Gilt Edge Mine Conveyance Act

Floor Speech

I rise in support of the Gilt Edge Mine Conveyance Act. This bill reflects exemplary collaboration between the State of South Dakota, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Forest Service. I commend Congressman Dusty Johnson for his leadership on this proposal.

The Gilt Edge Mine is a 360-acre former mining site in South Dakota. Mining began on the site in 1876 with sporadic operations until the 1990s. The Environmental Protection Agency declared the former mine a Superfund site in the year 2000.

Mr. Johnson's bill authorizes the State of South Dakota to purchase approximately 266 acres of Forest Service land that will allow the State to clean up the Gilt Edge Mine Superfund site once the EPA completes its portion of the cleanup.

This is a good bill that will lead to a more seamless cleanup effort and empower South Dakota to pursue additional water reclamation efforts.

This bill will also allow revenue from the land sale to go toward maintenance and improvements at the Black Hills National Forest. Recent mismanagement of the Black Hills National Forest has hurt rural communities and jeopardized future forest management efforts. This is a key provision of the bill and the result of a compromise worked out with South Dakota that will improve the management and care of the Black Hills National Forest, and I strongly support its inclusion.

This bill is an example of a win-win solution that not only empowers the State to enhance its environment and remediation efforts, but also reduces the burden on the Federal Government by chipping away at the massive Federal estate.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman and thank the gentleman for their words of support for this piece of legislation.

I ask all my colleagues to support my bill.

It would do exactly as the previous two speakers said. It would make things a lot easier. It would advance environmental quality.

What exactly are we dealing with here?

We have a 266-acre parcel. It used to be the site of the Gilt Edge Mine. It is now an EPA Superfund site. Mr. Speaker, you can see a picture of the site here. This is not pristine wilderness; but, of course, we want to get it back to an environmental asset.

This is now, as the gentlewoman said, a checkerboard of competing governmental ownerships and roles. You have got the Forest Service which owns much of this land; you have got the State of South Dakota which owns some of the rest of it; you have got the EPA which for 20 years has been doing remediation work on the water; and then you have got the State of South Dakota which has other environmental cleanup and management responsibilities on this site.

So what this bill would do is take the portions of this site that are owned by the Forest Service, and it would allow the State of South Dakota to purchase this land. That is going to get the Forest Service out of the middle of this. They don't need to play a role here.

The work of the State will be easier if they have one less Federal partner to work with and to navigate.

Now, sometimes my colleagues get concerned if we are going to take a Federal asset and give it to a State.

Will this be a loss of important Federal access opportunities for the public?

Well, that is why I brought this picture up here, Mr. Speaker. People are not going hiking here. This is not wildlife habitat. You will not have bison from the Black Hills of South Dakota nestle in this leach pond here.

We have real environmental work to do here, and it is important that we do it in the most effective way. This bill would advance that cause.

I just want to make it clear, so many people who are involved are supportive of this. Senators Thune and Rounds have been supportive. Governor Noem has been supportive. Lawrence County, the city of Lead, and the city of Deadwood are all supportive.

I ask all of my colleagues to join their voices of support so we can do what needs to be done on this Superfund site. We didn't treat this land properly, and the mining company did not treat this land properly. We have a continuing opportunity to do right. My bill would do that. Vote ``yes.''

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Mr. FULCHER. Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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