I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2300

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 6, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the maximum

acreage of Federal leases for coal that may be held

by an entity in any 1 State.

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 ‘‘Coal Market Competi5 tion Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) Federal land contains commercial deposits

4 of coal, the Nation’s largest deposits of coal being

5 located on Federal land in Utah, Colorado, Montana,

6 and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming;

7 (2) coal is mined on Federal land through Fed8 eral coal leases under the Act of February 25, 1920

9 (commonly known as the ‘‘Mineral Leasing Act’’)

10 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);

11 (3) the sub-bituminous coal from these mines is

12 low in sulfur, making it the cleanest burning coal for

13 energy production;

14 (4) the Mineral Leasing Act sets for each

15 leasable mineral a limitation on the amount of acre16 age of Federal leases any 1 producer may hold in

17 any 1 State or nationally;

18 (5)(A) the present acreage limitation for Fed19 eral coal leases has been in place since 1976;

20 (B) currently the coal lease acreage limit of

21 46,080 acres per State is less than the per-State

22 Federal lease acreage limit for potash (96,000 acres)

23 and oil and gas (246,080 acres);

24 (6) coal producers in Wyoming and Utah are

25 operating mines on Federal leaseholds that contain

26 total acreage close to the coal lease acreage ceiling;
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1 (7) the same reasons that Congress cited in en2 acting increases for State lease acreage caps applica3 ble in the case of other minerals—the advent of

4 modern mine technology, changes in industry eco5 nomics, greater global competition, and the need to

6 conserve Federal resources—apply to coal;

7 (8) existing coal mines require additional lease

8 acreage to avoid premature closure, but those mines

9 cannot relinquish mined-out areas to lease new acre10 age because those areas are subject to 10-year rec11 lamation plans, and the reclaimed acreage is counted

12 against the State and national acreage limits;

13 (9) to enable them to make long-term business

14 decisions affecting the type and amount of additional

15 infrastructure investments, coal producers need cer16 tainty that sufficient acreage of leasable coal will be

17 available for mining in the future; and

18 (10) to maintain the vitality of the domestic

19 coal industry and ensure the continued flow of valu20 able revenues to the Federal and State governments

21 and of energy to the American public from coal pro22 duction on Federal land, the Mineral Leasing Act

23 should be amended to increase the acreage limitation

24 for Federal coal leases.
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1 SEC. 3. COAL MINING ON FEDERAL LAND.

2 Section 27(a) of the Act of February 25, 1920 (30

3 U.S.C. 184(a)), is amended—

4 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and all that follows

5 through ‘‘No person’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) COAL

6 LEASES.—No person’’;

7 (2) by striking ‘‘forty-six thousand and eighty

8 acres’’ and inserting ‘‘75,000 acres’’; and

9 (3) by striking ‘‘one hundred thousand acres’’

10 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘150,000 acres’’.

Passed the Senate October 5 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.