I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4298
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the maximum acreage of
Federal leases for coal that may be held by an entity in any 1 State.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 13, 2000
Mrs. CUBIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the maximum
acreage of Federal leases for coal that may be held
by an entity in any 1 State.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Coal Market Competi-
tion Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) Federal land contains commercial deposits
of coal, the Nation’s largest deposits of coal being
located on Federal land in Utah, Colorado, Montana,
and the Powder River Basin of Wyoming;
(2) coal is mined on Federal land through Fed-
eral coal leases under the Mineral Leasing Act (30
U.S.C. 181 et seq.);
(3) the sub-bituminous coal from these mines is
low in sulfur, making it the cleanest burning coal for
energy production;
(4) the Mineral Leasing Act sets for each
leasable mineral a limitation on the amount of acre-
age of Federal leases any 1 producer may hold in
any 1 State or nationally;
(5) the present acreage limitation for Federal
coal leases has been in place since 1976;
(6) currently the coal lease acreage limit of
46,080 acres per State is less than the per-State
Federal lease acreage limit for potash (96,000 acres)
and oil and gas (246,080 acres);
(7) coal producers in Wyoming and Utah are
operating mines on Federal leaseholds that contain
total acreage close to the coal lease acreage limita-
tion;
(8) the same reasons that Congress cited in en-
acting increases for State lease acreage caps applica-
ble in the case of other minerals—the advent of
modern mine technology, changes in industry eco-
nomics, greater global competition, and the need to
conserve Federal resources—apply to coal;
(9) existing coal mines require additional lease
acreage to avoid premature closure, but those mines
cannot relinquish mined-out areas to lease new acre-
age because those areas are subject to 10-year rec-
lamation plans, and the reclaimed acreage is counted
against the State and national acreage limits;
(10) to enable them to make long-term business
decisions affecting the type and amount of additional
infrastructure investments, coal producers need cer-
tainty that sufficient acreage of leasable coal will be
available for mining in the future; and
(11) to maintain the vitality of the domestic
coal industry and ensure the continued flow of valu-
able revenues to the Federal and State governments
and of energy to the American public from coal pro-
duction on Federal land, the Mineral Leasing Act
should be amended to increase the acreage limitation
for Federal coal leases.
SEC. 3. COAL MINING ON FEDERAL LAND.
Section 27(a) of the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C.
184(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and all that follows
through ‘‘No person’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) COAL
LEASES.—No person’’;
(2) by striking ‘‘forty-six thousand and eighty
acres’’ and inserting ‘‘75,000 acres’’; and
(3) by striking ‘‘one hundred thousand acres’’
each place it appears and inserting ‘‘150,000 acres’’.
Æ