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Title 30 — Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-73not60

§75 Conflicting Claims Upon Coal Lands; Rules and Regulations

Title 30 › Chapter 3— LANDS CONTAINING COAL, OIL, GAS, SALTS, ASPHALTIC MATERIALS, SODIUM, SULPHUR, AND BUILDING STONE › Subchapter I— COAL LAND ENTRIES IN GENERAL › § 75

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Who can buy coal land depends on who first took possession and began making improvements after March 3, 1873. The person who started first, then properly filed and kept acting in good faith, has the first right to purchase. If improvements existed before March 3, 1873, the land may be divided into legal parcels so each person’s valuable improvements are included as closely as possible. The Director of the Bureau of Land Management can make the rules needed to carry out this part of the law and sections 71 to 74.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §75

Mineral Lands and Mining — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

In case of conflicting claims upon coal lands where the improvements shall be commenced, after the third day of March, 1873, priority of possession and improvement, followed by proper filing and continued good faith, shall determine the preference right to purchase. And also where improvements have already been made prior to the third day of March, 1873, division of the land claimed may be made by legal subdivisions, to include, as near as may be, the valuable improvements of the respective parties. The Director of the Bureau of Land Management is authorized to issue all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this section and sections 71 to 74 of this title.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification R.S. § 2351 derived from act Mar. 3, 1873, ch. 279, § 5, 17 Stat. 608. Transfer of Functi

Executive Documents

ons“Director of the Bureau of Land Management” substituted in text for “Commissioner of the General Land Office” on authority of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, § 403, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. See also note set out under section 1 of this title. Indian Lands ExceptedSee note set out under section 71 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 75

Title 30 — Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60