H.R. 588

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 588 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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.
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