On November 1, 2007^t Congresman Fossella voted against the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act (HR 2262, Roll Call Vote 1033). This Act requires miners on federal lands to pay royalties of 8 percent of gross income on new mining operations, four percent on existing operations.

Under current law multi-national conglomerates are permitted to stake mining claims on federal lands in the 11 western states and Alaska and to produce valuable hardrock minerals such as gold, silver, and copper without paying any royalty to the public. Further, the law contains no mining and reclamation standards, and provides for claimed lands to be sold for between $2.50 and $5.00 an acre.

The bill would also impose new environmental requirements on the mining industry and allow states and Indian tribes to petition the Interior Department to withdraw sensitive lands from mining. In addition, the legislation would dedicate some of the revenue from royalty payments to cleaning up abandoned mines that pose safety and environmental hazards. Two-thirds of the royalties collected would go toward reclamation, with the rest used to assist areas where hard-rock mining is important to the local economy.