PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

The Secretary can allow coal leases to be joined into one "logical mining unit" when that will help recover the most coal. Anyone who might be harmed can ask for a public hearing before the joining happens. A logical mining unit is land that can be mined efficiently as one operation. It must be next to each other, run by one operator, and can include nearby non‑federal lands between or beside federal leases. After approval, the unit’s mining plan must mine the unit’s coal within a time set by the Secretary, normally no more than 40 years. The Secretary may allow a longer time if it will lead to greater recovery or more orderly, efficient, or economical development. The Secretary may count work on one lease as meeting requirements for all leases in the unit, combine rent and royalty payments, and apply advance royalties across the unit. Leases can be changed to follow unit rules. Older leases can join only if all leaseholders agree. The Secretary may require units by rule and decide participating acreage. No unit may be larger than 25,000 acres. This does not remove the acreage limits in section 184(a).

Title 30, §202a

Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(1)Approval by Secretary; public hearing; definition

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)Mining plan; requirements

(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)Conditions for approval

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)Amendment to lease

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 date of enactment of this Act

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)Lessee required to form unit

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)Required acreage

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)Acreage limitations for coal leases not waived

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