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Title 30 — Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-73not60

§187 Assignment or Subletting of Leases; Relinquishment of Rights Under Leases; Conditions in Leases for Protection of Diverse Interests in Operation of Mines, Wells, Etc.; State Laws Not Impaired

Title 30 › Chapter 3A— LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS › Subchapter I— GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 187

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Leases under this law cannot be transferred or sublet unless the Secretary of the Interior agrees. The person holding a lease may give up all rights in writing if the Secretary accepts, and with permission may return part of the leased land. Each lease must have rules to keep the operation safe and prevent waste. The Interior Secretary can set safety rules, including an eight-hour limit for underground work except in emergencies, no one under 16 working below ground, pay at least twice a month in U.S. money, workers’ freedom to buy goods, and fair weighing of each miner’s coal. Leases may include other rules to keep prices fair, protect U.S. interests, prevent monopolies, and protect the public. Lease rules must not conflict with state law.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §187

Mineral Lands and Mining — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

No lease issued under the authority of this chapter shall be assigned or sublet, except with the consent of the Secretary of the Interior. The lessee may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, be permitted at any time to make written relinquishment of all rights under such a lease, and upon acceptance thereof be thereby relieved of all future obligations under said lease, and may with like consent surrender any legal subdivision of the area included within the lease. Each lease shall contain provisions for the purpose of insuring the exercise of reasonable diligence, skill, and care in the operation of said property; a provision that such rules for the safety and welfare of the miners and for the prevention of undue waste as may be prescribed by said Secretary shall be observed, including a restriction of the workday to not exceeding eight hours in any one day for underground workers except in cases of emergency; provisions prohibiting the employment of any child under the age of sixteen in any mine below the surface; provisions securing the workmen complete freedom of purchase; provision requiring the payment of wages at least twice a month in lawful money of the United States, and providing proper rules and regulations to insure the fair and just weighing or measurement of the coal mined by each miner, and such other provisions as he may deem necessary to insure the sale of the production of such leased lands to the United States and to the public at reasonable prices, for the protection of the interests of the United States, for the prevention of monopoly, and for the safeguarding of the public welfare. None of such provisions shall be in conflict with the laws of the State in which the leased property is situated.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1978—Pub. L. 95–554 substituted “provisions prohibiting the employment of any child under the age of sixteen in any mine below the surface” for “provisions prohibiting the employment of any boy under the age of sixteen or the employment of any girl or woman, without regard to age, in any mine below the surface”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 187

Title 30 — Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60