New EPA Office Targets Toxic Mine Waste: Focus on Cleanup Coordination and Navajo Nation Uranium Sites

The Legacy Mine Cleanup Act of 2025 is setting up a dedicated cleanup crew within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Specifically, it creates the Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains inside the EPA’s solid waste management division. This new office’s main job is to coordinate and streamline the cleanup of contamination left over from old hardrock mining—what the bill calls “covered mine sites”—across federal, state, tribal, and private lands. This isn’t about creating new rules; the bill explicitly states the EPA is limited to its existing cleanup authorities, like those under Superfund (CERCLA) and the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA). The goal is coordination, not new regulation.

The Cleanup Coordinator

Think of this new Office as the air traffic control for cleaning up toxic mess left by mines that closed decades ago. For busy people, this means a better chance that those abandoned, polluting sites near communities get addressed faster. The Office is tasked with coordinating between various EPA regional offices, other federal agencies (like Interior and Energy), states, and Tribal governments. Every year, the EPA Administrator, through this Office, must create a Priority Mine List of sites slated for cleanup action and report that list—and the cleanup status—to Congress. This annual list brings accountability and focus to what has historically been a fragmented, slow process. The Office will also work to identify best practices and innovative technologies, which could speed up remediation and potentially lower costs over time.

Small Business Opportunities and Tribal Focus

The bill makes a point of encouraging contracting opportunities for small businesses to participate in these cleanup actions. If you run a small environmental remediation firm, this Office is designed to help coordinate access to these federal cleanup jobs. More importantly, the Act places a significant emphasis on coordinating cleanup actions in Indian country. For the Navajo Nation, which has been dealing with severe uranium contamination from Cold War-era mining, the bill mandates a specific 10-year interagency plan to coordinate Federal, State, and Tribal cleanup actions at abandoned uranium mine sites. This dedicated plan, due by September 30, 2028, ensures that this specific, complex problem gets the high-level, long-term focus it requires, complete with target dates and projected appropriations.

The Fine Print: What’s Not Changing

This legislation is focused purely on process and organization. It doesn’t create a new tax, new fees, or new environmental standards. The “Savings Provisions” section is very clear: the Administrator does not get any new regulatory authority. They must use the tools they already have. This is a crucial detail, as it means the bill avoids the regulatory battles that often sink environmental legislation. However, relying on existing law also means that cleanup timelines are still subject to the availability of appropriations and responsible party funding. If the money isn't there, or if the responsible party can’t be found or is bankrupt, the cleanup still faces delays, regardless of how well coordinated the new Office is. The success of this Act hinges entirely on whether better coordination translates into faster funding and action on the ground.