The following are a few of the basic laws which give the Forest Service authority to cleanup contamination and mitigate safety hazards on abandoned mines.

• The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 allowed the president to set aside forest reserves from the land in the public domain, but did not explicitly authorize the use or development of resources on the reserved lands.
• In 1897 Congress passed the Organic Administration Act authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to administer the reserved forest lands, and opening them to regulated use. This Law is the foundation for multiple use and Forest Service management of National Forest System Lands.
• The Transfer Act of 1905 transferred administration of the forest reserves to the Department of Agriculture under the Bureau of Forestry, which later became the Forest Service and the forest reserves were subsequently renamed national forests;
• Fifty-five years later, the Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act of 1960 (MUSYA) directed  the Forest Service to manage national forest system lands for additional purposes (multiple use and sustained yield). 
• The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) greatly enhanced the federal government's ability, to respond to or "clean up" sites that have releases or spills of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants to the environment, and to require current and former owners and operators to pay for cleanup costs. Through Executive Order 12580, the USDA was delegated certain CERCLA responsibilities, which it in turn delegated to the Forest Service.

Abandoned or inactive mines may involve tens to hundreds of acres of disturbance, and include restoration or removal of mill buildings, roads, mine openings, open pits, waste rock, tailings and spent ore. Releases of hazardous materials or sediment from these abandoned mines can cause significant offsite effects to surface water and aquatic resources, in addition to direct impacts to soil, vegetation and wildlife. Cleanup of these mines cost tens of thousands, to over one hundred million dollars, and may require many years to complete. Often work on these sites is done by potentially responsible parties, with direction and oversight by the Forest Service and other state or federal agencies. Work on these projects have the potential to restore miles of aquatic resources, often in sensitive or critical habitat, and tens to hundreds of acres of soil and vegetative resources.

It is Forest Service policy is to use its CERCLA authority and procedures to clean up sites where hazardous substances have been released. Many abandoned mine sites are CERCLA sites, since heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and others that may occur in surface water at mine sites are listed as hazardous substances.

Key provisions of CERCLA and the NCP:

• CERCLA does not require National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance for response actions;
• CERCLA response action procedures are described in 40 CFR 300. There is no provision for appeal, and, in general, legal challenges are barred until completion of response actions;
• CERCLA provides for recovery of cleanup costs from current, or prior owners and operators of sties;
• State or federal permits are not required for cleanup actions occurring onsite although applicable laws must be considered in establishing cleanup levels.

The majority of abandoned mines consist of isolated mine openings, shafts, roads and old buildings. Although they do not pose the kind of environmental hazard that large complex mines do, they are often significant safety hazards and may be causing localized environmental problems. Cleanup of these sites may involve recontouring of roads, closure of mine adits and shafts, removal of mine chemicals and trash, restoration or removal of old mine buildings and protection where possible of AML dependant species such as bats.

Each year the Forest Service issues a guidance letter regarding safety hazard mitigation work at abandoned mines. This emphasizes safety hazard mitigation work and the importance of conducting such work safely. The following is an excerpt from the most recent letter.

"AML Safety Mitigation

...All regions and every Forest has completed some level of abandoned mine inventory.  These inventories provide the means to systematically plan, budget for, and conduct safety mitigation such as filling of shafts, closure of adits, installation of bat gates, and removal of abandoned facilities and hazardous materials.  Each year Regions submit funding requests for safety mitigation projects.  These projects should be prioritized so that the worst sites are addressed first.  Factors to consider in prioritizing sites include: 

·       Sites where a death, injury or close call has occurred;

·       Sites where complaints or concerns have been expressed by the public or others;

·       Sites nearby developed recreation sites or other concentrations of people;

·       Sites accessed by, or near Forest roads or trails;

·      Other sites based on the severity of the hazard and accessibility to the public. 

Underground Entry

To perform safety mitigation work, our employees and contractors need to enter abandoned mines and deep cuts in order to perform their job.  Section 22.81 of the Forest Service Health and Safety Code describes the required practices and procedures for any entry by Forest Service employees into underground or deep cuts.  This section of the Code should be referenced and read for a complete understanding of the requirements.  The following are some highlights:

·       A qualified Forest Service certified mineral examiner or State or Federal mine inspector must assess the safety of underground workings and accompany Forest Service employees when they enter an underground abandoned/inactive mine or deep cut.

·       A line officer must determine which non-certified employees have a need to go underground and ensure that they receive the required training in first aid, CPR and the use of personal protective equipment...".