30 U.S.C. § 1702 : US Code - Section 1702: Definitions

Search 30 U.S.C. § 1702 : US Code - Section 1702: Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the term -
(1) "Federal land" means all land and interests in land owned
by the United States which are subject to the mineral leasing
laws, including mineral resources or mineral estates reserved to
the United States in the conveyance of a surface or nonmineral
estate;
(2) "Indian allottee" means any Indian for whom land or an
interest in land is held in trust by the United States or who
holds title subject to Federal restriction against alienation;
(3) "Indian lands" means any lands or interest in lands of an
Indian tribe or an Indian allottee held in trust by the United
States or which is subject to Federal restriction against
alienation or which is administered by the United States pursuant
to section 1613(g) of title 43, including mineral resources and
mineral estates reserved to an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee
in the conveyance of a surface or nonmineral estate, except that
such term does not include any lands subject to the provisions of
section 3 of the Act of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539);
(4) "Indian tribe" means any Indian tribe, band, nation,
pueblo, community, rancheria, colony, or other group of Indians,
including the Metlakatla Indian Community of Annette Island
Reserve, for which any land or interest in land is held by the
United States in trust or which is subject to Federal restriction
against alienation or which is administered by the United States
pursuant to section 1613(g) of title 43;
(5) "lease" means any contract, profit-share arrangement, joint
venture, or other agreement issued or approved by the United
States under a mineral leasing law that authorizes exploration
for, extraction of, or removal of oil or gas;
(6) "lease site" means any lands or submerged lands, including
the surface of a severed mineral estate, on which exploration
for, or extraction or removal of, oil or gas is authorized
pursuant to a lease;
(7) "lessee" means any person to whom the United States issues
an oil and gas lease or any person to whom operating rights in a
lease have been assigned;
(8) "mineral leasing law" means any Federal law administered by
the Secretary authorizing the disposition under lease of oil or
gas;
(9) "oil or gas" means any oil or gas originating from, or
allocated to, the Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian
lands;
(10) "Outer Continental Shelf" has the same meaning as provided
in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (Public Law 95-372);
(11) "operator" means any person, including a lessee, who has
control of, or who manages operations on, an oil and gas lease
site on Federal or Indian lands or on the Outer Continental
Shelf;
(12) "person" means any individual, firm, corporation,
association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture;
(13) "production" means those activities which take place for
the removal of oil or gas, including such removal, field
operations, transfer of oil or gas off the lease site, operation
monitoring, maintenance, and workover drilling;
(14) "royalty" means any payment based on the value or volume
of production which is due to the United States or an Indian
tribe or an Indian allottee on production of oil or gas from the
Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian lands, or any minimum
royalty owed to the United States or an Indian tribe or an Indian
allottee under any provision of a lease;
(15) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior or his
designee;
(16) "State" means the several States of the Union, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the territories and
possessions of the United States, and the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands;
(17) "adjustment" means an amendment to a previously filed
report on an obligation, and any additional payment or credit, if
any, applicable thereto, to rectify an underpayment or
overpayment on an obligation;
(18) "administrative proceeding" means any Department of the
Interior agency process in which a demand, decision or order
issued by the Secretary or a delegated State is subject to appeal
or has been appealed;
(19) "assessment" means any fee or charge levied or imposed by
the Secretary or a delegated State other than -
(A) the principal amount of any royalty, minimum royalty,
rental bonus, net profit share or proceed of sale;
(B) any interest; or
(C) any civil or criminal penalty;
(20) "commence" means -
(A) with respect to a judicial proceeding, the service of a
complaint, petition, counterclaim, cross claim, or other
pleading seeking affirmative relief or seeking credit or
recoupment: Provided, That if the Secretary commences a
judicial proceeding against a designee, the Secretary shall
give notice of that commencement to the lessee who designated
the designee, but the Secretary is not required to give notice
to other lessees who may be liable pursuant to section 1712(a)
of this title, for the obligation that is the subject of the
judicial proceeding; or
(B) with respect to a demand, the receipt by the Secretary or
a delegated State or a lessee or its designee (with written
notice to the lessee who designated the designee) of the
demand;
(21) "credit" means the application of an overpayment (in whole
or in part) against an obligation which has become due to
discharge, cancel or reduce the obligation;
(22) "delegated State" means a State which, pursuant to an
agreement or agreements under section 1735 of this title,
performs authorities, duties, responsibilities, or activities of
the Secretary;
(23) "demand" means -
(A) an order to pay issued by the Secretary or the applicable
delegated State to a lessee or its designee (with written
notice to the lessee who designated the designee) that has a
reasonable basis to conclude that the obligation in the amount
of the demand is due and owing; or
(B) a separate written request by a lessee or its designee
which asserts an obligation due the lessee or its designee that
provides a reasonable basis to conclude that the obligation in
the amount of the demand is due and owing, but does not mean
any royalty or production report, or any information contained
therein, required by the Secretary or a delegated State;
(24) "designee" means the person designated by a lessee
pursuant to section 1712(a) of this title, with such written
designation effective on the date such designation is received by
the Secretary and remaining in effect until the Secretary
receives notice in writing that the designation is modified or
terminated;
(25) "obligation" means -
(A) any duty of the Secretary or, if applicable, a delegated
State -
(i) to take oil or gas royalty in kind; or
(ii) to pay, refund, offset, or credit monies including
(but not limited to) -
(I) the principal amount of any royalty, minimum royalty,
rental, bonus, net profit share or proceed of sale; or
(II) any interest; and
(B) any duty of a lessee or its designee (subject to the
provisions of section 1712(a) of this title) -
(i) to deliver oil or gas royalty in kind; or
(ii) to pay, offset or credit monies including (but not
limited to) -
(I) the principal amount of any royalty, minimum royalty,
rental, bonus, net profit share or proceed of sale;
(II) any interest;
(III) any penalty; or
(IV) any assessment,
which arises from or relates to any lease administered by the
Secretary for, or any mineral leasing law related to, the
exploration, production and development of oil or gas on
Federal lands or the Outer Continental Shelf;
(26) "order to pay" means a written order issued by the
Secretary or the applicable delegated State to a lessee or its
designee (with notice to the lessee who designated the designee)
which -
(A) asserts a specific, definite, and quantified obligation
claimed to be due, and
(B) specifically identifies the obligation by lease,
production month and monetary amount of such obligation claimed
to be due and ordered to be paid, as well as the reason or
reasons such obligation is claimed to be due, but such term
does not include any other communication or action by or on
behalf of the Secretary or a delegated State;
(27) "overpayment" means any payment by a lessee or its
designee in excess of an amount legally required to be paid on an
obligation and includes the portion of any estimated payment for
a production month that is in excess of the royalties due for
that month;
(28) "payment" means satisfaction, in whole or in part, of an
obligation;
(29) "penalty" means a statutorily authorized civil fine levied
or imposed for a violation of this chapter, any mineral leasing
law, or a term or provision of a lease administered by the
Secretary;
(30) "refund" means the return of an overpayment;
(31) "State concerned" means, with respect to a lease, a State
which receives a portion of royalties or other payments under the
mineral leasing laws from such lease;
(32) "underpayment" means any payment or nonpayment by a lessee
or its designee that is less than the amount legally required to
be paid on an obligation; and
(33) "United States" means the United States Government and any
department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, the several
States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the
United States.