2018 MINING CLAIM FEES AND WAIVERS

[Smithsgold]

https://www.blm.gov/press-release/public-land-mining-claim-fees-and-waivers-are-due-september-4

 

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[Clay Diggins]

I would strongly suggest that claimants NOT follow the instructions found at that link Smithsgold.

From the linked BLM webpage:

Claimants who wish to retain their mining claims on Bureau of Land Management federal public lands through the 2019 assessment year must pay a maintenance fee or file a maintenance fee waiver certificate on or before Tuesday, Sept. 4, to prevent the mining claim from being declared forfeit and void.

Following their suggestion about the filing deadline could very well end up in you losing your claim. The law is clear that the deadline is September 1 at one minute after midnight. BLM has closed claims for filing on September 1 day. I don't have that drive online now but I will post some recent cases where the BLM argued, and won, after closing claims for being past the 12:01 am deadline. Congress has made it clear that there is no grace period.

The BLM frequently and consistently provide incorrect information. It's not the BLM's duty to inform you and they are not legally responsible if they provide you with misinformation. That's why the BLM constantly reminds you:
NO WARRANTY IS MADE BY BLM FOR USE OF THE DATA FOR PURPOSES NOT INTENDED BY BLM

Get your annual filings in by end of the BLM workday on August 31 or risk losing your claim.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Here is one Art Anderson:

In Art Anderson, 181 IBLA 270, GFS(MIN) 14(2011), the
IBLA found that a placer mining claim was forfeited when the
claimant attempted to file a small miner waiver certification on
September 1, rather than on or before August 31. On September 1,
2010, plaintiff tried to file a small miner waiver certification
with BLM for the 2011 assessment year. BLM rejected the waiver
certification because it lacked the signature of one of the claim
owners. Id. at 272-73. Plaintiff appealed and on appeal, the IBLA
stated that had plaintiff submitted a timely certificate, BLM’s
rejection of the waiver certificate would have been in error. BLM
should have accepted the certificate, notified the claimant of the
defect, and given the claimant 60 days’ notice to cure. Id. at 273.

However, the IBLA determined that plaintiff did not timely
submit the certificate. Prior to 2007, the assessment year began
at 12:00 p.m. on September 1 of each year. In 2007, Congress
amended the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 to make
the annual assessment year commence at 12:01 a.m. of each year.
Id. at 274. Claimants are required to submit a claim maintenance
fee or waiver certificate before the commencement of the assess-
ment year. Id.; 30 U.S.C. § 28f(b). BLM has not yet amended its
regulations to reflect the change in the 2007 legislation and 43
C.F.R. § 3834.11(a)(2) still provides that the annual maintenance
fee is due on or before September 1 of each year. Nevertheless,
the IBLA held that the statute is self-operative and that failure to
timely pay the maintenance fee or submit the waiver certificate
causes the claim to forfeit by operation of law. 181 IBLA at 275.

August 31 - no later no matter what the BLM publishes as the date.

Heavy Pans

 

[Bejay]

So the dates on the waiver now should read ??

Bejay

 

[Clay Diggins]

The two dates small miners need to meet for the BLM are:

1. August 31 to file the Small Miners Waiver with the BLM (no fee Form 3830-2).
2. December 30 to file a copy of your County recorded Affidavit of Assessment Work or Intention to Hold.

State laws on when you need to Record your Affidavit of Assessment Work or Intention to Hold vary by State. The above deadlines are for BLM filings only.

The new mining year runs from September 1, 2018 to September 1, 2019. You always declare Small Miners Waiver Form 3830-2 for the new mining year not the current mining year.

Heavy Pans

 

[Bejay]

So for the waivers this year (now) filed on or before Aug 31st; the Line #1 would read beginning on Sep 1 2019 and ending on Sep1 2020....and then line 2 is owned 10 or less claims Sep 1 2019. Talk about confusing. For years I thought the mining year was Dec to Dec and when they came out with the waiver and fee structure it really woke me up because I went by the Oregon dredge season which annually ended on Sep 15th for me. It cost me dearly to say the least when I missed the Sep 1st deadline many many years ago. Evidently many others found the verbiage confusing because the BLM now sends out the new waiver forms with the dates already on them.....(sometimes I guess...but I would not count on it).


Then of course one must pay attention to the expiration dates on the 3830-2 form...as the forms often look identical but they expire and then they are a "don't count" obstacle. I done that before also. Needless to say us old farts have to really be on our toes and double check everything we do. Often the BLM takes months upon months to return and acknowledge receiving/approving the waiver forms.

Bejay

 

[Goldwasher]

So for the waivers this year (now) filed on or before Aug 31st; the Line #1 would read beginning on Sep 1 2019 and ending on Sep1 2020....and then line 2 is owned 10 or less claims Sep 1 2019. Talk about confusing. For years I thought the mining year was Dec to Dec and when they came out with the waiver and fee structure it really woke me up because I went by the Oregon dredge season which annually ended on Sep 15th for me. It cost me dearly to say the least when I missed the Sep 1st deadline many many years ago. Evidently many others found the verbiage confusing because the BLM now sends out the new waiver forms with the dates already on them.....(sometimes I guess...but I would not count on it).


Then of course one must pay attention to the expiration dates on the 3830-2 form...as the forms often look identical but they expire and then they are a "don't count" obstacle. I done that before also. Needless to say us old farts have to really be on our toes and double check everything we do. Often the BLM takes months upon months to return and acknowledge receiving/approving the waiver forms.

Bejay

Thats why I go in person. i won't chance a mail issue.


Waiver for the upcoming year.

Proof of Labor for the current year

I do it all in August. County and BLM. Why wait?

 

[bug]

Last year Sacramento BLM sent the waivers out with the dates on them, which was Sept 1 2017 - Sept 1 2018.
This year they left it blank again.

 

[mikep691]

Next year's mining season for BLM is Sep 1, 2018 to Aug 30, 2019

 

[Clay Diggins]

Next year's mining season for BLM is Sep 1, 2018 to Aug 30, 2019

That may be their spin on the law but as stated above Congress declared that the mining year ends and begins at 12:01 am on September 1. It may be a technicality but as you can see with the Art Anderson case - technicalities can and do get your claim closed.

By the way August has 31 days. Looks like the BLM made another "little mistake" like telling you you can file on September 4th, it's all cool with them, it's just another claim they don't have to bother with.

Stick with what the law says and you will be fine. September 1 - September 1.

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

So for the waivers this year (now) filed on or before Aug 31st; the Line #1 would read beginning on Sep 1 2019 and ending on Sep1 2020....and then line 2 is owned 10 or less claims Sep 1 2019.

Bejay

I think you mean Sep 1 2018 and ending on Sep1 2019 owned 10 or less claims Sep 1 2018.

Heavy Pans

 

[mikep691]

That may be their spin on the law but as stated above Congress declared that the mining year ends and begins at 12:01 am on September 1. It may be a technicality but as you can see with the Art Anderson case - technicalities can and do get your claim closed.

By the way August has 31 days. Looks like the BLM made another "little mistake" like telling you you can file on September 4th, it's all cool with them, it's just another claim they don't have to bother with.

Stick with what the law says and you will be fine. September 1 - September 1.

Heavy Pans

That was what I meant but I also look at it has to be in their office prior to Sep. 1st, and depending on whether Aug 31 falls on a weekend, and which wrong month you are looking at (senior moment).....Well, you get my drift.

 

[Bejay]

I think you mean Sep 1 2018 and ending on Sep1 2019 owned 10 or less claims Sep 1 2018.

Heavy Pans

I guess it is going to always confuse me what the next year is. That is why I usually check the previous years ACCEPTED AND RETURNED form. But the Oregon BLM was so late in returning the forms I would have to dig through my files to find them. So I figured lets clear the air on the issue and let others who might find it ambiguous to get er straight. Tks for the clarity.


Bejay

 

[Goldwasher]

Just keep in mind that you would be paying a maintenance fee for the year upcoming.

But since you will be filing a waiver for the fee.

Next year you have to show proof of the labor you did.

Because of the fee waiver you filed the year before.

YOUR ALWAYS SUBMITTING YOUR PROOF OF LABOR FOR THE CURRENT YEAR THAT IS ENDING.

AND SUBMITTING A MAINTENANCE FEE (RENT) OR WAIVER FOR THE YEAR THAT IS ABOUT TO START.

You always pay rent in advance.

Paying a maintenance fee is like telling the Gov. "hey you can have my claim one day". As assesment work is a step to perfecting. I strongly suggest filing the waiver and doing your assesment work.

 

[Bejay]

Really good clarity. But for a old guy who has been doing the "Work" for 40 years; with much of it before there was any maintenance fee or waiver, I always figured the assessment work filings ( that had to be done prior to the end of December) meant that the mining year started fresh each January and ended in Dec. Then, years later, all of a sudden I found myself dealing with a Sep 1 filing deadline for a darn fee issue. Then I found myself dealing with a darn "in water dredge season". Then I heard at a mining conference that I needed to have a dredge permit from the state, and I called the Corp of engineers who knew nothing about it. But then I heard I needed a DEQ (EPA) permit. My briefcase began to get quite heavy. It seemed all things began to change. And of course now we are in the constant wait and see changes.


But at least I have the clarity on the dog gone maintenance waiver dates now. Tks much. But I'll bet it won't hurt to post the correct dates on this forum each and every year forthcoming.

Bejay

 

[Clay Diggins]

But at least I have the clarity on the dog gone maintenance waiver dates now. Tks much. But I'll bet it won't hurt to post the correct dates on this forum each and every year forthcoming.

Bejay

Yep, every August 1st a new Guidelines and Flow Chart is put up on the mining forums by yours truly. I try to start a new thread each year to keep the date confusion down to a minimum.

I started doing this on August 1 because of the 2014 fee change. A lot of people filed early and thought they didn't have to pay the difference. Claims were lost. I don't want people following my chart if the BLM is going to drag their feet and change the fees in the interim.

Heavy Pans

 

[Bejay]

I have found it interesting over the years that many claim owners pay the fee even though they do the work. In discussions with them they most often comment that they don't to make a mistake and lose their claim by either not filling the forms out correctly or not knowing what constitutes "labor". I will say that having some conversations with you (Barry) over the years I learned a thing or two about what constitutes the approved "labor".


I will bet that almost all the claim owners think their work has to occur on their claims. Want to bet different? This spring I did days upon days of work; and it did not happen on my claims...but is an allowable "labor" factor.


Maybe a new thread would be warranted to clue in others as well. I know some claim owners have been quite astute to the issue of finding ways of maintenance labor and improvements. It is that time of year to ascertain the labor expenditures.



Bejay

 

[Rail Dawg]

Yep, every August 1st a new Guidelines and Flow Chart is put up on the mining forums by yours truly. I try to start a new thread each year to keep the date confusion down to a minimum.

I started doing this on August 1 because of the 2014 fee change. A lot of people filed early and thought they didn't have to pay the difference. Claims were lost. I don't want people following my chart if the BLM is going to drag their feet and change the fees in the interim.

Heavy Pans

Your flow chart rocks!

Use it all the time.

 

[Rail Dawg]

Heck truck mileage at the IRS rate of 56.5 cents a mile to get to the claim is a cost of claim maintenance.

 

[Goldwasher]

Heck truck mileage at the IRS rate of 56.5 cents a mile to get to the claim is a cost of claim maintenance.

Removal of over burden. If you have a placer mine. You are doing assesment work almost constantly.

Maintaining trail or road to claim As mentioned even outside of the actual claim. Also almost constant work.

It takes about a day on a placer claim to be done with the one hundred dollars of labor required.