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To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals.
Summary
- Amends the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to extend its application to hardrock minerals, bringing them under the same leasing framework as other minerals.
- Defines hardrock minerals to include deposits of minerals found in sedimentary or other rocks, base metals, precious metals, industrial minerals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones.
- Excludes certain substances from the hardrock mineral definition, including coal, oil, oil shale, natural gas, sodium, potassium, sulfur, and mineral materials covered by the Materials Act of 1947.
- Applies the existing mineral leasing requirements and procedures of the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to hardrock mineral extraction on acquired federal lands.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Fallon, Pat [R-TX-4] (R-TX)
2 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Pat Fallon’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $45,900
- PARTEE ENTERPRISES $20,758
- RODMAN EXCAVATION $16,600
- BLACKRIDGE $13,200
- HEARTPLACE $10,025
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Pat Fallon → · Outside spending →
Actions (18)
- Jun 10, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably. · senate
- Feb 12, 2026 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held. · senate
- Dec 16, 2025 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. · senate
- Dec 15, 2025 Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. · house
- Dec 15, 2025 On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5884) · house
- Dec 15, 2025 Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5884)
- Dec 15, 2025 DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 3872. · house
- Dec 15, 2025 Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5884-5885) · house
- Dec 15, 2025 Mr. Stauber moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. · house
- Oct 31, 2025 Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 309. · house
- Oct 31, 2025 Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-357. · house
- Sep 17, 2025 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent. · house
- Sep 17, 2025 Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held · house
- Sep 17, 2025 Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Discharged · house
- Sep 3, 2025 Subcommittee Hearings Held · house
- Jul 2, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. · house
- Jun 10, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
- Jun 10, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (4)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Meetings where this bill was on the agenda
- Business meeting to consider S.140, to address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public lands, S.332, to require a study on Holocaust education efforts of States, local educational agencies, and public elementary and secondary schools, S.365 and H.R.1729, bills to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to allow for additional entities to be eligible to complete the maintenance work on Bolts Ditch and the Bolts Ditch Headgate within the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado, S.764, to provide for the designation of certain wilderness areas, recreation management areas, and conservation areas in the State of Colorado, S.789, to require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources around the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, refining, separation, and processing technologies, S.791, to establish the Justice Thurgood Marshall National Historic Site in the State of Maryland as an affiliated area of the National Park System, S.888, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation areas, to withdraw certain land located in Curry County and Josephine County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geothermal leasing laws, S.945, to amend the Smith River National Recreation Area Act to include certain additions to the Smith River National Recreation Area, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain wild rivers in the State of Oregon, S.1088 and H.R.2290, bills to provide that the memorial to commemorate the sacrifice and service of the women who worked on the home front to support the efforts of the United States military during World War II may be located on the National Mall, S.1288, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to designate as a component of the National Heritage Area System the Finger Lakes National Heritage Area in the State of New York, S.1341, to amend the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 to add certain land to the Sarvis Creek Wilderness, S.1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws, S.1413, to authorize additional funding for the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act, S.1476, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Gila River system in the State of New Mexico as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction over certain Federal land in the State of New Mexico, S.1547, to amend title 54, United States Code, to reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, S.1737, to designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, S.1870, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, S.2437 and H.R.3857, bills to amend the Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act, S.2753, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to authorize certain extraordinary operation and maintenance work for urban canals of concern, S.3500 and H.R.3657, bills to amend the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to annually submit to Congress a report on the status of ongoing hydropower relicensing applications, S.3518, to amend the Federal Power Act to address certain alterations in, and the maintenance and repair of, project works, to provide for the licensing of micro hydrokinetic energy projects, S.3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, S.3693, to extend the authorization for a large-scale water recycling and reuse grant program, S.3723, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water from the Missouri River to the Western Dakota Regional Water System, S.3732, to amend the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act to authorize assistance under the storage program, S.3736, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of constructing a project to supply municipal, rural, and industrial water to the Dakota Mainstem Regional Water System service area in the States of South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota, S.3743, to direct the Secretary of
- Hearings to examine S.462, to provide for economic development and conservation in Washoe County, Nevada, S.1349, to withdraw the National Forest System land in the Ruby Mountains subdistrict of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and the National Wildlife Refuge System land in Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, from operation under the mineral leasing laws, S.1464, to withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from mineral development, S.1497, to amend the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act to establish the Cerro de la Olla Wilderness in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument and to modify the boundary of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, S.1981, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to utilize grazing for wildfire risk reduction, S.2417, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a special use permit with respect to the maintaining of a flagpole bearing the flag of the United States at Kyhv Peak Lookout Point, Utah, S.2554, to provide for the recognition of certain Alaska Native communities and the settlement of certain claims under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, S.2754, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the City of Ouray, Colorado, certain land managed by the Forest Service, together with a reservoir, S.2787, to amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to ensure that ranchers who have grazing agreements on national grasslands are treated the same as permittees on other Federal land, S.2860, to unleash United States offshore critical minerals and resources, S.2968, to ensure access to certain public land, S.3004, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Bureau of Land Management land to the city of Price, Utah, S.3082, to prohibit oil and natural gas exploration, development, and production in certain areas of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, S.3493, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Carson City, Nevada, S.3526, to provide for the protection of and investment in certain Federal land in the State of California, S.3527, to release from wilderness study area designation certain land in the State of Montana, to improve the management of that land, S.3695, to amend Public Law 96-586 to modernize the authority of the Forest Service to acquire and administer land under that Act, H.R.204, to require that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior submit accurate reports regarding hazardous fuels reduction activities, H.R.677, to establish a process to expedite the review of appeals of certain decisions by the Department of the Interior, H.R.952, to convey the reversionary interest of the United States in certain land in Sacramento, California, H.R.1829, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain lands within the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, H.R.3872, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals, H.R.3937, to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Full text
AN ACT
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. APPLICATION OF MINERAL LEASING ACT FOR ACQUIRED LANDS TO HARDROCK MINERALS.
The Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 2 (30 U.S.C. 351)—
(A) by striking “Act ‘United States”’ and inserting the following: “Act:
“(1) United states.—The term ‘United States”’;
(B) by striking “Alaska. ‘Acquired lands”’ and inserting the following: “Alaska.
“(2) Acquired lands; lands acquired by the united states.—The term ‘acquired lands”’;
(C) by striking “552). ‘Secretary”’ and inserting the following: “552).
“(3) Secretary.—The term ‘Secretary”’;
(D) by striking “Interior. ‘Mineral leasing laws’ shall mean” and inserting the following: “Interior.
“(4) Mineral leasing laws.—The term ‘mineral leasing laws’ means”;
(E) by striking “Acts. ‘Lease”’ and inserting the following: “Acts.
“(5) Lease.—The term ‘lease”’;
(F) by striking “requires. The term” and inserting the following: “requires.
“(6) Oil.—The term”; and
(G) by adding at the end the following:
“(7) Hardrock mineral.—The term ‘hardrock mineral’—
“(A) includes deposits of—
“(i) minerals found in sedimentary or other rocks;
“(ii) base metals;
“(iii) precious metals;
“(iv) industrial minerals; and
“(v) precious and semi-precious gemstones; and
“(B) does not include deposits of—
“(i) coal;
“(ii) oil;
“(iii) oil shale;
“(iv) gas;
“(v) sodium;
“(vi) potassium;
“(vii) sulfur; or
“(viii) mineral materials subject to disposition under the Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947 (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).”; and
(2) in section 3 (30 U.S.C. 352), by striking “and sulfur” and inserting “sulfur, and hardrock minerals”.
Passed the House of Representatives December 15, 2025.
Attest:
Clerk. 119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3872
AN ACT
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals.
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