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[DOCID: f:h447ih.txt]






107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 447

  To require the Secretary of the Interior to make reimbursement for 
certain damages incurred as a result of bonding regulations adopted by 
 the Bureau of Land Management on February 28, 1997, and subsequently 
             determined to be in violation of Federal law.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 6, 2001

 Mr. Gibbons introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of the Interior to make reimbursement for 
certain damages incurred as a result of bonding regulations adopted by 
 the Bureau of Land Management on February 28, 1997, and subsequently 
             determined to be in violation of Federal law.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. REIMBURSEMENT.

    (a) Requirement.--The Secretary of the Interior (in this section 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall reimburse all private and 
public entities for all monetary damages incurred as a result of the 
bonding regulations promulgated by the Secretary on February 28, 1997 
(43 C.F.R. 3809), that were determined by the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia on May 13, 1998 (Northwest Mining 
Association v. Bruce Babbitt, Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior, 
et al., Case No. 97-1013), to have been adopted in violation of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act.
    (b) Claims.--Any private or public entity may submit a claim for 
such damages to the Secretary for reimbursement under this section. 
Such claim shall be supported by evidence showing that the damages were 
caused by the bonding regulations. Unless the Secretary finds within 90 
days after receipt of the claim that the damages were not caused, in 
whole or in part, by such regulations, the Secretary shall make 
reimbursement to the claimant within such 90-day period.
    (c) Appeals.--Any private or public entity that submits a claim in 
accordance with this section that is rejected by the Secretary--
            (1) shall have a right to an appeal of the matter to the 
        State court of competent jurisdiction in the State in which the 
        entity is domiciled; and
            (2) shall have the right to a civil trial by jury if the 
        amount in dispute, including litigation costs, is $20,000 or 
        greater.
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