Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102
§54 Liability for Damages to Stock Raising and Homestead Entries by Mining Activities
Title 30 › CHAPTER 2 — MINERAL LANDS AND REGULATIONS IN GENERAL › § 54
Summary
Makes someone who, on or after June 21, 1949, uses strip or open‑pit mining on land under a stock‑raising or homestead entry or patent responsible for damage to the land’s grazing value and for damage to crops or improvements. It does not affect property rights existing on June 21, 1949.
Full Legal Text
Title 30, §54
Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Notwithstanding the provisions of any Act of Congress to the contrary, any person who on and after June 21, 1949 prospects for, mines, or removes by strip or open pit mining methods, any minerals from any land included in a stock raising or other homestead entry or patent, and who had been liable under such an existing Act only for damages caused thereby to the crops or improvements of the entryman or patentee, shall also be liable for any damage that may be caused to the value of the land for grazing by such prospecting for, mining, or removal of minerals. Nothing in this section shall be considered to impair any vested right in existence on June 21, 1949.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Similar ProvisionsProvisions similar to this section were contained in act June 17, 1949, ch. 221, § 2, 63 Stat. 201.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
30 U.S.C. § 54
Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102