Page 333 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING § 1701

Sec.

(a) In general.

(b) Limitation period.

(c) Obligation becomes due.

(d) Tolling of limitation period.

(e) Termination of limitations period.

(f) Records required for determining collections.

(g) Timely collections.

(h) Appeals and final agency action.

(i) Collections of disputed amounts due.

(j) Enforcement of claim for judicial review.

(k) Implementation of final decision.

(l) Stay of payment obligation pending

review.

1725. Assessments.

1726. Alternatives for marginal properties.

(a) Determination of best interests of

State concerned and United States.

(b) Prepayment of royalty.

(c) Alternative accounting and auditing

requirements.

SUBCHAPTER II—STATES AND INDIAN TRIBES

1731. Application of subchapter.

1731a. Application of subchapter to leases of lands

within three miles of seaward boundaries of

coastal States.

1732. Cooperative agreements.

(a) Authorization of Secretary; permission of Indian tribe required for activities on Indian lands.

(b) Access to royalty accounting information.

(c) Agreements in accordance with chapter 63 of title 31; terms and conditions.

1733. Information.

(a) Availability of confidential information by Secretary pursuant to cooperative agreements; conditions.

(b) Nonliability of United States for

wrongful disclosure.

(c) Law governing disclosure.

1734. State suits under Federal law.

(a) Action for royalty, interest, or civil

penalty; limitations; notice of suit;

award of costs and fees.

(b) Venue; jurisdiction of district court.

(c) Recovery of civil penalty by State;

deposit of rent, royalty, or interest

recovery in Treasury of the United

States.

1735. Delegation of royalty collections and related

activities.

(a) Authorization of Secretary.

(b) Prerequisites.

(c) Ruling as to consistency of State’s

proposal.

(d) Promulgation of standards and regulations with respect to delegation.

(e) Revocation; issuance of demand or

order by Secretary.

(f) Compensation to State for costs of

delegation; allocation of costs.

(g) Judicial review.

(h) Existing delegation.

1736. Shared civil penalties.

SUBCHAPTER III—GENERAL PROVISIONS

1751. Secretarial authority.

(a) Prescription of rules and regulations.

(b) Conformity with rulemaking provisions.

(c) Contracts with non-Federal Government inspectors, auditors, etc.; coordination of auditing and enforcement functions.

1752. Reports.

Sec.

(a) Submission of annual report to Congress; contents.

(b) Biennial audit of Federal royalty

management system; submission to

Secretary and Congress.

1753. Relation to other laws.

(a) Supplemental nature of chapter.

(b) Responsibilities of Secretary related

to minerals on Federal and Indian

lands.

(c) Authority and responsibilities of Inspector General and Comptroller

General unaffected.

(d) Lands and land interests entrusted to

Tennessee Valley Authority unaffected.

1754. Funding.

1755. Statute of limitations.

1756. Expanded royalty obligations.

1757. Severability.

CHAPTER REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This chapter is referred to in section 191 of this title;

title 10 section 7439.

§ 1701. Congressional statement of findings and

purposes

(a) Congress finds that—

(1) the Secretary of the Interior should enforce effectively and uniformly existing regulations under the mineral leasing laws providing for the inspection of production activities

on lease sites on Federal and Indian lands;

(2) the system of accounting with respect to

royalties and other payments due and owing

on oil and gas produced from such lease sites

is archaic and inadequate;

(3) it is essential that the Secretary initiate

procedures to improve methods of accounting

for such royalties and payments and to provide for routine inspection of activities related

to the production of oil and gas on such lease

sites; and

(4) the Secretary should aggressively carry

out his trust responsibility in the administration of Indian oil and gas.

(b) It is the purpose of this chapter—

(1) to clarify, reaffirm, expand, and define

the responsibilities and obligations of lessees,

operators, and other persons involved in transportation or sale of oil and gas from the Federal and Indian lands and the Outer Continental Shelf;

(2) to clarify, reaffirm, expand and define the

authorities and responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior to implement and maintain a royalty management system for oil and

gas leases on Federal lands, Indian lands, and

the Outer Continental Shelf;

(3) to require the development of enforcement practices that ensure the prompt and

proper collection and disbursement of oil and

gas revenues owed to the United States and Indian lessors and those inuring to the benefit of

States;

(4) to fulfill the trust responsibility of the

United States for the administration of Indian

oil and gas resources; and

(5) to effectively utilize the capabilities of

the States and Indian tribes in developing and

maintaining an efficient and effective Federal

royalty management system.
§ 1702 TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING Page 334

(Pub. L. 97–451, §2, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2448.)

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1996 AMENDMENT

Pub. L. 104–185, §11, Aug. 13, 1996, 110 Stat. 1717, provided that: ‘‘Except as provided by section 115(h) [30

U.S.C. 1724(h)], section 111(h) [30 U.S.C. 1721(h)], section

111(k)(5) [30 U.S.C. 1721(k)(5)], and section 117 [30 U.S.C.

1726] of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management

Act of 1982 (as added by this Act), this Act [see Short

Title of 1996 Amendment note below], and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply with respect to the

production of oil and gas after the first day of the

month following the date of the enactment of this Act

[Aug. 13, 1996].’’

EFFECTIVE DATE

Section 305 of Pub. L. 97–451 provided that: ‘‘The provisions of this Act [enacting this chapter, amending

sections 188 and 191 of this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes under this section and sections

1714 and 1752 of this title] shall apply to oil and gas

leases issued before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 12, 1983], except that in the case

of a lease issued before such date, no provision of this

Act or any rule or regulation prescribed under this Act

shall alter the express and specific provisions of such a

lease.’’

SHORT TITLE OF 1996 AMENDMENT

Pub. L. 104–185, §1, Aug. 13, 1996, 110 Stat. 1700, provided that: ‘‘This Act [enacting sections 1721a and 1724

to 1726 of this title, amending sections 1702, 1712, 1721,

and 1735 of this title, repealing section 1339 of Title 43,

Public Lands, and enacting provisions set out as notes

under this section, section 1732 of this title, and section

1339 of Title 43] may be cited as the ‘Federal Oil and

Gas Royalty Simplification and Fairness Act of 1996’.’’

SHORT TITLE

Section 1 of Pub. L. 97–451 provided that: ‘‘This Act

[enacting this chapter, amending sections 188 and 191 of

this title, and enacting provisions set out as notes

under this section and sections 1714 and 1752 of this

title] may be cited as the ‘Federal Oil and Gas Royalty

Management Act of 1982’.’’

APPLICABILITY OF 1996 AMENDMENT

Pub. L. 104–185, §9, Aug. 13, 1996, 110 Stat. 1717, provided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this Act [see

Short Title of 1996 Amendment note above] shall not

apply with respect to Indian lands, and the provisions

of the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of

1982 [30 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.] as in effect on the day before

the date of enactment of this Act [Aug. 13, 1996] shall

continue to apply after such date with respect to Indian lands.’’

Pub. L. 104–185, §10, Aug. 13, 1996, 110 Stat. 1717, provided that: ‘‘This Act [see Short Title of 1996 Amendment note above] shall not apply to any privately

owned minerals.’’

CONSTRUCTION OF 1996 AMENDMENT

Pub. L. 104–185, §12, Aug. 13, 1996, 110 Stat. 1717, provided that: ‘‘Nothing in this Act [see Short Title of 1996

Amendment note above] shall be construed to give a

State a property right or interest in any Federal lease

or land.’’

§ 1702. Definitions

For the purposes of this chapter, the term—

(1) ‘‘Federal land’’ means all land and interests in land owned by the United States which

are subject to the mineral leasing laws, including mineral resources or mineral estates

reserved to the United States in the conveyance of a surface or nonmineral estate;

(2) ‘‘Indian allottee’’ means any Indian for

whom land or an interest in land is held in

trust by the United States or who holds title

subject to Federal restriction against alienation;

(3) ‘‘Indian lands’’ means any lands or interest in lands of an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee held in trust by the United States or

which is subject to Federal restriction against

alienation or which is administered by the

United States pursuant to section 1613(g) of

title 43, including mineral resources and mineral estates reserved to an Indian tribe or an

Indian allottee in the conveyance of a surface

or nonmineral estate, except that such term

does not include any lands subject to the provisions of section 3 of the Act of June 28, 1906

(34 Stat. 539);

(4) ‘‘Indian tribe’’ means any Indian tribe,

band, nation, pueblo, community, rancheria,

colony, or other group of Indians, including

the Metlakatla Indian Community of Annette

Island Reserve, for which any land or interest

in land is held by the United States in trust or

which is subject to Federal restriction against

alienation or which is administered by the

United States pursuant to section 1613(g) of

title 43;

(5) ‘‘lease’’ means any contract, profit-share

arrangement, joint venture, or other agreement issued or approved by the United States

under a mineral leasing law that authorizes

exploration for, extraction of, or removal of

oil or gas;

(6) ‘‘lease site’’ means any lands or submerged lands, including the surface of a severed mineral estate, on which exploration for,

or extraction or removal of, oil or gas is authorized pursuant to a lease;

(7) ‘‘lessee’’ means any person to whom the

United States issues an oil and gas lease or

any person to whom operating rights in a lease

have been assigned;

(8) ‘‘mineral leasing law’’ means any Federal

law administered by the Secretary authorizing

the disposition under lease of oil or gas;

(9) ‘‘oil or gas’’ means any oil or gas originating from, or allocated to, the Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian lands;

(10) ‘‘Outer Continental Shelf’’ has the same

meaning as provided in the Outer Continental

Shelf Lands Act (Public Law 95–372);

(11) ‘‘operator’’ means any person, including

a lessee, who has control of, or who manages

operations on, an oil and gas lease site on Federal or Indian lands or on the Outer Continental Shelf;

(12) ‘‘person’’ means any individual, firm,

corporation, association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture;

(13) ‘‘production’’ means those activities

which take place for the removal of oil or gas,

including such removal, field operations,

transfer of oil or gas off the lease site, operation monitoring, maintenance, and workover

drilling;

(14) ‘‘royalty’’ means any payment based on

the value or volume of production which is due

to the United States or an Indian tribe or an

Indian allottee on production of oil or gas

from the Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or

Indian lands, or any minimum royalty owed to

the United States or an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee under any provision of a lease;