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Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-102

§202 Common Carriers; Limitations of Lease or Permit

Title 30 › CHAPTER 3A — LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS › SUBCHAPTER II — COAL › § 202

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Railroad companies that carry people or goods may only get permits or leases for coal if the coal will be used by the railroad itself. Each permit or lease must say the coal is for railroad use only. A company cannot hold more than 10,240 acres total, and it can have at most one permit or lease for every 200 miles of its lines served by that coal (not counting spurs, switches, branch lines built just to reach the coal, or parts run mainly by non‑steam power). Railroads under 200 miles can still get one permit, and no railroad may hold permits or leases for land in a State where it does not operate main or branch lines.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §202

Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

No company or corporation operating a common-carrier railroad shall be given or hold a permit or lease under the provisions of this chapter for any coal deposits except for its own use for railroad purposes; and such limitations of use shall be expressed in all permits and leases issued to such companies or corporations; and no such company or corporation shall receive or hold under permit or lease more than ten thousand two hundred and forty acres in the aggregate nor more than one permit or lease for each two hundred miles of its railroad lines served or to be served from such coal deposits exclusive of spurs or switches and exclusive of branch lines built to connect the leased coal with the railroad, and also exclusive of parts of the railroad operated mainly by power produced otherwise than by steam. Nothing in this section and section 201 of this title shall preclude such a railroad of less than two hundred miles in length from securing one permit or lease thereunder but no railroad shall hold a permit or lease for lands in any State in which it does not operate main or branch lines.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section is comprised of subsec. (c) of section 2 of act Feb. 25, 1920, as amended by section 1 of act June 3, 1948. Subsecs. (a) and (b) of section 2 of act Feb. 25, 1920, are classified to section 201 of this title. Subsec. (d) of said section 2, as added by Pub. L. 94–377, § 5(b), Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1086, is classified to section 202a of this title.

Amendments

1948—Act
June 3, 1948, reenacted this section without change except to make it subsec. (c) of section 2 of act Feb. 25, 1920. 1944—Act
June 13, 1944, inserted “more than ten thousand two hundred and forty acres in the aggregate nor” before “more than one permit”, substituted “railroad lines served or to be served from such coal deposits” for “railroad line within the State in which such property is situated,”, and prohibited a railroad from holding a permit or lease for lands in any State in which it did not operate main or branch lines.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 202

Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102