§1023 — Title 30 Mineral Lands and Mining | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary must make rules needed to carry out this chapter. The rules can cover many things, including preventing waste; managing and conserving geothermal and other natural resources; protecting the public interest; handling lease matters (like assignment, segregation, extending or giving up terms, development contracts, unitization, pooling, and drilling agreements); compensatory royalty agreements; suspending or reducing operations, production, rentals, or royalties; requiring surety bonds to ensure lease compliance and protect surface use; rules on surface use by lessees; requiring active development plans; and protecting water and other environmental quality.

Title 30, §1023

Mineral Lands and Mining — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary shall prescribe such rules and regulations as he may deem appropriate to carry out the provisions of this chapter. Such regulations may include, without limitation, provisions for (a) the prevention of waste, (b) development and conservation of geothermal and other natural resources, (c) the protection of the public interest, (d) assignment, segregation, extension of terms, relinquishment of leases, development contracts, unitization, pooling, and drilling agreements, (e) compensatory royalty agreements, suspension of operations or production, and suspension or reduction of rentals or royalties, (f) the filing of surety bonds to assure compliance with the terms of the lease and to protect surface use and resources, (g) use of the surface by a lessee of the lands embraced in his lease, (h) the maintenance by the lessee of an active development program, and (i) protection of water quality and other environmental qualities.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2005—Pub. L. 109–58 inserted section catchline.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

Functions of Secretary of the Interior to promulgate

Regulations

under this chapter relating to fostering of competition for Federal leases, implementation of alternative bidding systems authorized for award of Federal leases, establishment of diligence requirements for operations conducted on Federal leases, setting of rates for production of Federal leases, and specifying of procedures, terms, and conditions for acquisition and disposition of Federal royalty interests taken in kind, transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 7152(b) of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. section 7152(b) of Title 42 was repealed by Pub. L. 97–100, title II, § 201, Dec. 23, 1981, 95 Stat. 1407, and functions of Secretary of Energy returned to Secretary of the Interior. See

House Report No. 97–315

, pp. 25, 26, Nov. 5, 1981.

§1023 Rules and Regulations