II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 692 

To provide for the conveyance of certain public land in northwestern New 

Mexico by resolving a dispute associated with coal preference right lease 

interests on the land. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 4, 2005 

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

to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the conveyance of certain public land in northwestern New Mexico by resolving a dispute associated 

with coal preference right lease interests on the land. 

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 ‘‘Bisti PRLA Dispute 

5 Resolution Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF COAL PREFERENCE RIGHT LEASE 

7 APPLICATIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi9 sion of law, if any of the coal preference right lease appli-
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1 cations captioned NMNM 3752, NMNM 3753, NMNM 

2 3754, NMNM 3755, NMNM 3835, NMNM 3837, NMNM 

3 3918, NMNM 3919, NMNM 6802, NMNM 7235, and 

4 NMNM 8745 are withdrawn by the holder or holders of 

5 the applications, the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

6 through the Bureau of Land Management (referred to in 

7 this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall issue under section 

8 4(a)(2) to each such holder or holders a certificate of bid9 ding rights (in such form and manner as provided for 

10 under regulations promulgated by the Secretary under the 

11 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq.)) that con12 stitutes the combined fair market value, as determined 

13 under section 3, of the coal reserves for each coal pref14 erence right lease application withdrawn by the holder. 

15 (b) RELINQUISHMENT.—The relinquishment of all 

16 rights associated with the coal preference lease applica17 tions withdrawn shall be effective on the date of the 

18 issuance of the certificate of bidding rights under section 

19 4(a)(2). 

20 (c) NO ADJUDICATION.—The withdrawals and 

21 issuances required under subsection (a) shall occur with22 out any further adjudication of coal preference right lease 

23 applications by the Secretary. 
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1 SEC. 3. METHOD FOR DETERMINING FAIR MARKET VALUE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi3 sion of law, this section shall apply to the issuance of a 

4 certificate of bidding rights under section 4(a)(2). 

5 (b) VALUE OF COAL RESERVES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The fair market value of the 

7 coal reserves of any coal preference right lease appli8 cation withdrawn under section 2(a) shall be deter9 mined by the panel established under paragraph (2). 

10 (2) PANEL.— 

11 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 30 

12 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 the Secretary shall establish a panel to deter14 mine the fair market value of the coal reserves 

15 of any coal preference right lease applications 

16 withdrawn under section 2(a). 

17 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The panel shall be 

18 composed of 3 representatives, of whom— 

19 (i) 1 representative shall be appointed 

20 by the Secretary; 

21 (ii) 1 representative shall be appointed 

22 by the holder of the preference right lease 

23 application; and 

24 (iii) 1 representative shall be ap25 pointed by the Governor of the State of 

26 New Mexico. 
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1 (3) MINERAL APPRAISER.—The Secretary shall 

2 contract with a qualified coal reserve appraiser to 

3 assist the panel established under paragraph (2)(A) 

4 in determining the fair market value of a coal re5 serve. 

6 (4) SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION.—In deter7 mining the fair market value of a coal reserve, the 

8 panel may supplement any information provided to 

9 the panel, as the panel determines to be appropriate. 

10 (5) DETERMINATION.—Not later than 75 days 

11 after the date on which the panel is established 

12 under paragraph (2)(A), the panel shall submit to 

13 the Secretary the determination of the panel with re14 spect to the fair market value of a coal reserve of 

15 any coal preference right lease application with16 drawn by the holder. 

17 SEC. 4. ISSUANCE OF BIDDING RIGHTS TO HOLDERS OF RE18 LINQUISHED PREFERENCE RIGHT LEASE AP19 PLICATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi21 sion of law, not later than 120 days after the withdrawal 

22 of a coal preference right lease application, the Secretary 

23 shall— 
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1 (1) accept the relinquishment of the rights as2 sociated with the coal preference right lease applica3 tion; and 

4 (2) issue a certificate of bidding rights in the 

5 amount of the fair market value determined under 

6 section 3. 

7 (b) ENFORCEMENT.—The duties of the Secretary 

8 under this section shall be considered nondiscretionary 

9 and enforceable in a mandamus proceeding brought under 

10 section 1361 of title 28, United States Code. 

11 SEC. 5. USE OF EXCHANGE BIDDING RIGHTS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi13 sion of law— 

14 (1) a certificate of bidding rights issued under 

15 section 4(a)(2) shall— 

16 (A) be subject to such procedures as the 

17 Secretary may establish pertaining to notice of 

18 transfer and accountings of holders and their 

19 balances; 

20 (B) be transferable by the holder or hold21 ers of the certificate of bidding rights in whole 

22 or in part; and 

23 (C) constitute a monetary credit that, sub24 ject to paragraph (2), may be applied, at the 
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1 election of the holder or holders of the certifi2 cate of bidding rights, against— 

3 (i) rentals, advance royalties, or pro4 duction royalties payable to the Secretary 

5 under Federal coal leases; and 

6 (ii) bonus payments payable to the 

7 Secretary in the issuance of a Federal coal 

8 lease or Federal coal lease modification 

9 under the coal leasing provisions of the 

10 Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et 

11 seq.); and 

12 (2) in a case in which a certificate of bidding 

13 rights issued under section 4(a)(2) is applied by the 

14 holder or holders of the certificate of bidding rights 

15 as a monetary credit against a payment obligation 

16 under a Federal coal lease, the holder or holders— 

17 (A) may apply the bidding rights only 

18 against 50 percent of the amount payable under 

19 the lease; and 

20 (B) shall pay the remaining 50 percent as 

21 provided for under the lease in cash or cash 

22 equivalent. 

23 (b) PAYMENT UNDER LEASE OBLIGATIONS.—Any 

24 payment of a Federal coal lease obligation by the holder 
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1 or holders of a certificate of bidding rights issued under 

2 section 4(a)(2)— 

3 (1) shall be treated as money received under 

4 section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

5 191); but 

6 (2) shall be credited and redistributed by the 

7 Secretary only as follows: 

8 (A) 50 percent of the amount paid in cash 

9 or its equivalent shall be— 

10 (i) distributed to the State in which 

11 the lease is located; and 

12 (ii) treated as a redistribution under 

13 section 35 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

14 U.S.C. 191). 

15 (B) 50 percent of the amount paid through 

16 a crediting of the bidding rights involved shall 

17 be treated as a payment that is subject to redis18 tribution under that section to the Reclamation 

19 and Miscellaneous Receipts accounts in the 

20 Treasury. 

Æ