No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 588 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 588
To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including
Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State
of Minnesota, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 21, 2025
Ms. McCollum (for herself, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Brownley, Mr.
Casten, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr.
Huffman, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Ms. Morrison, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton,
Ms. Omar, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Tokuda, Mr.
Tonko, and Ms. Williams of Georgia) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness and interconnected Federal lands and waters, including
Voyageurs National Park, within the Rainy River Watershed in the State
of Minnesota, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Boundary Waters Wilderness
Protection and Pollution Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is a
1,090,000-acre Federal wilderness area, located within the
Superior National Forest, that was originally designated in the
Wilderness Act of 1964 (Public Law 88-577).
(2) The Forest Service manages the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area Wilderness, which includes--
(A) nearly 2,000 pristine lakes ranging in size
from 10 acres to 10,000 acres, and more than 1,200
miles of canoe routes;
(B) 1,500 cultural resource sites including
historic Ojibwe village sites and Native American
pictograph panel sites; and
(C) 150 miles of land and water on the
international border with the Government of Canada.
(3) In 1978, Congress passed the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness Act (Public Law 95-495) to remove incompatible uses,
prohibit mining within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness and on 220,000 acres of the Superior National
Forest, and to provide management guidance to protect,
preserve, and enhance the lakes, waterways, and forested areas
of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to enhance public
enjoyment of the unique landscape and wildlife.
(4) The federally recognized Grand Portage Band of Lake
Superior Chippewa, the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa, and the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa retain hunting,
fishing, and other usufructuary rights throughout the entire
northeast portion of Minnesota, including the Boundary Waters
Canoe Area Wilderness, under the 1854 Treaty of LaPointe. All
Bands have a legal interest in protecting natural resources and
the Forest Service shares in the Federal trust responsibility
to maintain treaty resources.
(5) The Rainy River Watershed lies within the Superior
National Forest, which contains 20 percent of the fresh water
supply in the entire National Forest System.
(6) The Rainy River Watershed headwaters begin in
northeastern Minnesota and flow north through the Boundary
Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park and
into Canada along the shared international border. These
international waters are governed by the 1909 Boundary Waters
Treaty, which states that ``boundary waters and the waters
flowing across the boundary shall not be polluted on either
side to the injury of health or property on the other''.
(7) The waters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
and Voyageurs National Park are classified as Outstanding
Resource Value Waters under Federal and State law, and
degradation of water quality is prohibited. A risk of mining
development is acid mine drainage which generally occurs when
sulfide minerals are exposed to air and water creating sulfuric
acid, which decreases water pH and leaches harmful metals such
as copper, zinc, lead, cadmium, iron, and nickel.
(8) Acid mine runoff from sulfide-ore copper mining
entering groundwater, rivers, streams, and lakes harms aquatic
life, degrades water quality, and results in potential severe
environmental impacts.
(9) A peer-reviewed study of water quality impacts from 14
operating United States copper sulfide mines found 100 percent
of the mines experienced pipeline spills or accidental
releases: 13 mines experienced failures of water collection and
treatment systems to control contaminated mine seepage
resulting in significant negative water quality impacts.
(10) The mining of copper and other metals in sulfide
bearing ore on Federal lands in the Superior National Forest,
within the Rainy River Watershed, poses a direct and long-term
threat from sulfide-ore mining contamination to the pristine
water and air quality and healthy forested habitat of the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National
Park.
(11) The likely contamination of the air, water, and
forested habitat of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
and Voyageurs National Park from the mining of copper, nickel,
platinum, palladium, gold, and silver on Federal lands within
the Rainy River Watershed puts at risk--
(A) the nationally recognized natural resources of
the area; and
(B) the region's amenity-based and tourism
industry, which if protected by a mineral withdrawal,
would grow by 1,500 to 4,600 more jobs and $100,000,000
to $900,000,000 more income over the next 20 years than
if such mining were not banned.
(12) In 2016, the Forest Service issued a Record of
Decision which found ``unacceptable the inherent potential risk
that development of a regionally untested copper-nickel sulfide
ore mine within the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area Wilderness might cause serious and irreplaceable harm to
this unique, iconic, and irreplaceable wilderness area''. The
Forest Service subsequently proposed a 20-year mineral
withdrawal of Federal lands and waters in the Rainy River
Watershed.
(13) In 2018, approximately 20 months into a 24-month
review period of the Rainy River Watershed mineral withdrawal
proposal, the Department of Agriculture abruptly canceled the
withdrawal application and abandoned the Environmental
Assessment.
(14) In 2021, the Forest Service reinitiated the proposal
for a mineral withdrawal of National Forest System lands
located within the Rainy River Watershed. A comprehensive
Environmental Assessment was completed in 2022, which provided
extensive scientific analysis and public input in support of
the Service's recommendation in favor of withdrawal.
(15) On January 26, 2023, the Secretary of the Interior
issued the decision to withdraw 225,504 acres of public land
``to protect and preserve the fragile and vital social and
natural resources, ecological integrity, and wilderness values
in the Rainy River watershed'' (Public Land Order 7917).
SEC. 3. WITHDRAWAL OF CERTAIN FEDERAL LANDS AND WATERS IN THE STATE OF
MINNESOTA.
(a) Definition of Map.--In this Act, the term ``Map'' means the map
attached to Public Land Order No. 7917 for Withdrawal of Federal Lands;
Cook, Lake, and Saint Louis Counties, MN and published in the Federal
Register dated January 31, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg. 6308).
(b) Withdrawal.--Except as provided in subsection (d) and subject
to valid existing rights, the approximately 225,504 acres of Federal
land and waters in the Rainy River Watershed of the Superior National
Forest in the State of Minnesota, as located on the Map and described
in the Federal Register Notice, dated January 31, 2023 (88 Fed. Reg.
6308), are hereby withdrawn from--
(1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under
the public land laws;
(2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
(3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials,
and geothermal leasing laws.
(c) Acquired Land.--Any land or interest in land within the area
depicted on the Map that is acquired by the United States after the
date of enactment of this Act shall, on acquisition, be immediately
withdrawn in accordance with this section.
(d) Removal of Sand, Gravel, Granite, Iron Ore, and Taconite.--The
Chief of the Forest Service is authorized to permit the removal of
sand, gravel, granite, iron ore, and taconite from national forest
system lands within the area depicted on the Map if the Chief
determines that the removal is not detrimental to the water quality,
air quality, and health of the forest habitat within the Rainy River
Watershed.
(e) Availability of Map.--The Map shall be kept on file and made
available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
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