II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2300

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 28, 2000

Mr. THOMAS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

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. TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coal Market Competi5 tion Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) Federal land contains commercial deposits

9 of coal, the Nation’s largest deposits of coal being
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1 located on Federal land in Utah, Colorado, Montana,

2 and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming;

3 (2) coal is mined on Federal land through Fed4 eral coal leases under the Act of February 25, 1920

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

6 (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.);

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

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

9 energy production;

10 (4) the Mineral Leasing Act sets for each

11 leasable mineral a limitation on the amount of acre12 age of Federal leases any 1 producer may hold in

13 any 1 State or nationally;

14 (5)(A) the present acreage limitation for Fed15 eral coal leases has been in place since 1976;

16 (B) currently the coal lease acreage limit of

17 46,080 acres per State is less than the per-State

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

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

20 (6) coal producers in Wyoming and Utah are

21 operating mines on Federal leaseholds that contain

22 total acreage close to the coal lease acreage ceiling;

23 (7) the same reasons that Congress cited in en24 acting increases for State lease acreage caps applica25 ble in the case of other minerals—the advent of
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1 modern mine technology, changes in industry eco2 nomics, greater global competition, and the need to

3 conserve Federal resources—apply to coal;

4 (8) existing coal mines require additional lease

5 acreage to avoid premature closure, but those mines

6 cannot relinquish mined-out areas to lease new acre7 age because those areas are subject to 10-year rec8 lamation plans, and the reclaimed acreage is counted

9 against the State and national acreage limits;

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

11 decisions affecting the type and amount of additional

12 infrastructure investments, coal producers need cer13 tainty that sufficient acreage of leasable coal will be

14 available for mining in the future; and

15 (10) to maintain the vitality of the domestic

16 coal industry and ensure the continued flow of valu17 able revenues to the Federal and State governments

18 and of energy to the American public from coal pro19 duction on Federal land, the Mineral Leasing Act

20 should be amended to increase the acreage limitation

21 for Federal coal leases.

22 SEC. 3. COAL MINING ON FEDERAL LAND.

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

24 U.S.C. 184(a)), is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and all that follows

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

3 LEASES.—No person’’;

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

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

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

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

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