§202a — Title 30 Mineral Lands and Mining | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary can approve joining coal leases into one "logical mining unit" when doing so will help get the most coal out. A logical mining unit is an area where the coal can be mined as one efficient operation; it can include federal and nearby non-federal lands, but the whole area must be under one operator’s control, be contiguous, and be able to be developed as a single operation. If anyone whose interests might be hurt asks, a public hearing must be held before approval. Once a unit is approved, mine plans must show the unit’s coal will be mined within a time set by the Secretary, normally no more than 40 years unless the Secretary allows a longer period to ensure maximum recovery or orderly, efficient, or economical development. The Secretary can treat work on one lease as meeting requirements for all leases in the unit, combine rentals and royalties and apply advanced royalty credits across the unit, and change lease terms to match unit rules. Existing leases can join only with all lessees’ consent. The Secretary can require unit formation by rule and decide participating acreage. A unit cannot be larger than 25,000 acres, and these rules do not waive the acreage limits in section 184(a).

Title 30, §202a

Mineral Lands and Mining — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(1)The Secretary, upon determining that maximum economic recovery of the coal deposit or deposits is served thereby, may approve the consolidation of coal leases into a logical mining unit. Such consolidation may only take place after a public hearing, if requested by any person whose interest is or may be adversely affected. A logical mining unit is an area of land in which the coal resources can be developed in an efficient, economical, and orderly manner as a unit with due regard to conservation of coal reserves and other resources. A logical mining unit may consist of one or more Federal leaseholds, and may include intervening or adjacent lands in which the United States does not own the coal resources, but all the lands in a logical mining unit must be under the effective control of a single operator, be able to be developed and operated as a single operation and be contiguous.

(2)(A)After the Secretary has approved the establishment of a logical mining unit, any mining plan approved for that unit must require such diligent development, operation, and production that the reserves of the entire unit will be mined within a period established by the Secretary which shall not be more than forty years.

(B)The Secretary may establish a period of more than 40 years if the Secretary determines that the longer period—

(i)will ensure the maximum economic recovery of a coal deposit; or

(ii)the longer period is in the interest of the orderly, efficient, or economic development of a coal resource.

(3)In approving a logical mining unit, the Secretary may provide, among other things, that (i) diligent development, continuous operation, and production on any Federal lease or non-Federal land in the logical mining unit shall be construed as occurring on all Federal leases in that logical mining unit, and (ii) the rentals and royalties for all Federal leases in a logical mining unit may be combined, and advanced royalties paid for any lease within a logical mining unit may be credited against such combined royalties.

(4)The Secretary may amend the provisions of any lease included in a logical mining unit so that mining under that lease will be consistent with the requirements imposed on that logical mining unit.

(5)Leases issued before the date of enactment of this Act may be included with the consent of all lessees in such logical mining unit, and, if so included, shall be subject to the provisions of this section.

(6)By regulation the Secretary may require a lessee under this chapter to form a logical mining unit, and may provide for determination of participating acreage within a unit.

(7)No logical mining unit shall be approved by the Secretary if the total acreage (both Federal and non-Federal) of the unit would exceed twenty-five thousand acres.

(8)Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the acreage limitations for coal leases contained in section 184(a) of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this Act, referred to in par. (5), probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 94–377, which was approved Aug. 4, 1976. This section, referred to in pars. (5) and (8), is section 2 of act Feb. 25, 1920, which is comprised of subsecs. (a) to (d). Subsecs. (a) and (b) of section 2 are classified to section 201 of this title, subsec. (c) of section 2 is classified to section 202 of this title, and subsec. (d) of section 2, as added by section 5(b) of Pub. L. 94–377, is classified to this section. Codification Section is comprised of subsec. (d) of section 2 of act Feb. 25, 1920, as added by Pub. L. 94–377. Subsecs. (a) and (b) of said section 2 are classified to section 201 of this title. Subsec. (c) of said section 2 is classified to section 202 of this title.

Amendments

2005—Par. (2). Pub. L. 109–58 designated existing provisions as subpar. (A) and added subpar. (B).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2005 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 109–58 applicable with respect to any coal lease issued before, on, or after Aug. 8, 2005, see section 438 of Pub. L. 109–58, set out as a note under section 201 of this title.

§202a Consolidation of Coal Leases Into Logical Mining Unit