I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5759 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require an operator to compensate 

a surface owner for damages resulting from the oil and gas operations 

of the operator on land affected by the operations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 15, 2010 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to require an operator 

to compensate a surface owner for damages resulting 

from the oil and gas operations of the operator on land 

affected by the operations. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Rural 

5 Landscapes Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SPLIT ESTATE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 17 of the Mineral Leasing 

3 Act (30 U.S.C. 226) is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(q) SPLIT ESTATES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

7 ‘‘(A) COVERED LAND.—The term ‘covered 

8 land’ means land with respect to which— 

9 ‘‘(i) title to oil and gas resources is 

10 held by the United States; but 

11 ‘‘(ii) title to the surface estate is not 

12 held by the United States. 

13 ‘‘(B) LEASE.—The term ‘lease’ means a 

14 lease issued by the Secretary under this Act 

15 that provides for the development of oil and gas 

16 resources (including coalbed methane) on cov17 ered land. 

18 ‘‘(C) LESSEE.—The term ‘lessee’ means 

19 the holder of a lease for the development of oil 

20 and gas resources on covered land. 

21 ‘‘(D) OIL AND GAS OPERATIONS.—The 

22 term ‘oil and gas operations’ means all activi23 ties affecting the interest of a surface owner in 

24 covered land that are associated with explo25 ration, drilling, or production of oil and gas, 


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1 through final reclamation of the affected sur2 face. 

3 ‘‘(E) OPERATOR.—The term ‘operator’ 

4 means a person with the legal right to conduct 

5 oil and gas operations on covered land. 

6 ‘‘(F) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

7 means the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 ‘‘(G) SURFACE OWNER.—The term ‘sur9 face owner’ means a person who holds legal or 

10 equitable title, as demonstrated in the records 

11 of the applicable county clerk or other local gov12 ernment official, to the surface of the covered 

13 land on which the operator has the right to con14 duct oil and gas operations. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION AND RECLAMATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An operator shall 

17 compensate the surface owner for damages re18 sulting from the oil and gas operations of the 

19 operator on land affected by the operations 

20 from— 

21 ‘‘(i) loss of agricultural production 

22 and income; 

23 ‘‘(ii) lost land value; 

24 ‘‘(iii) lost use of and lost access to the 

25 land of the surface owner; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the lost value of improvements. 

2 ‘‘(B) RECLAMATION.—An operator shall 

3 reclaim the surface affected by the oil and gas 

4 operations of the operator. 

5 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF OPERATIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) PRIOR TO INITIAL ENTRY.—Prior to 

7 initial entry for activities that do not disturb 

8 the surface, the operator shall provide at least 

9 five days notice by certified mail or hand deliv10 ery to the surface owner. 

11 ‘‘(B) OPERATIONS.—Prior to commencing 

12 oil and gas operations, the operator shall pro13 vide not less than 30 days notice by certified 

14 mail or hand delivery to the surface owner with 

15 sufficient disclosure of the planned operations 

16 to enable the surface owner to evaluate the ef17 fect of the operations. 

18 ‘‘(C) PLACE OF NOTICE DELIVERY.—The 

19 notices required by this section shall be given to 

20 the surface owner at the address shown by the 

21 records of the county clerk at the time the no22 tice is given. 

23 ‘‘(D) NOTICE DEEMED RECEIVED.—No24 tices required by this section shall be deemed to 

25 have been received five days after mailing by 


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1 certified mail or immediately upon hand deliv2 ery. 

3 ‘‘(4) SURFACE USE AGREEMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) SURFACE USE AGREEMENT.—At the 

5 time of providing notice of operations under 

6 paragraph (3)(B), the operator shall provide to 

7 the surface owner a proposed surface use agree8 ment that— 

9 ‘‘(i) to the extent known, specifies suf10 ficient disclosure of the planned oil and gas 

11 operations to enable the surface owner to 

12 evaluate the effect of the operations on the 

13 property, including— 

14 ‘‘(I) placement, specifications, 

15 maintenance and design of facilities, 

16 equipment and roads; 

17 ‘‘(II) terms of ingress and egress; 

18 ‘‘(III) water protection (quality 

19 and quantity); 

20 ‘‘(IV) proposed reclamation; and 

21 ‘‘(V) actions to minimize surface 

22 damages to the land including runoff 

23 and erosion; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) includes an offer of compensation 

2 for damages to the surface affected by oil 

3 and gas operations. 

4 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 

6 days after the date of receipt of the pro7 posed surface use agreement, the surface 

8 owner may accept or reject the agreement. 

9 ‘‘(ii) FAILURE TO ACCEPT.—Failure 

10 to accept the agreement during the 30-day 

11 period described in clause (i) may be con12 sidered a rejection of the agreement. 

13 ‘‘(C) NEGOTIATIONS.—The surface owner 

14 and operator may enter into negotiations re15 garding the surface use agreement. 

16 ‘‘(D) AGREEMENT.—The operator and the 

17 surface owner may enter into a mutually ac18 ceptable agreement that specifies the rights and 

19 obligations of the parties with respect to the 

20 surface activities conducted by the operator. 

21 ‘‘(5) ENTRY WITHOUT AGREEMENT; BOND.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In lieu of executing a 

23 surface use agreement under paragraph (4)(A), 

24 the operator may enter the property of the surVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:51 Jul 17, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5759.IH H5759

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1 face owner and conduct oil and gas operations 

2 as provided in this section. 

3 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL ASSURANCE.—The oper4 ator shall provide an appropriate financial as5 surance for the benefit of the surface owner, as 

6 determined by the Secretary, prior to com7 mencing operations under this paragraph. 

8 ‘‘(C) RELEASE OF FINANCIAL ASSUR9 ANCE.—The Secretary shall provide for the ap10 propriate release of the financial assurance on 

11 a determination that— 

12 ‘‘(i) the reclamation is complete; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the surface owner has been com14 pensated for any damages. 

15 ‘‘(6) NOTICE OF SECRETARIAL ACTION WITH

16 RESPECT TO FEDERAL LEASES.—The Secretary 

17 shall make reasonable efforts to provide to each sur18 face owner of affected covered land, and to each per19 mittee or right-of-way holder with the right to use 

20 the surface of affected Federal land, written notice 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(A) any lease sale for an oil or gas lease 

23 under this Act by not later than 30 days before 

24 the date of the lease sale; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the issuance of a drilling permit by 

2 not later than 5 days before the date of 

3 issuance. 

4 ‘‘(7) RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAW.—Nothing 

5 in this subsection preempts any applicable State 

6 law.’’. 

7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

9 Interior shall promulgate such regulations as are nec10 essary to carry out the amendment made by subsection 

11 (a). 

Æ 


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