precedent, repairs a permitting process undermined by the Rosemont decision, and gives domestic mining operations the certainty they need to compete aggressively and win. I’m glad to see the House pass this bill once again with bipartisan support, and I urge the Senate to act swiftly to get it signed into law.”
The background for this legislative action involves a 2022 ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the Rosemont Copper Mine in Arizona. That decision revoked an approved mine plan and limited the Forest Service’s ability to approve necessary support activities for mining operations on federal land—a change that overturned over four decades of regulatory practice.
H.R. 1366 is designed not just for one site but seeks nationwide impact by reinstating longstanding legal clarity for mine operators across federal lands. It also establishes an Abandoned Hardrock Mine Fund, which will use claim maintenance fees to help inventory, assess, and remediate abandoned hardrock mine areas under programs set up by previous infrastructure legislation.
