1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2023 . 2. Use of mining claims for ancillary activities Section 10101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 ( 30 U.S.C. 28f ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (e) Security of tenure (1) Claimant rights (A) Definition of Operations In this paragraph, the term operations means— (i) with respect to a locatable mineral, any activity or work carried out in connection with— (I) prospecting; (II) exploration; (III) discovery and assessment; (IV) development; (V) extraction; or (VI) processing; (ii) the reclamation of an area disturbed by an activity described in clause (i); and (iii) any activity reasonably incident to an activity described in clause (i) or (ii), regardless of whether that incidental activity is carried out on a mining claim, including the construction and maintenance of any road, transmission line, pipeline, or any other necessary infrastructure or means of access on public land for a support facility. (B) Rights to use, occupation, and operations A claimant shall have the right to use, occupy, and conduct operations on public land, with or without the discovery of a valuable mineral deposit, if— (i) the claimant makes a timely payment of the location fee required by section 10102 and the claim maintenance fee required by subsection (a); or (ii) in the case of a claimant who qualifies for a waiver under subsection (d)— (I) the claimant makes a timely payment of the location fee required by section 10102