Bill > S255

This bill, the North Fork Watershed Protection Act of 2013, withdraws federally owned land and any future federal acquisitions within a specific area in Montana, known as the North Fork Federal Lands Withdrawal Area, from being used for mining claims or for leasing mineral and geothermal resources. This means that new mining activities and the leasing of land for mineral or geothermal extraction will no longer be permitted on this designated land. The bill defines "eligible Federal land" as land shown on a specific Bureau of Land Management map dated June 9, 2010, and any land the federal government acquires in that area after the bill becomes law. Importantly, this withdrawal does not prevent the Secretary of the Interior from taking necessary actions to fulfill requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), which ensures environmental impact assessments are conducted, or the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which protects endangered species, for any surface-disturbing activities related to leases that were already issued before this bill was enacted.