30 U.S.C. § 241 : US Code - Section 241: Leases of lands

Search 30 U.S.C. § 241 : US Code - Section 241: Leases of lands

(a) In general
(1) The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to lease
to any person or corporation qualified under this chapter any
deposits of oil shale, and gilsonite (including all vein-type solid
hydrocarbons) belonging to the United States and the surface of so
much of the public lands containing such deposits, or land adjacent
thereto, as may be required for the extraction and reduction of the
leased minerals, under such rules and regulations, not inconsistent
with this chapter, as he may prescribe.
(2) No lease hereunder shall exceed 5,760 acres of land, to be
described by the legal subdivisions of the public-land surveys, or
if unsurveyed, to be surveyed by the United States, at the expense
of the applicant, in accordance with regulations to be prescribed
by the Secretary of the Interior.
(3) Leases may be for indeterminate periods, upon such conditions
as may be imposed by the Secretary of the Interior, including
covenants relative to methods of mining, prevention of waste, and
productive development.
(4) For the privilege of mining, extracting, and disposing of the
oil or other minerals covered by a lease under this section the
lessee shall pay to the United States such royalties as shall be
specified in the lease and an annual rental, payable at the
beginning of each year, at the rate of $2.00 per acre per annum,
for the lands included in the lease, the rental paid for any one
year to be credited against the royalties accruing for that year;
such royalties to be subject to readjustment at the end of each
twenty-year period by the Secretary of the Interior. For the
purpose of encouraging the production of petroleum products from
shales the Secretary may, in his discretion, waive the payment of
any royalty and rental during the first five years of any lease.
Any person having a valid claim to such minerals under existing
laws on January 1, 1919, shall, upon the relinquishment of such
claim, be entitled to a lease under the provisions of this section
for such area of the land relinquished as shall not exceed the
maximum area authorized by this section to be leased to an
individual or corporation. No claimant for a lease who has been
guilty of any fraud or who had knowledge or reasonable grounds to
know of any fraud, or who has not acted honestly and in good faith,
shall be entitled to any of the benefits of this section. No one
person, association, or corporation shall acquire or hold more than
50,000 acres of oil shale leases in any one State. For gilsonite
(including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons) no person,
association, or corporation shall acquire or hold more than seven
thousand six hundred eighty acres in any one State without respect
to the number of leases.
(5) No lease issued under this section shall be included in any
chargeability limitation associated with oil and gas leases.
(b) Offer for lease; deposits other than oil shale; questioned
validity because of location; preference rights
If an offer for a lease under the provisions of this section for
deposits other than oil shale is based upon a mineral location, the
validity of which might be questioned because the claim was based
on a placer location rather than on a lode location, or vice versa,
the offeror shall have a preference right to a lease if the offer
is filed not more than one year after September 2, 1960.
(c) (!1) Multiple use principal leases; gilsonite including all
vein-type solid hydrocarbons
With respect to gilsonite (including all vein-type solid
hydrocarbons) a lease under the multiple use principle may issue
notwithstanding the existence of an outstanding lease issued under
any other provision of this chapter.
(c) (!1) Offsite leases
(1) The Secretary may within the State of Colorado lease to the
holder of the Federal oil shale lease known as Federal Prototype
Tract C-a additional lands necessary for the disposal of oil shale
wastes and the materials removed from mined lands, and for the
building of plants, reduction works, and other facilities connected
with oil shale operations (which lease shall be referred to
hereinafter as an "offsite lease"). The Secretary may only issue
one offsite lease not to exceed six thousand four hundred acres. An
offsite lease may not serve more than one Federal oil shale lease
and may not be transferred except in conjunction with the transfer
of the Federal oil shale lease that it serves.
(2) The Secretary may issue one offsite lease of not more than
three hundred and twenty acres to any person, association or
corporation which has the right to develop oil shale on non-Federal
lands. An offsite lease serving non-Federal oil shale land may not
serve more than one oil shale operation and may not be transferred
except in conjunction with the transfer of the non-Federal oil
shale land that it serves. Not more than two offsite leases may be
issued under this paragraph.
(3) An offsite lease shall include no rights to any mineral
deposits.
(4) The Secretary may issue offsite leases after consideration of
the need for such lands, impacts on the environment and other
resource values, and upon a determination that the public interest
will be served thereby.
(5) An offsite lease for lands the surface of which is under the
jurisdiction of a Federal agency other than the Department of the
Interior shall be issued only with the consent of that other
Federal agency and shall be subject to such terms and conditions as
it may prescribe.
(6) An offsite lease shall be for such periods of time and shall
include such lands, subject to the acreage limitations contained in
this subsection, as the Secretary determines to be necessary to
achieve the purposes for which the lease is issued, and shall
contain such provisions as he determines are needed for protection
of environmental and other resource values.
(7) An offsite lease shall provide for the payment of an annual
rental which shall reflect the fair market value of the rights
granted and which shall be subject to such revisions as the
Secretary, in his discretion, determines may be needed from time to
time to continue to reflect the fair market value.
(8) An offsite lease may, at the option of the lessee, include
provisions for payments in any year which payments shall be
credited against any portion of the annual rental for a subsequent
year to the extent that such payment is payable by the Secretary of
the Treasury under section 191 of this title to the State within
the boundaries of which the leased lands are located. Such funds
shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the appropriate
State in accordance with section 191 of this title, and such funds
shall be distributed by the State only to those counties,
municipalities, or jurisdictional subdivisions impacted by oil
shale development and/or where the lease is sited.
(9) An offsite lease shall remain subject to leasing under the
other provisions of this chapter where such leasing would not be
incompatible with the offsite lease.
(d) Considerations governing issuance of offsite lease
In recognition of the unique character of oil shale development:
(1) In determining whether to offer or issue an offsite lease
under subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary shall consult
with the Governor and appropriate State, local, and tribal
officials of the State where the lands to be leased are located,
and of any additional State likely to be affected significantly by
the social, economic, or environmental effects of development under
such lease, in order to coordinate Federal and State planning
processes, minimize duplication of permits, avoid delays, and
anticipate and mitigate likely impacts of development.
(2) The Secretary may issue an offsite lease under subsection (d)
(!2) after consideration of (A) the need for leasing, (B) impacts
on the environment and other resource values, (C) socioeconomic
factors, and (D) information from consultations with the Governors
of the affected States.
(3) Before determining whether to offer an offsite lease under
subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary shall seek the
recommendation of the Governor of the State in which the lands to
be leased are located as to whether or not to lease such lands,
what alternative actions are available, and what special conditions
could be added to the proposed lease to mitigate impacts. The
Secretary shall accept the recommendations of the Governor if he
determines that they provide for a reasonable balance between the
national interest and the State's interests. The Secretary shall
communicate to the Governor, in writing, and publish in the Federal
Register the reasons for his determination to accept or reject such
Governor's recommendations.