To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire coal preference right lease applications for which the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination, and for other purposes.

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to retire coal preference right lease applications for which the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination, and for other purposes. 1. Exchange of coal preference right lease applications (a) In general The Secretary of the Interior may retire any coal preference right lease application for which the Secretary has made an affirmative commercial quantities determination, by issuing bidding rights in exchange for relinquishment of the coal preference right lease application, including, notwithstanding any other provision of law, payment to the relevant State of 50 percent of the dollar amount of any bidding right subsequently used in lieu of any monetary payment of a bonus in a coal lease sale or of rental or royalty under a Federal coal lease. (b) Source of payments The Secretary shall make payments under subsection (a) from monies that would otherwise be deposited to miscellaneous receipts under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 191(a) (c) Treatment of payments A payment to a State under this section shall be treated for all purposes as if it were a payment under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act ( 30 U.S.C. 191(a) (d) Transferability; limitation (1) Transferability A bidding right issued under this section shall be fully transferable to any other person. (2) Notification of secretary A person who transfers such a bidding right shall notify the Secretary of the transfer by any method determined to be appropriate by the Secretary. (3) Effective period (A) In general A bidding right issued under this section shall terminate upon the expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date it is issued. (B) Tolling of period Such 5-year period shall be tolled during any period in which exercise of the bidding right is precluded by temporary injunctive relief granted under, or administrative, legislative, or judicial suspension of, the Federal coal leasing program. (e) Bidding right defined In this section the term bidding right (1) in lieu of a monetary payment for a bonus bid for a coal lease sale under the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et seq,); or (2) as a monetary credit against any rental or royalty payments due under any Federal coal lease. March 10, 2016 Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

Summary: This bill authorizes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to provide bidding credits for a coal preference right lease applicant to acquire federal mineral rights if such applicant agrees to relinquish its rights to an existing coal lease on federal land. Bidding credits, which are fully transferable, are assigned a dollar value and can be used in lieu of cash to make certain payments to the federal government. The dollar value should be equal to the estimated fair market value of the existing lease being relinquished. The BLM is required to provide payments, equal to 50% value of any bidding credit, to any state where federal mineral rights are being acquired through the use of bidding credits. Such payments are required to be derived from revenues obtained under federal mineral leases. A bidding credit terminates five years from its date of issue, not counting any period in which exercise of the bidding credit is precluded by law or suspension of the federal coal leasing program.