WASHINGTON— The U.S. House of Representatives today passed a bill that would expand the mining industry’s access to public lands for permanent open-pit mines, toxic waste dumps, roads and pipelines.

“Anti-conservation members of Congress are trying yet again to give away America’s much-loved public lands to corporate polluters,” said Ashley C. Nunes, public lands policy specialist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Hardrock mining is the top source of toxic pollution in the nation. It doesn’t make a lick of sense to surrender countless acres of our public lands that provide clean water, wildlife habitat, cultural resources and recreation for millions of Americans just so mining conglomerates can make more profit.”

Under the 1872 Mining Law, mining and millsite claims must be deemed valid before the right to mine on those lands is vested. The so-called Mining Regulatory Clarity Act would bypass the validity requirement and grant mining companies — including foreign companies — the statutory right to permanently occupy and indiscriminately use public lands upon approval of a company’s self-written plan of operations.

The bill needs to pass the Senate before becoming law.

The legislation seeks to circumvent the Center’s 2022 legal victory in which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the invalidation of a controversial open-pit copper mine. That mine site in southern Arizona’s Santa Rita Mountains replenishes Tucson’s groundwater and provides critical habitat for the recovery of endangered jaguars.

Earlier this year, President Trump issued an executive order to ramp up mining on federal public lands and make it the “primary land use” of land management plans. His administration continues the unusual venture of taking partial ownership in mineral companies.

“Trump will see this reckless legislation as a permission slip to enrich himself and his billionaire friends and turn our public lands into ruins,” said Nunes. “Americans should be furious.”

A 2025 survey of Western voters found that 72% oppose removing public lands protections for mining and other extractive uses. This summer a provision that would have sold off millions of acres of public lands was ultimately pulled from the Republican budget bill due to widespread public outcry.