A bill that would establish protections for landowners above mineral deposits started its journey through the Legislature on Friday.

The bill, submitted on behalf of the state's Industrial Commission, would provide similar legal protections already given to surface owners who have land above oil, natural gas, and sand and gravel deposits, giving them recourse if a mineral owner damages their land and water.

Lynn Helms, the director of the Department of Mineral Resources, testified before the Senate Natural Resources Committee, telling lawmakers that North Dakota landowners with minerals such as germanium, salt and uranium under their property would be protected under the law.

Germanium is used in solar panels. And while salt hasn't been mined in North Dakota since the 1980s, Helms said an electricity-producing technique is being developed that includes tunneling out a salt cavern, filling it with compressed air and releasing the air to power wind turbines on calm days.

Under the law, landowners would have two years to tell mineral owners of any damage to their land and six years to report any damage done to water.

Sen. David Hogue, R-Minot, asked Helms if protections for landowners above oil deposits were working or if surface owners were not filing complaints with his department.

"Is it the absence of complaints or just sort of anecdotal information?" Hogue asked.

Helms said of the 650 wells drilled in 2008, his department received less than 10 complaints regarding mineral owners drilling on their land.

An official from the health department also requested an amendment on the bill that would limit requests for environmental impact studies of a mining operation to people directly affected by it.

The amendment also would require health officials only to study a complaint instead of conducting a full investigation, saving the department an estimated $200,000, said David Glatt, chief of the department's environmental health section.

Lawmakers did not take any action on the bill on Friday afternoon.

The bill is SB2141.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@;bismarcktribune.com.)