49–006 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 113–704 

EXCHANGE OF COAL PREFERENCE RIGHT LEASE 

APPLICATIONS 

DECEMBER 22, 2014.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, from the Committee on Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 5176] 

The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 5176) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire 

coal preference right lease applications for which the Secretary has 

made an affirmative commercial quantities determination, and for 

other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 5176 is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire coal preference right lease applications for which 

the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

H.R. 5176 helps resolve a decades-old Department of the Interior 

‘‘statutory obligation’’ to the Navajo Nation stemming from provisions of the Navajo Hopi Settlement Act of 1974. This Act brought 

resolution to a boundary dispute between the Navajo Nation and 

the Hopi Tribe. In the settlement, the Navajo lost acreage from 

their reservation to the Hopi and many Navajo citizens were relocated. In return, the Navajo Nation was allowed to select comparable acreage on federal lands to be taken into trust for the Navajo. 

By the early 1980s, the Navajo selected the federal lands they 

wanted to be taken into trust for them; however, some of the parcels selected were encumbered by ‘‘preference rights lease applicaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jan 06, 2015 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR704.XXX HR704

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tions’’ (PRLAs). Until the PRLAs are addressed, the selected parcels of federal land cannot be taken into trust for the Navajo. 

Further complicating the transfer of the selected parcels with 

PRLAs are subsequent conservation designations that prohibit development. These are the Fossil Forest and the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area. 

H.R. 5176 provides a general mechanism for the Secretary of the 

Interior to retire the PRLAs, provide the mineral owner a credit to 

be used in leasing minerals in another state, and make ‘‘state 

share’’ payments to the state where the new leases are issued. 

Preference right lease applications were included in the Mineral 

Leasing Act of 1920. The provision allowed mining companies to 

apply for an exclusive prospecting permit in areas not known to 

contain commercial quantities of coal. If commercial quantities of 

coal were found, the company had the right to obtain a ‘‘non-competitive’’ preference right lease. The Federal Coal Leasing Act 

Amendments of 1976 (FCLAA) eliminated those leasing mechanisms; PRLAs that were issued prior to the passage of the FCLAA 

continue to be processed. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 5176 was introduced on July 23, 2014, by Congressman Ben 

Ray Luja ́n (D–NM). The bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 

Energy and Mineral Resources. On September 17, 2014, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On November 19, 2014, the 

Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources was discharged by 

unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill, as 

amended, was adopted and ordered favorably reported to the House 

of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on 

Natural Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested but not received a cost estimate for this bill 

from the Director of the Congressional Budget Office. The Committee believes that enactment of this bill may not have an effect 

on the federal budget. 


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2. Section 308(a) of Congressional Budget Act. As required by 

clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, 

this bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or 

tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire coal 

preference right lease applications for which the Secretary has 

made an affirmative commercial quantities determination. 

EARMARK STATEMENT

This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined under clause 9(e), 

9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

COMPLIANCE WITH H. RES. 5

Directed Rule Making. The Chairman does not believe that this 

bill directs any executive branch official to conduct any specific 

rule-making proceedings. 

Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not establish or 

reauthorize a program of the federal government known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was not included in 

any report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 

pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111–139 or identified in the 

most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act (Public Law 95–220, 

as amended by Public Law 98–169) as relating to other programs. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law. 

Æ 


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