Rahall is referring to the fact that the new version of the mining proposal will allow potentially mineral-rich Federal lands to be sold for the price of the surface, not for the value of the minerals below the surface. The proposal also allows mining permits to trump all other uses of the land, including hunting and fishing activities.

     "What remains of this proposal constitutes nothing more and nothing less than a Federal land grab that has nothing to do with mining. This ‘buy one, get one free’ proposal allows multi-national companies to pay only for the surface value of the land, and get the underlying valuable minerals for free," charged Rahall, who supports responsible mining and is the Ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee which has jurisdiction over mineral production on Federal lands.

     Rahall has been embroiled in mining law reform since 1987, when he was the Chairman of the Energy and Minerals Subcommittee. Through his efforts, with bipartisan support, Congress has placed an annual moratorium on the patenting (the purchase) of mining claims on Federal lands since 1994. The updated budget bill language reverses this long-standing policy.

     While operating under the mining patent moratorium for the past ten years, the mining industry has continued to profit. Since 2001, the Bureau of Land Management has seen a four-fold increase in mining claims filed. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry, as well as the coal industry, invests billions of dollars on leased, but not owned, public land while paying a royalty.

     "The reality is that overturning a decade of public policy, supported by a bipartisan majority in Congress every year, is not necessary in order to mine. The obvious question now then is why, why the sudden push to return to the bad, old days of valuable Federal lands being snatched up for a pittance?" Rahall questioned.

     Rahall welcomed Energy and Minerals Subcommittee Chairman Gibbons’ remarks that he intends to work on "mining law modernization next year", particularly since Rahall, along with U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), has introduced legislation this year to reform the Mining Law of 1872.

     Rahall’s legislation, the "Federal Mineral Development and Land Protection Equity Act of 2005", would prohibit the continued give-away of public lands. It would require that a holding fee be paid for the use of the land, and that a royalty be paid on the production of valuable minerals, such as gold and silver, extracted from Western Federal lands. It would also require industry to comply with some basic reclamation standards to insure long-term protection of the environment, both during mining and after it has been completed.