‘‘(b) STOCKPILE SALES.—Not later than January 1,
2004, the Secretary shall commence offering for sale crude
helium from helium reserves owned by the United States
in such minimum annual amounts as would be necessary
to dispose of all such helium reserves in excess of
600,000,000 cubic feet (mcf) on a straight-line basis be-
tween such date and January 1, 2014; provided that the
minimum price for all such sales, as determined by the
Secretary in consultation with the helium industry, shall
be such as will ensure repayment of the amounts required
to be repaid to the Treasury under section 6(c), and pro-
vided further that the minimum annual sales requirement
may be deferred only if, and to the extent that, the Sec-
retary is unable to arrange sales at the minimum price.
The sales shall be at such times during each year and in
such lots as the Secretary determines, in consultation with
the helium industry, are necessary to carry out this sub-
section with minimum market disruption.
‘‘(c) DISCOVERY OF ADDITIONAL RESERVES.—The
discovery of additional helium reserves shall not affect the
duty of the Secretary to make sales of helium as provided
in subsection (b), as the case may be.’’.
SEC. 6. REPEAL OF AUTHORITY TO BORROW.
Sections 12 and 15 are repealed.
SEC. 7. REPORTS.
Section 16 is amended by redesignating existing sec-
tion 16 as section 16(a) and inserting the following at the
end thereof:
‘‘(b)(1) The Inspector General of the Department of
the Interior shall cause to be prepared, not later than
March 31 following each fiscal year commencing with the
date of enactment of the Helium Act of 1994, annual fi-
nancial statements for the Helium Operations of the Bu-
reau of Mines. The Director of the Bureau of Mines shall
cooperate with the Inspector General in fulfilling this re-
quirement, and shall provide him with such personnel and
accounting assistance as may be necessary for that pur-
pose. The financial statements shall be audited by the
General Accounting Office, and a report on such audit
shall be delivered by the General Accounting Office to the
Secretary of the Interior and Congress, not later than
June 30 following the end of the fiscal year for which they
are prepared. The audit shall be prepared in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.
‘‘(2) The financial statements shall be comprised of
the following:
‘‘(A) A balance sheet reflecting the overall fi-
nancial position of the Helium Operations, including
assets and liabilities thereof;
‘‘(B) the Statement of Operations, reflecting
the fiscal period results of the Helium Operations;
‘‘(C) a statement of cash flows or changes in fi-
nancial position of the Helium Operations; and
‘‘(D) a reconciliation of budget reports of the
Helium Operations.
‘‘(3) The Statement of Operations shall include but
not be limited to the revenues from, and costs of, sales
of crude helium, the storage and transportation of crude
helium, the production, refining and marketing of refined
helium, and the maintenance and operation of helium stor-
age facilities at the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field. The
term ‘revenues’ for this purpose shall exclude (A) royalties
paid to the United States for production of helium or other
extraction of resources, except to the extent that the He-
lium Operations incur direct costs in connection therewith,
and (B) proceeds from sales of assets other than inven-
tory. The term ‘expenses’ shall include, but not be limited
to (i) all labor costs of the Bureau of Mines Helium Oper-
ations, and of the Department of the Interior in connec-
tion therewith, and (ii) for financial reporting purposes
but not in connection with the determination of sales
prices in section 6(c), all current-period interest on out-
standing repayable amounts (as described in section 6(c))
calculated at the same rates as such interest was cal-
culated prior to the enactment of the Helium Act of 1994.
‘‘(4) The balance sheet shall include, but not be lim-
ited to, on the asset side, the present discounted market
value of crude helium reserves; and on the liability side,
the accrued liability for principal and interest on debt to
the United States. For financial reporting purposes but
not in connection with the determination of sales prices
in section 6(c), the balance sheet shall also include accrued
but unpaid interest on outstanding repayable amounts (as
described in section 6(c)) through the date of the report,
calculated at the same rates as such interest was cal-
culated prior to the enactment of the Helium Act of
1994.’’.
Æ