This bill establishes a new Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains within the Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate cleanup efforts at abandoned hardrock mining sites across the country. The office will be headed by a director and will work to identify priority mine sites needing cleanup, develop best practices for remediation, and coordinate responses among EPA regional offices, federal agencies, states, and tribal nations. The legislation gives special attention to abandoned uranium mines on Navajo Nation lands, requiring the EPA to develop a comprehensive 10-year interagency cleanup plan by September 2027 in cooperation with the Departments of Energy and Interior, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and tribal governments. The bill does not create new regulatory authority for the EPA but rather streamlines coordination of existing cleanup programs and emphasizes support for tribal consultation and involvement in cleanup decisions affecting their lands.
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