Introduction
The Land Board directed IDL to seek amendments to Idaho Code § 47-6, Location of Mining Claims. The recommended changes include:
- Adding a new $10 fee (a 4% increase) per federal mining claim in Idaho paid upon recordation at the county.
- Depositing the new revenue into the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund established by Idaho Code § 47-1703.
Purpose
The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund currently receives 34% of the mine license tax in Idaho. The remaining 66% of the mine license tax is deposited into the General Fund. This revenue has declined over the last seven years and is no longer sufficient to fund the Abandoned Mine Lands program. Without additional revenue, the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund is predicted to drop to zero in FY2027. This would leave the State of Idaho with no funding to address the hazards present at thousands of abandoned mines across the state. These hazards include open adits and shafts as well as mine waste and mine-impacted waters that may threaten human health and the environment.
Mining claimants would be affected due to the $10 increase in federal mining claim filing fees. The Bureau of Land Management currently requires a yearly maintenance fee of $165 per claim, and county recording fees start at $10 for a current minimum cost of $175 per claim. This would increase to $185 with the additional $10 fee for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.
In addition to these fees, the Bureau of Land Management requires new mining claims filed after September 1, 2019, to also pay $60 per claim in additional fees for a total of $225 in fees charged by Bureau of Land Management. The county recording fees of at least $10 gives a current minimum cost of $235 for new mining claims. This would increase to $245 with the additional $10 fee for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.
Claimants with 10 or fewer mining claims nationwide may receive a waiver for maintenance fees, but the Bureau of Land Management requires a $15 fee for each claim that receives a waiver, and county recording fees of at least $10 are still paid for a current minimum payment of $25. This would increase to $35 with the additional $10 fee for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund.
Fiscal Impact
More than 32,000 mining claims are currently active in Idaho. This new $10 per claim fee would increase the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund by approximately $320,000 per year. This represents about a 4% increase to the cost of filing a new mining claim.
Since this legislative priority was presented to the Land Board for approval in July of 2022, IDL worked with the BLM to refine the estimate of federal mining claims in Idaho. Initially, the BLM reported there were an estimated 40,000 federal mining claims in Idaho. Upon further inquiry, BLM revised this number down to 32,310. IDL has filed a FOIA request to confirm this count.