The House of Representatives approved on Thursday the most significant changes in more than 120 years in the law controlling mining on hundreds of millions of acres of public land in the West.
The bill, which passed 316 to 108, would eliminate the ability of mining companies to take title to valuable federal lands containing gold, silver and other "hard rock" minerals for a few dollars an acre.And for the first time, it would charge royalties on the riches extracted from public land, generating an estimated $114 million a year. If accepted by the Senate, which passed far less comprehensive legislation in May, the measure would for the first time establish a federal program to ensure that the environmental scars of mining are repaired after the digging is finished.
Under the current law, enacted in 1872, mining companies have been given virtually free access to rich deposits. Although mining companies are subject to many environmental regulations, they are exempt from others and there is no single law to regulate how mines are operated.
In recent years, federal agencies have sought to minimize environmental damage by cobbling together a series of rules and agreements with states.
A complete overhaul of the law has been a high priority of environmental groups for many years, and its consideration is the latest in a series of moves by the Clinton administration and its congressional allies to reshape the nation's conservation policies.
Even as the battles over grazing and logging continue, the fight over minerals has now been joined, to be followed by further debates over endangered species and water conservation.
"This is simply another follow-up on the Babbitt-Clinton assault on the West," objected Rep. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo. He spoke Tuesday as the House debated the measure before setting it aside briefly on Wednesday to debate and approve the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The legislation's sponsors called the bill that passed Thursday a balanced compromise between mining and environmental interests, and they fought off attempts by both sides to shift that balance in either direction.
At issue are hundreds of thousands of mining claims and thousands of mines operating on public lands throughout the 12 Western states, including Alaska. Most of the mines are in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
In a $9 billion industry, more than $1 billion worth of metals and minerals are mined each year on federal lands.
But passage by the House is just the first step. The real fight will come when the two houses meet in conference to forge a compromise.
"This is going to be a very rough-and-tumble conference, because we know that we have a handful of Western senators who represent people who want no change," said Rep. George Miller, the California Democrat who is chairman of the Interior Committee.
Western senators have hinted they will fight to defeat any major changes that emerge from the conference, employing the filibuster tactic they used to stave off changes in grazing laws in the West earlier this month.
Perhaps with an eye to the confrontations yet to come, the House pursued a moderate strategy in assembling the huge majority that voted for the bill.
In the most closely watched vote on Tuesday, the House rejected an amendment that would have strengthened prohibitions against mining in especially sensitive sites, including those that harbor endangered species or contain scenic rivers or national parks.