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H.R. 3872

U.S. House•In Senate Committee

Summary

H.R. 3872, the To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals, was introduced in the House on Jun 10, 2025 by Rep. Patrick Fallon (R) with 2 co-sponsors. It last saw action on Jun 10, 2026: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

Record

Text

H.R. 3872 has 2 co-sponsors.

hb3872/engrossed-in-house.txt
119 HR 3872 EH: To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals.
 U.S. House of Representatives
 text/xml
 EN
 Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
 IB
 119th CONGRESS  1st Session
 H. R. 3872
 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 AN ACT
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals.
1.
Application of Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to hardrock minerals
The Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands ( 30 U.S.C. 351 et seq. ) is amended—
(1)
in section 2 ( 30 U.S.C. 351 )—
(A)
by striking  Act  United States   and inserting the following:
Act:
(1)
United States
The term  United States
 ;
(B)
by striking  Alaska.  Acquired lands   and inserting the following:
Alaska.
(2)
Acquired lands; lands acquired by the United States
The term  acquired lands
 ;
(C)
by striking  552).  Secretary   and inserting the following:
552).
(3)
Secretary
The term  Secretary
 ;
(D)
by striking  Interior.  Mineral leasing laws  shall mean  and inserting the following:
Interior.
(4)
Mineral leasing laws
The term  mineral leasing laws  means
 ;
(E)
by striking  Acts.  Lease   and inserting the following:
Acts.
(5)
Lease
The term  lease
 ;
(F)
by striking  requires. The term  and inserting the following:
requires.
(6)
Oil
The term
 ; and
(G)
by adding at the end the following:
(7)
Hardrock mineral
The term  hardrock mineral —
(A)
includes deposits of—
(i)
minerals found in sedimentary or other rocks;
(ii)
base metals;
(iii)
precious metals;
(iv)
industrial minerals; and
(v)
precious and semi-precious gemstones; and
(B)
does not include deposits of—
(i)
coal;
(ii)
oil;
(iii)
oil shale;
(iv)
gas;
(v)
sodium;
(vi)
potassium;
(vii)
sulfur; or
(viii)
mineral materials subject to disposition under the Act of July 31, 1947, commonly known as the Materials Act of 1947 ( 30 U.S.C. 601 et seq. ).
 ; and
(2)
in section 3 ( 30 U.S.C. 352 ), by striking  and sulfur  and inserting  sulfur, and hardrock minerals .
    Passed the House of Representatives December 15, 2025.  Kevin F. McCumber,  Clerk.

Tracker

The tracker indicates the progress of this legislation as it moves through the legislative process.

  1. Introduced2025-06-10
  2. Passed House2025-12-15
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Conference
  5. To President
  6. Became Law

CRS Summary

The summaries are the Congressional Research Service’s, one per stage. Read them in full.

Reported to House Oct 31, 2025

hb3872/reported-to-house.md

Shown Here:
Reported to House (10/31/2025)

This bill specifies that all federally acquired lands are eligible to be considered for hardrock mineral leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (MLAAL). The bill defines the term hardrock mineral to (1) include deposits of minerals found in sedimentary or other rocks, base metals, precious metals, industrial minerals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones; and (2) exclude deposits of coal, oil, oil shale, gas, sodium, potassium, sulfur, or mineral materials subject to disposition under the Materials Act of 1947.

By way of background, hardrock minerals are not currently listed under the MLAAL as deposits subject to a lease, while mineral resources such as coal, phosphate, oil, gas, gilsonite, and sulfur are listed. As a result, federal lands may be leased for mining hardrock minerals only if the federal lands were acquired under a statute, such as the Weeks Act, that specifically authorizes the land to be used for hardrock mineral leasing.

Sponsors

Rep. Patrick Fallon (R) sponsors H.R. 3872, and 2 members have co-sponsored it, 1 of them from the day it was introduced.

Committees

H.R. 3872 went before 4 committees: Energy and Natural Resources, Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee, Natural Resources and Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee.

Energy and Natural Resources
Energy and Natural Resources
Markup By · Jun 10, 2026 · 314 Bills
Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee
Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee
Hearings By (subcommittee) · Feb 12, 2026
Natural Resources
Natural Resources
Reported By · Oct 31, 2025 · 395 Bills
Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee
Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee
Hearings By (subcommittee) · Sep 3, 2025 · 15 Bills

Reports

1 committee report has been filed on H.R. 3872, the latest H. Rept. 119-357.

  • H. Rept. 119-357 — TO AMEND THE MINERAL LEASING ACT FOR ACQUIRED LANDS TO MAKE THAT ACT APPLICABLE TO HARDROCK MINERALS

Actions

H.R. 3872 has taken 18 actions since Jun 10, 2025, the latest on Jun 10, 2026.

ChamberAction
Jun 10, 2026
Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Feb 12, 2026
Senate
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining. Hearings held.Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee
Dec 16, 2025
Senate
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Dec 15, 202517:04
House
Mr. Stauber moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
Dec 15, 202517:04
House
Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H5884-5885)

Votes

H.R. 3872 has not gone to a roll call.

Titles

H.R. 3872 goes by 5 titles, 2 of them short titles.

  • To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals. — Display Title
  • To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals. — Official Titles from EH (Engrossed in House) bill text
  • MERICA Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • Mineral Extraction for Renewable Industry and Critical Applications Act of 2025 — Short Title(s) as Introduced
  • To amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make that Act applicable to hardrock minerals. — Official Title as Introduced

Cost estimate

The Congressional Budget Office has filed 1 estimate for H.R. 3872, the latest on Sep 2, 2026.

Lobbying

4 clients hired 4 firms and 12 registered lobbyists who named H.R. 3872 in 8 quarterly filings, 2025 to 2026. Reported under the Lobbying Disclosure Act; a filing’s income covers everything its registrant worked that quarter, so the amounts below are the filings’, not this bill’s.

Filed under Natural Resources, Defense, Trade (domestic/foreign), Budget/Appropriations, Clean Air and Water (quality), Chemicals/Chemical Industry, Energy/Nuclear, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace.

Clients

Who paid to be heard, by how many filings named the bill.

ClientBusinessStateFirmsFilingsReported
NYRSTAR CLARKSVILLE, INCZinc mining and smelting & developing domestic source of gallium and germanium supply.Tennessee14$250K
ENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESManufacturing and processing of critical mineralsTexas12$20K
NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION—District of Columbia11—
TROUT UNLIMITED—Virginia11—

Firms

Registrants who filed on the bill, by filings.

RegistrantClientsFilingsReported
CASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC.14$250K
ENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES12$20K
NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION11—
TROUT UNLIMITED11—

Lobbyists

Named on the filings that cite the bill.

LobbyistFirmsClientsFilings
ANDREW FORBES114
KAI ANDERSON114
PETER STAHLEY114
RYAN MULVENON114
KELLY LUGAR112
GERALD MULLINS111
JUSTIN PROSSER111
KADEN MCARTHUR111
LINDSAY SLATER111
MARTHA NEWELL111
RICHARD RUSSELL111
URSULA WOJCIECHOWSKI111

Filings

The documents themselves, on the Senate’s Lobbying Disclosure site, largest reported first.

ClientRegistrantPeriodReportedDocument
NATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATIONNATIONAL MINING ASSOCIATION2026 second_quarter$820K2nd Quarter - Report
TROUT UNLIMITEDTROUT UNLIMITED2026 second_quarter$120K2nd Quarter - Report
NYRSTAR CLARKSVILLE, INCCASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC.2025 fourth_quarter$110K4th Quarter - Report
NYRSTAR CLARKSVILLE, INCCASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC.2026 first_quarter$80K1st Quarter - Report
NYRSTAR CLARKSVILLE, INCCASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC.2025 third_quarter$60K3rd Quarter - Report
ENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES2026 second_quarter$10K2nd Quarter - Report
ENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIESENERGY EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES2026 first_quarter$10K1st Quarter - Report
NYRSTAR CLARKSVILLE, INCCASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC.2026 second_quarter—2nd Quarter - Termina…

Classification

The Congressional Research Service files H.R. 3872 under Energy, one of its 31 policy areas, and gives it 6 legislative subjects.

CRS Subjects

CRS assigns every bill one policy area from its 31; H.R. 3872’s is Energy.

hr3872/policy-areas.txt
EnergyAgriculture and FoodAnimalsArmed Forces and National SecurityArts, Culture, ReligionCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCommerceCongressCrime and Law EnforcementEconomics and Public FinanceEducationEmergency ManagementEnvironmental ProtectionFamiliesFinance and Financial SectorForeign Trade and International FinanceGovernment Operations and PoliticsHealthHousing and Community DevelopmentImmigrationInternational AffairsLabor and EmploymentLawNative AmericansPublic Lands and Natural ResourcesScience, Technology, CommunicationsSocial WelfareSports and RecreationTaxationTransportation and Public WorksWater Resources Development

Legislative Subjects

H.R. 3872 carries 6 of CRS’s legislative subjects, from Alaska to Oil and gas.

hr3872/subjects.txt
AlaskaLand transfersLicensing and registrationsMetalsMiningOil and gas

Constitutional authority

The clause the sponsor cites as Congress’s power to enact H.R. 3872, as entered in the Congressional Record.

[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 10, 2025)][House]From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]By Mr. FALLON:H.R. 3872.Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuantto the following:Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1[Page H2615]

Source: congress.gov · legiscan.com