Page 67 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 208

§ 206. Noncontiguous coal or phosphate tracts in

single lease

Where coal or phosphate lands aggregating

two thousand five hundred and sixty acres and

subject to lease hereunder do not exist as contiguous areas, the Secretary of the Interior is

authorized, if, in his opinion, the interests of the

public and of the lessee will be thereby subserved, to embrace in a single lease noncontiguous tracts which can be operated as a single

mine or unit.

(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, §6, 41 Stat. 439.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Surrender of leases, see section 188a of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 208 of this title;

title 10 sections 7421, 7435.

§ 207. Conditions of lease

(a) Term of lease; annual rentals; royalties; readjustment of conditions

A coal lease shall be for a term of twenty

years and for so long thereafter as coal is produced annually in commercial quantities from

that lease. Any lease which is not producing in

commercial quantities at the end of ten years

shall be terminated. The Secretary shall by regulation prescribe annual rentals on leases. A

lease shall require payment of a royalty in such

amount as the Secretary shall determine of not

less than 121

⁄2 per centum of the value of coal as

defined by regulation, except the Secretary may

determine a lesser amount in the case of coal recovered by underground mining operations. The

lease shall include such other terms and conditions as the Secretary shall determine. Such

rentals and royalties and other terms and conditions of the lease will be subject to readjustment at the end of its primary term of twenty

years and at the end of each ten-year period

thereafter if the lease is extended.

(b) Diligent development and continued operation; suspension of condition on payment of

advance royalties

Each lease shall be subject to the conditions of

diligent development and continued operation of

the mine or mines, except where operations

under the lease are interrupted by strikes, the

elements, or casualties not attributable to the

lessee. The Secretary of the Interior, upon determining that the public interest will be served

thereby, may suspend the condition of continued

operation upon the payment of advance royalties. Such advance royalties shall be no less

than the production royalty which would otherwise be paid and shall be computed on a fixed reserve to production ratio (determined by the

Secretary). The aggregate number of years during the period of any lease for which advance

royalties may be accepted in lieu of the condition of continued operation shall not exceed ten.

The amount of any production royalty paid for

any year shall be reduced (but not below 0) by

the amount of any advance royalties paid under

such lease to the extent that such advance royalties have not been used to reduce production

royalties for a prior year. No advance royalty

paid during the initial twenty-year term of a

lease shall be used to reduce a production royalty after the twentieth year of a lease. The Secretary may, upon six months’ notification to the

lessee cease to accept advance royalties in lieu

of the requirement of continued operation.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to

affect the requirement contained in the second

sentence of subsection (a) of this section relating to commencement of production at the end

of ten years.

(c) Operation and reclamation plan

Prior to taking any action on a leasehold

which might cause a significant disturbance of

the environment, and not later than three years

after a lease is issued, the lessee shall submit for

the Secretary’s approval an operation and reclamation plan. The Secretary shall approve or

disapprove the plan or require that it be modified. Where the land involved is under the surface jurisdiction of another Federal agency, that

other agency must consent to the terms of such

approval.

(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, §7, 41 Stat. 439; Pub. L.

94–377, §6, Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1087.)

AMENDMENTS

1976—Pub. L. 94–377 designated existing provisions as

subsec. (a), substituted provisions limiting the lease

term to 20 years and for so long thereafter as coal is

produced annually in commercial quantities for provision authorizing leases for indeterminate periods upon

condition of diligent development and continued operation except for strikes, the elements, or casualties not

attributable to lessees; provisions for payment of royalties as determined by the Secretary of not less than

121

⁄2 per centum of coal value, except as reduced for

coal from underground mining operations for provisions specifying royalties as stated in the lease, but not

less than 5 cents per ton; provision for rentals as prescribed by regulation for provision setting rentals as

fixed by the Secretary at not less than 25 cents per acre

for the first year, 50 cents for the second, third, fourth

and fifth years, and $1 for each year thereafter, and

provision for readjustment of royalties and terms and

conditions after primary period of twenty years and

subsequent ten year intervals for provision for readjustment after twenty years unless otherwise provided

by law, and added subsecs. (b) and (c).

CROSS REFERENCES

Surrender of leases, see section 188a of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 201, 203, 208,

1256, 1272 of this title; title 10 sections 7421, 7435.

§ 208. Permits to take coal for local domestic

needs without royalty payments; corporation

exclusion; area to municipalities for household use without profit

In order to provide for the supply of strictly

local domestic needs for fuel, the Secretary of

the Interior may, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe in advance, issue limited licenses or permits to individuals or associations of individuals to prospect for, mine, and

take for their use but not for sale, coal from the

public lands without payment of royalty for the

coal mined or the land occupied, on such conditions not inconsistent with this chapter as in his

opinion will safeguard the public interests. This