52 1 operators, miners, or officers or employees of the Federal 2 Government or any State or local government. 3 (2) Advisory committee members, other than officers 4 or employees of Federal, State, or local governments, shall 5 be, for each day (including traveltime) during which they 6 are performing committee business, entitled to receive com7 pensation at a rate fixed by the Secretary but not in excess 8 of the maximum rate of pay for grade GS-18 as provided 9 in the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5 of 10 the United States Code, and shall, notwithstanding the limi11 tations of section 5703 and 5704 of title 5 of the United 12 States Code be fully reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and 13 14 15 related expenses. STUDY OF MINING REGULATIONS OR CONTROLS SEC. 37. The Secretary shall conduct a full and com16 plete study and investigation of regulations or controls that 17 are necessary and appropriate to assure that all mining ac18 tivities whether surface mining or below surface mining, of 19 all natural resources in the United States can be carried on 20 efficiently with the least possible damage to the environ21 ment in the area affected by such mining operations. The 22 Secretary shall report to the Congress the results of such 23 study and investigation, together with any recommenda24 tions of the appropriate administrative or legislative actions 25 that should be taken based on his findings, as soon as pos 53 1 sible after the date of the enactment of this Act, but in no 2 case later than the end of the eighteen-month period be 3 ginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 OPEN PIT COAL MINING SEC. 38. Rules and regulations applicable to open pit coal mining must take into consideration the unique nature of the operations. The Secretary is hereby authorized to issue separate regulations relative to the problems associated with open pit coal mining, which is defined as a surface mining operation which, because of the thickness of the deposit or the nature of the ore body and the overburden, primarily follows the deposit vertically at an inclination of 35 13 degrees or steeper and where the average depth of the total 14 15 operation exceeds 100 feet (rather than laterally across the surface as in area or contour mining) and therefore may be 16 carried out at the same location over a substantial period of 17 time: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall apply 18 only to operations that are active or temporarily suspended 19 on the date of this Act and involve no additional surface SEC. 39. This Act shall take effect six months after its 2 SEO. 40. There are authorized to be appropriated such 3 sums as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the 4 provisions and purposes of this Act other than the appro5 priation authority provided in section 12 of this Act. 93D CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4863 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 27, 1973 Mr. SAYLOR (for himself, Mr. HOSMER, Mr. STEIGER of Arizona, Mr. CAMP, Mr. SEBELIUS, and Mr. MARTIN of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs A BILL To provide for the cooperation between the Federal Government and the States with respect to environmental regulations for mining operations, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 That this Act may be cited as the "Mined Area Protection 4 Act of 1973". 6 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS.-For the purpose of this Act, 7 the term 8 (a) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior; 9 (b) "mining operations" means (1) activities con 96-352 73 - pt. 1 - 30 2 1 ducted on the surface or underground for the exploration for, 2 development of, or extraction of minerals, organic or in3 organic, from their natural occurrences, including strip or 4 auger mining, dredging, quarrying, open pit, in situ dis5 tillation or retorting and leaching; and (2) the cleaning, con6 centrating, refining, or other processing or preparation (ex7 cluding smeltering) and loading for interstate commerce of 8 crude minerals at or near the mine site. It does not include 9 the extraction of minerals in a liquid or gaseous state by 10 means of wells or piles unless the process includes in situ 11 distillation or retorting. For the purposes of this Act, pros12 pecting activities are excluded from this definition; 13 (c) "prospecting" means the first on-the-ground or air14 borne phase of a search limited to the gathering of evidence 15 of mineralization of potential commercial worth and is not 16 for the purpose of establishing mineral reserves. Prospecting 17 includes geological reconnaissance, the use of geophysical 18 and geochemical methods, and preliminary sampling but does 19 not include the construction of access roads, mechanical 20 trenching, construction of semipermanent camp facilities, or 21 other activities which will result in appreciable disturbances 232 to the natural condition of the area; (d) "underground mining operations" means those min 24 ing operations carried out beneath the surface by means of |