Bill > S1464

This bill creates protections for approximately 4,288 acres of Federal land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) near Placitas, New Mexico, by withdrawing those lands from mineral development. Specifically, the bill prevents the land (described as Tracts A, B, C, and D on a November 13, 2019 map) from being used for mining claims, mineral leasing, or geothermal leasing. While the bill maintains this mineral development restriction, it does not prevent the Secretary of the Interior from potentially conveying the surface estate of the land through existing legal mechanisms like the Federal Land Policy and Management Act or the Recreation and Public Purposes Act. However, any such conveyance would require that the mineral rights underneath the land remain reserved to the United States government. The bill essentially preserves these specific tracts of land from mineral extraction while still allowing potential future land use or transfer of the surface area.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1464/all-info