Title 43—Public Lands: Interior--Volume 1
PART 3834—REQUIRED FEES FOR MINING CLAIMS OR SITES
§ 3834.10   Paying maintenance, location, and oil shale fees.
§ 3834.11   Which fees must I pay to maintain a mining claim or site and when do I pay them?
(a) All mining claims or sites (except oil shale placer claims). Paying the maintenance fee(s) in lieu of performing assessment work satisfies the requirements of the mining law and FLPMA. See § 3830.21 for fee amounts.
(1) Location fee and initial maintenance fee. When you first record a mining claim or site with BLM, you must pay a location fee and an initial maintenance fee for the assessment year in which you located the mining claim or site.
(2) Annual maintenance fee. You must pay an annual maintenance fee on or before September 1st of each year in order to maintain a mining claim or site for the upcoming assessment year.
(b) Oil shale placer claims. (1) Under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, 30 U.S.C. 242, if you own an oil shale placer claim, you must pay an annual $550 fee and file a notice of intent to hold, with the applicable service charge, each calendar year on or before December 30—
(i) If you elected to maintain an oil shale placer claim;
(ii) If you elected to apply for limited patent; or
(iii) If you filed a patent application for an oil shale placer claim but did not receive a first half final certificate on or before October 24, 1992.
(2) See part 3835 of this chapter for notice of intent to hold requirements, and the table of fees and service charges in § 3830.21 of this chapter.
(3) You need not pay the annual $550 fee, or file a notice of intent to hold, if you filed a patent application and received a first half of the mineral entry final certificate on or before October 24, 1992.
§ 3834.12   How will BLM know for which mining claims or sites I am paying the fees?
When you pay any fees to BLM, you must include a list of the mining claims or sites that you are paying for by claim name, and by the BLM serial number if BLM has notified you what the serial numbers are.
§ 3834.13   Will BLM prorate annual maintenance or oil shale fees?
BLM will not prorate annual maintenance or oil shale fees if you hold a mining claim or site for only part of a year. You must pay the full annual fee even if you hold the claim or site for just one day in an assessment year.
§ 3834.14   May I obtain a waiver from these fees?
(a) No waivers are available for the initial maintenance fee or the annual $550 oil shale fee.
(b) You may request a waiver from annual maintenance fees under certain circumstances. See part 3835 of this chapter.
§ 3834.20   Adjusting location and maintenance fees.
§ 3834.21   How will BLM adjust the location and maintenance fees?
BLM will adjust the location and maintenance fees at least every 5 years, based upon the CPI, as required by 30 U.S.C. 28j(c), or at any other time as required by other statute.
§ 3834.22   How will I know that BLM has adjusted location and maintenance fees?
BLM will publish a notice in the Federal Register about the adjustment on or before July 1st of a given year in order to make the adjusted fees due on September 1st of the same year.
§ 3834.23   When do I start paying the adjusted fees?
(a) In the case of a CPI adjustment required by 30 U.S.C. 28j(c), you must pay the adjusted initial maintenance and location fees when you record a new mining claim or site located on or after the September 1 that immediately follows the date BLM published its notice about the adjustment.
(b) In the case of adjustments required by other statute, you must pay the adjusted initial maintenance and location fees for a new mining claim or site as provided in the statute.
(c) For previously recorded mining claims and sites, you must pay the CPI-based adjusted maintenance fee on or before the September 1 that immediately follows the date BLM published its notice about the adjustment.
(d) Notwithstanding 43 CFR 3830.91(a)(3) and 3830.96, in any year in which BLM adjusts the maintenance and location fees, if you pay the fees timely, but pay an amount based on the fee in effect immediately before the adjustment was made, BLM will send you a notice, as provided in § 3830.94, giving you 30 days in which to pay the additional amount required to meet the adjusted fees. If you do not pay the additional amount due within 30 days after the date you received the notice, you will forfeit the affected mining claims or sites.