30 USC 208-1 Mineral Lands and Mines

§ 208

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

ation except for strikes, the elements, or casualties not
attributable to lessees; provisions for payment of royalties as determined by the Secretary of not less than
121⁄2 per centum of coal value, except as reduced for
coal from underground mining operations for provisions specifying royalties as stated in the lease, but not
less than 5 cents per ton; provision for rentals as prescribed by regulation for provision setting rentals as
fixed by the Secretary at not less than 25 cents per acre
for the first year, 50 cents for the second, third, fourth
and fifth years, and $1 for each year thereafter, and
provision for readjustment of royalties and terms and
conditions after primary period of twenty years and
subsequent ten year intervals for provision for readjustment after twenty years unless otherwise provided
by law, and added subsecs. (b) and (c).
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2005 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 109–58 applicable with respect
to any coal lease issued before, on, or after Aug. 8, 2005,
see section 438 of Pub. L. 109–58, set out as a note under
section 201 of this title.

§ 208. Permits to take coal for local domestic
needs without royalty payments; corporation
exclusion; area to municipalities for household use without profit
In order to provide for the supply of strictly
local domestic needs for fuel, the Secretary of
the Interior may, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe in advance, issue limited licenses or permits to individuals or associations of individuals to prospect for, mine, and
take for their use but not for sale, coal from the
public lands without payment of royalty for the
coal mined or the land occupied, on such conditions not inconsistent with this chapter as in his
opinion will safeguard the public interests. This
privilege shall not extend to any corporations.
In the case of municipal corporations the Secretary of the Interior may issue such limited license or permit, for not to exceed three hundred
and twenty acres for a municipality of less than
one hundred thousand population, and not to exceed one thousand two hundred and eighty acres
for a municipality of not less than one hundred
thousand and not more than one hundred and
fifty thousand population; and not to exceed two
thousand five hundred and sixty acres for a municipality of one hundred and fifty thousand
population or more, the land to be selected within the State wherein the municipal applicant
may be located, upon condition that such municipal corporations will mine the coal therein
under proper conditions and dispose of the same
without profit to residents of such municipality
for household use: Provided, That the acquisition
or holding of a lease under sections 181, 201, and
202 to 207 of this title shall be no bar to the holding of such tract or operation of such mine
under said limited license.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 8, 41 Stat. 440.)
§ 208–1. Exploratory program for evaluation of
known recoverable coal resources
(a) Authorization; purpose
The Secretary is authorized and directed to
conduct a comprehensive exploratory program
designed to obtain sufficient data and information to evaluate the extent, location, and potential for developing the known recoverable coal
resources within the coal lands subject to this

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chapter. This program shall be designed to obtain the resource information necessary for determining whether commercial quantities of
coal are present and the geographical extent of
the coal fields and for estimating the amount of
such coal which is recoverable by deep mining
operations and the amount of such coal which is
recoverable by surface mining operations in
order to provide a basis for—
(1) developing a comprehensive land use plan
pursuant to section 2;
(2) improving the information regarding the
value of public resources and revenues which
should be expected from leasing;
(3) increasing competition among producers
of coal, or products derived from the conversion of coal, by providing data and information to all potential bidders equally and equitably;
(4) providing the public with information on
the nature of the coal deposits and the associated stratum and the value of the public resources being offered for sale; and
(5) providing the basis for the assessment of
the amount of coal deposits in those lands subject to this chapter under subparagraph (B) of
section 201(a)(3) of this title.
(b) Seismic, geophysical, geochemical or stratigraphic drilling
The Secretary, through the United States Geological Survey, is authorized to conduct seismic,
geophysical, geochemical, or stratigraphic drilling, or to contract for or purchase the results of
such exploratory activities from commercial or
other sources which may be needed to implement the provisions of this section.
(c) Exploratory drilling by party not under contract to United States; confidentiality of information prior to award of lease
Nothing in this section shall limit any person
from conducting exploratory geophysical surveys including seismic, geophysical, chemical
surveys to the extent permitted by section 201(b)
of this title. The information obtained from the
exploratory drilling carried out by a person not
under contract with the United States Government for such drilling prior to award of a lease
shall be provided the confidentiality pursuant to
subsection (d) of this section.
(d) Availability to public of all data, information,
maps, surveys; confidentiality of information
purchased from commercial sources not
under contract to United States prior to
award of lease
The Secretary shall make available to the
public by appropriate means all data, information, maps, interpretations, and surveys which
are obtained directly by the Department of the
Interior or under a service contract pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section. The Secretary
shall maintain a confidentiality of all proprietary data or information purchased from commercial sources while not under contract with
the United States Government until after the
areas involved have been leased.

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TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

(e) Information or data from Federal departments or agencies; confidentiality of proprietary information or data; utilization of Federal departments and agencies by agreement
All Federal departments or agencies are authorized and directed to provide the Secretary
with any information or data that may be
deemed necessary to assist the Secretary in implementing the exploratory program pursuant
to this section. Proprietary information or data
provided to the Secretary under the provisions
of this subsection shall remain confidential for
such period of time as agreed to by the head of
the department or agency from whom the information is requested. In addition, the Secretary
is authorized and directed to utilize the existing
capabilities and resources of other Federal departments and agencies by appropriate agreement.
(f) Publication of geological and geophysical
maps and reports of lands offered for lease
The Secretary is directed to prepare, publish,
and keep current a series of detailed geological,
and geophysical maps of, and reports concerning, all coal lands to be offered for leasing under
this chapter, based on data and information
compiled pursuant to this section. Such maps
and reports shall be prepared and revised at reasonable intervals beginning eighteen months
after the date of enactment of this Act. Such
maps and reports shall be made available on a
continuing basis to any person on request.
(g) Implementation plan for coal lands exploration program; development and transmittal
to Congress; contents
Within six months after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary shall develop and
transmit to Congress an implementation plan
for the coal lands exploration program authorized by this section, including procedures for
making the data and information available to
the public pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, and maps and reports pursuant to subsection (f) of this section. The implementation
plan shall include a projected schedule of exploratory activities and identification of the regions
and areas which will be explored under the coal
lands exploration program during the first five
years following the enactment of this section. In
addition, the implementation plan shall include
estimates of the appropriations and staffing required to implement the coal lands exploration
program.
(h) Stratigraphic drilling; scope; statement of results
The stratigraphic drilling authorized in subsection (b) of this section shall be carried out in
such a manner as to obtain information pertaining to all recoverable reserves. For the purpose
of complying with subsection (a) of this section,
the Secretary shall require all those authorized
to conduct stratigraphic drilling pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section to supply a statement of the results of test boring of core sampling including logs of the drill holes; the thickness of the coal seams found; an analysis of the
chemical properties of such coal; and an analysis of the strata layers lying above all the seams
of coal. All drilling activities shall be conducted
using the best current technology and practices.

§ 209

(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 8A, as added Pub. L. 94–377,
§ 7, Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1087.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
Section 2, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), means section
2 of act Feb. 25, 1920, as amended, and is comprised of
subsecs. (a) to (d). Subsecs. (a) and (b) of section 2 are
classified to section 201 of this title, subsec. (c) of section 2 is classified to section 202 of this title, and subsec. (d) of section 2, as added by section 5(b) of Pub. L.
94–377, is classified to section 202a of this title.
The date of enactment of this Act, referred to in subsecs. (f) and (g), probably means the date of enactment
of Pub. L. 94–377, which was approved Aug. 4, 1976.

§ 208–2. Repealed. Pub. L. 104–66, title I, § 1091(e),
Dec. 21, 1995, 109 Stat. 722
Section, act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 8B, as added Aug.
4, 1976, Pub. L. 94–377, § 8, 90 Stat. 1089, related to reports to Congress on leasing and production of coal
lands, contents, recommendations, and reports by Attorney General on competition in the coal industry and
on effectiveness of antitrust laws.

§ 208a. Repealed. Pub. L. 97–468, title
§ 615(a)(3), Jan. 14, 1983, 96 Stat. 2578

VI,

Section, act July 19, 1932, ch. 513, 47 Stat. 707, authorized general manager of Alaska Railroad to purchase
coal annually for railroad from two or more operating
companies in areas adjacent to railroad.
Section was formerly classified to section 445a of
Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF REPEAL
Repeal by Pub. L. 97–468 became effective on date of
transfer of Alaska Railroad to the State [Jan. 5, 1985],
pursuant to section 1203 of Title 45, Railroads, see section 615(a) of Pub. L. 97–468.

§ 209. Suspension, waiver, or reduction of rents
or royalties to promote development or operation; extension of lease on suspension of operations and production
The Secretary of the Interior, for the purpose
of encouraging the greatest ultimate recovery of
coal, oil, gas, oil shale, gilsonite (including all
vein-type solid hydrocarbons), phosphate, sodium, potassium and sulfur, and in the interest
of conservation of natural resources, is authorized to waive, suspend, or reduce the rental, or
minimum royalty, or reduce the royalty on an
entire leasehold, or on any tract or portion
thereof segregated for royalty purposes, whenever in his judgment it is necessary to do so in
order to promote development, or whenever in
his judgment the leases cannot be successfully
operated under the terms provided therein.1 Provided, however, That in order to promote development and the maximum production of tar
sand, at the request of the lessee, the Secretary
shall review, prior to commencement of commercial operations, the royalty rates established in each combined hydrocarbon lease issued in special tar sand areas. For purposes of
this section, the term ‘‘tar sand’’ means any
consolidated or unconsolidated rock (other than
coal, oil shale, or gilsonite) that either: (1) contains a hydrocarbonaceous material with a gasfree viscosity, at original reservoir temperature,
greater than 10,000 centipoise, or (2) contains a
hydrocarbonaceous material and is produced by
1 So

in original. The period probably should be a colon.