I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 794

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for the development of Federal 

coal resources. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Mrs. CUBIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for the 

development of Federal coal resources.

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 Leasing Amend5 ments Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPEAL OF THE 160-ACRE LIMITATION FOR COAL 

7 LEASES. 

8 Section 3 of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 203) 

9 is amended in the first sentence by striking ‘‘such lease,’’ 
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1 and all that follows through the end of the sentence and 

2 inserting ‘‘such lease.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. MINING PLANS. 

4 Section 2(d)(2) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 

5 U.S.C. 202a(2)) is amended—

6 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(2)’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may establish a period of more 

9 than 40 years if the Secretary determines that the longer 

10 period—

11 ‘‘(i) will ensure the maximum economic recovery 

12 of a coal deposit; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the longer period is in the interest of the 

14 orderly, efficient, or economic development of a coal 

15 resource.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. PAYMENT OF ADVANCE ROYALTIES UNDER COAL 

17 LEASES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7(b) of the Mineral Leas19 ing Act of 1920 (30 U.S.C. 207(b)) is amended to read 

20 as follows: 

21 ‘‘(b)(1) Each lease shall be subjected to the condition 

22 of diligent development and continued operation of the 

23 mine or mines, except where operations under the lease 

24 are interrupted by strikes, the elements, or casualties not 

25 attributable to the lessee. 
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1 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary of the Interior, upon deter2 mining that the public interest will be served thereby, may 

3 suspend the condition of continued operation upon the 

4 payment of advance royalties. 

5 ‘‘(B) Such advance royalties shall be computed based 

6 on the average price for coal sold in the spot market from 

7 the same region during the last month of each applicable 

8 continued operation year. 

9 ‘‘(C) The aggregate number of years during the ini10 tial and any extended term of any lease for which advance 

11 royalties may be accepted in lieu of the condition of contin12 ued operation shall not exceed 20. 

13 ‘‘(3) The amount of any production royalty paid for 

14 any year shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the 

15 amount of any advance royalties paid under such lease to 

16 the extent that such advance royalties have not been used 

17 to reduce production royalties for a prior year. 

18 ‘‘(4) This subsection shall be applicable to any lease 

19 or logical mining unit in existence on the date of the enact20 ment of this paragraph or issued or approved after such 

21 date. 

22 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

23 affect the requirement contained in the second sentence 

24 of subsection (a) relating to commencement of production 

25 at the end of 10 years.’’. 
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1 (b) AUTHORITY TO WAIVE, SUSPEND, OR REDUCE

2 ADVANCE ROYALTIES.—Section 39 of the Mineral Leas3 ing Act (30 U.S.C. 209) is amended by striking the last 

4 sentence. 

5 SEC. 5. ELIMINATION OF DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF 

6 COAL LEASE OPERATION AND RECLAMATION 

7 PLAN. 

8 Section 7(c) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

9 207(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘and not later than three 

10 years after a lease is issued,’’. 

11 SEC. 6. AMENDMENTS RELATING TO FINANCIAL ASSUR12 ANCES WITH RESPECT TO BONUS BIDS. 

13 (a) PROHIBITION ON REQUIRING SURETY BONDS.—

14 Section 2(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 

15 201(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall not require a surety bond 

17 or any other financial assurance to guarantee payment of 

18 deferred bonus bid installments with respect to any coal 

19 lease issued based upon a cash bonus bid. 

20 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if 

21 the lessee under a coal lease fails to pay any installment 

22 of a deferred cash bonus bid within 10 days after the Sec23 retary provides written notice that payment of such in24 stallment is past due—

25 ‘‘(A) such lease shall automatically terminate; 
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1 ‘‘(B) any deferred bonus payments that have 

2 not been paid to the United States with respect to 

3 such lease shall no longer be owed to the United 

4 States; and 

5 ‘‘(C) any bonus payments already made to the 

6 United States with respect to such lease shall not be 

7 returned to the lessee or credited in any future lease 

8 sale.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2(a)(1) of 

10 the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 201(a)(1)) is amend11 ed by striking ‘‘Upon default or cancellation of any coal 

12 lease for which bonus payments are due, any unpaid re13 mainder of the bid shall be immediately payable to the 

14 United States.’’. 

15 SEC. 7. INVENTORY REQUIREMENT. 

16 (a) REVIEW OF ASSESSMENTS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte18 rior, in consultation with the Secretary of Agri19 culture and the Secretary of Energy, shall review 

20 coal assessments and other available data to iden21 tify—

22 (A) public lands with coal resources; 

23 (B) the extent and nature of any restric24 tions or impediments to the development of coal 
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1 resources on public lands identified under para2 graph (1); and 

3 (C) with respect to areas of such lands for 

4 which sufficient data exists, resources of com5 pliant coal and supercompliant coal. 

6 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub7 section—

8 (A) the term ‘‘compliant coal’’ means coal 

9 that contains not less than 1.0 and not more 

10 than 1.2 pounds of sulfur dioxide per million 

11 Btu; and 

12 (B) the term ‘‘supercompliant coal’’ means 

13 coal that contains less than 1.0 pounds of sul14 fur dioxide per million Btu. 

15 (b) COMPLETION AND UPDATING OF THE INVEN16 TORY.—The Secretary—

17 (1) shall complete the inventory under sub18 section (a) by not later than 2 years after the date 

19 of the enactment of this Act; and 

20 (2) shall update the inventory as the availability 

21 of data and developments in technology warrant. 

22 (c) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 

23 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives 

24 and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

25 of the Senate and make publicly available—
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1 (1) a report containing the inventory under this 

2 section, by not later than 2 years after the effective 

3 date of this section; and 

4 (2) each update of such inventory. 

5 SEC. 8. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS. 

6 The amendments made by this Act apply with respect 

7 to any coal lease issued before, on, or after the date of 

8 the enactment of this Act.

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