or right to any geographical area or zone or res-
ervoir, should be—
(A) suspended during any remaining pe-
riod in which mining operations or support fa-
cilities exist in the common area; or
(B) terminated.
(2) TERMS OF SUSPENSION.—Any determina-
tion to suspend pursuant to paragraph (1) shall,
wherever possible or appropriate, limit the suspen-
sion or phase the suspension to permit the optimum
development of the oil or gas prior to the time at
which the mining operations would reach the loca-
tion within the common area that is subject to the
suspension or particular phase of the suspension.
(3) CONDITIONS FOR TERMINATION.—Any de-
termination to terminate pursuant to paragraph (1)
shall be made only if the court finds that—
(A) the economically recoverable oil and
gas resources subject to compensation pursuant
to subsection (c) would be entirely lost or ren-
dered impracticable to produce as a con-
sequence of the mining operations in the com-
mon area; and
(B) such resources constitute all of the
economically recoverable resources subject to
the oil and gas lease or right to develop.
(c) COMPENSATION DETERMINATION.—
(1) DETERMINATION FOR SUSPENSION.—If the
court makes a determination to suspend pursuant to
subsection (b), the court shall determine the fol-
lowing:
(A) The amount of any net income that
will not be realized due to delay in development
of economically recoverable resources of oil or
gas, other than coalbed methane, from the com-
mon area, whether or not such development has
commenced.
(B) The amount of any net income that
will not be realized, whether or not development
of coalbed methane has commenced, due to—
(i) delay in development of economi-
cally recoverable resources of coalbed
methane in the common area;
(ii) the loss of any economically recov-
erable resources of coalbed methane from
the coal to be extracted by the mining op-
erations in the common area; and
(iii) the loss of any economically re-
coverable resources of coalbed methane un-
derlying any area that is subject to the oil
and gas lease and right to develop associ-
ated with the common area and that ex-
tends outward from each exposed coal face
of the mining operations for a distance
from which drainage of such resources is
established to the satisfaction of the court.
(C) Any of the following damages that will
be incurred by the owners of any interest in the
oil and gas lease or right to develop as a con-
sequence of the suspension:
(i) Any unavoidable fixed expenses of
shutting in production from, maintenance
of, and testing of an existing well.
(ii) Any unavoidable fixed expenses
necessary to achieve postsuspension recov-
ery of all or certain economically recover-
able resources of oil or gas in the common
area (including expenses of relaying pipe-
line and all other expenses reasonably re-
lated to reestablishing any existing oil or
gas production), except that if the court
determines that such unavoidable fixed ex-
penses will exceed the net income to be de-
rived from the resources, the court shall
determine the amount of such net income
and lost royalties on oil or gas not pro-
duced.
(iii) Expenses associated with strand-
ed costs of drilling equipment and facili-
ties.
(iv) Any lost royalties on oil or gas
not produced by the oil and gas developer.
(v) Any lost income associated with
temporarily shutting in production from
wells outside of the common area as need-
ed for reconnection to a gathering system
or pipeline to market.
(2) LIMITATION.—The determinations made
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not include any de-
crease in net income or damages resulting from loss
of any oil or gas resources that occurred before the
date of the determinations and is caused by mining
within or outside of the common area on the Federal
coal lease or logical mining unit that is the subject
of the common area determination made pursuant to
section 6(b)(1) or section 7(b)(2).
(3) DETERMINATION
FOR
TERMINATION.—If
the court makes a determination to terminate pursu-
ant to subsection (b), the court shall determine the
amount of any net income that will not be realized
and any damages due to the loss of, or imprac-
ticability to produce, the economically recoverable re-
sources of oil or gas subject to the oil and gas lease
or right to develop in the same manner as provided
in paragraph (1).
(4) ENSURING AGAINST DUPLICATE COMPENSA-
TION.—In determining the amount of net income
that will not be realized pursuant to paragraph (1)
or paragraph (3) and the sum of money to be
awarded pursuant to subsection (d), the court shall
ensure to the best of its ability that the Federal coal
lessee is not required to pay for the same gas or oil
lost, delayed in development, or rendered impracti-
cable to develop to more than one oil and gas devel-
oper or the owners of any interest in more than one
oil and gas lease or right to develop.
(d) COURT ORDER.—The court shall issue an order
that—
(1) suspends all or any part of, suspends in
phases parts of, or terminates the oil and gas lease
or right to develop, including any applicable payment
or production obligations, in accordance with the de-
termination made pursuant to subsection (b); and
(2) awards to the oil and gas developer and all
other owners of any interest in the oil and gas lease
or right to develop, as their interests may appear, a
sum of money from the Federal coal lessee equal to
the net income amount and damages determined
pursuant subsection (c).
SEC. 10. DISBURSEMENT OF PAYMENTS TO OIL AND GAS
DEVELOPERS.
(a) PAYMENT ALTERNATIVES.—At the election of the
oil and gas developer, the sum of money awarded by the
court pursuant to section 9(d)(2) shall be—
(1) paid in full within 60 days after the date of
issuance of the order pursuant to section 9(d); or
(2) divided into the number of tons of recover-
able coal in the common area and paid in per ton
increments as the coal is mined, in accordance with
subsections (b) and (c).
(b) PAYMENT SCHEDULE.—The Federal coal lessee
shall make the payments required by subsection (a)(2) on
a quarterly basis in advance based on the Federal coal
lessee’s estimate of the number of tons of coal to be mined
in the common area during the following quarter, and
shall add or subtract an amount to or from the advance
terminates the suspension and fixes the date and
terms on which the oil and gas developer may re-
sume operations within the portion of the common
area subject to the order issued pursuant to section
9(d).
(b) COURT ORDER TO TERMINATE SUSPENSION OF
LEASE OR RIGHT TO DEVELOP.—The court shall issue
the order sought under subsection (a)(2) within 30 days
after the date of receipt of the petition pursuant to sub-
section (a)(2).
(c) TERMINATION
OF LEASE
OR RIGHT TO DE-
VELOP.—
(1) RIGHT TO PETITION.—If the oil and gas de-
veloper determines that, as a consequence of the
order of the court issued pursuant to section 7(c)
and an order to suspend all or any part of the oil
and gas lease or right to develop pursuant to section
9(d), the conditions described in section 9(b)(3)
exist, the oil and gas developer may petition the
court to terminate the oil and gas lease or right to
develop.
(2) TIME FOR FILING PETITION.—The petition
referred to in paragraph (1) may be filed any time
after issuance of the order of the court pursuant to
section 9(d), but not later than 120 days after the
date of receipt by the court of the notification pursu-
ant to subsection (a)(1).
(3) DETERMINATION
AND
AWARD.—Upon re-
ceipt of a petition pursuant to paragraph (1), the
court shall make a determination whether to issue
an order to terminate the oil and gas lease or right
to develop and award an additional amount from the
Federal coal lessee to the oil and gas developer and
all other owners of any interest in the oil and gas
lease or right to develop, as their interests may ap-
pear, in accordance with the procedures and dead-
lines established in section 5(a) and sections 8
through 10.
SEC. 12. SUPPLEMENTAL PETITION FOR RELIEF.
(a) PETITION SUBMITTAL.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—If, at any time after the
issuance of an order pursuant to section 9(d), the
mining plan that is the basis of the order is altered
in a manner that may warrant suspension of an ad-
ditional part or all of, or termination of, the oil and
gas lease or right to develop, or an increase in the
sum of money that was awarded under the order, or
both, either the Federal coal lessee or the oil and
gas developer may, if necessary after compliance
with the requirements of section 4, file a supple-
mental petition for relief with the court to amend
the order.
(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of sec-
tion 5(a) and sections 6 through 10 shall apply to
the supplemental petition submitted pursuant to
paragraph (1).
(b) COURT ORDER.—
(1) DETERMINATION.—Upon completion of the
process required by subsection (a)(2), the court shall
make a determination whether to—
(A) suspend an additional part or all of, or
terminate, the oil and gas lease or right to de-
velop as described in section 9; and
(B) award an additional sum of money cal-
culated in accordance with section 9.
(2) ORDER.—The court shall issue any order
resulting from the determinations made pursuant to
paragraph (1) within 90 days after the date of filing
of the supplemental petition for relief.
SEC. 13. APPEAL OF COURT ORDERS.
(a) NON-APPEALABLE ORDERS.—Any order issued
pursuant to section 7(c), section 7(d), section 9(d)(1), or
section 12(b)(1)(A) is final and may not be appealed.
(b) APPEALABLE ORDERS.—Any order issued pursu-
ant to section 9(d)(2), section 11(b), section 11(c)(3), or
section 12(b)(1)(B) may be appealed, but the appeal, and
any disposition thereof, may not affect any order referred
to in subsection (a).
SEC. 14. SUSPENSION TERMS.
(a) FEDERAL LEASE SUSPENSION TERMS.—If all or
any part of any Federal oil and gas lease is suspended
in whole or in part by the Secretary or the court under
this Act—
(1) the lessee shall not be required to pay any
rental for the lease for the period of the suspension;
and
(2)(A) if the lease is in the primary term, the
term of the lease shall be extended by the length of
the period of the suspension plus one year; or
(B) the lease shall not terminate due to lack of
production for the period of the suspension plus one
year.
(b) NON-FEDERAL LEASE SUSPENSION TERMS.—If
any non-Federal oil and gas lease or right to develop is
suspended in whole or in part by the court under this Act,
the court shall establish terms for the suspension com-
parable to the terms set forth in subsection (a).
SEC. 15. LIABILITY LIMITATION.
Except as provided in a written agreement reached
pursuant to section 4(b), or reached on or after September
1, 1999, and before the date of enactment of this Act and
approved by the Bureau of Land Management, or as pro-
vided by an order of the court pursuant to this Act, nei-
ther the Federal coal lessee subject to the agreement or
order nor the United States shall be liable to the oil and
gas developer of, or any owner of an interest in, any oil
and gas lease or right to develop subject to the agreement
or order for any decrease in or depletion of, or any impair-
ment of the ability to recover, any gas or oil subject to
the oil and gas lease or right to develop that may result
from the development of any coal on the Federal coal
leasehold or within a logical mining unit that includes the
Federal coal lease.
SEC. 16. CREDIT AGAINST ROYALTIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—If a Federal coal lessee is required
by a written agreement reached pursuant to section 4(b),
or reached on or after September 1, 1999, and before the
date of the enactment of this Act and approved by the
Bureau of Land Management, or by a court order issued
pursuant to section 9(d), section 11(c)(3), or section
12(b)(2)(B), to pay an amount for loss of economically
recoverable Federal coalbed methane resources due to
mining operations or for suspension of all or part of, or
termination of, a Federal oil and gas lease for coalbed
methane located within the lands designated as ‘‘Dispute
Resolution Area’’ on the maps referred to in section 2(1),
any amount so paid after the date of enactment of this
Act shall be credited against any royalties on production
otherwise due from the Federal coal lessee or any affiliate
thereof under section 7(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 207(a)) for any lease of Federal coal issued under
that Act, or under the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired
Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) for any lease of Federal
coal that is subject to that Act.
(b) TREATMENT OF ROYALTIES TO THE STATE.—
The Secretary shall pay to the State of Wyoming 50 per-
cent of the amount of any credit against royalties provided
under subsection (a)—
(1) in the same manner as if the credit against
royalties had been paid in money as royalties and
distributed under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leas-
ing Act (30 U.S.C. 193(a)); and
(2) from amounts received as royalties, rentals,
or bonuses derived from leases issued under this Act
that otherwise would be deposited as miscellaneous
receipts under section 35(a) of the Mineral Leasing
Act (30 U.S.C. 193(a)).
SEC. 17. DENIAL OF USE AS PRECEDENT.
Nothing in this Act shall be applicable to any lease
under the Mineral Leasing Act or the Mineral Leasing Act
for Acquired Lands for any mineral, or shall be applicable
to, or supersede any statutory or common law otherwise
applicable in, any proceeding in any Federal or State court
involving development of any mineral outside of any com-
mon area and within or outside of the Powder River
Basin.
SEC. 18. REGULATIONS.
The Secretary shall promulgate any regulations nec-
essary to implement this Act by not later than 120 days
after the date of enactment of this Act.
Æ