Coal Market Competition Act of 2000
PL 106-463 (S.2300), enacted 11/07/2000

114 STAT. 2010 
PUBLIC LAW 106-463—NOV. 7, 2000 
Public Law 106-463 
106th Congress 
An Act 
Nov. 7, 2000 
To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to increase the maximum acreage of Federal 
[S. 2300] 
leases for coal that may be held by an entity in any 1 State. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
of 
Coal Market 
the United States of America in Congress assembled. 
Competition Act 
of 2000. 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
30 use 181 note. 
j ^ ^ ^^^ ^^^ 
^^ ^j^^^ ^^ ^j^^ aQ^^j Market Competition Act 
of 2000". 
30 u s e 184 note. 
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 Federal coal 
leases under the Act of February 25, 1920 (commonly known 
as 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 produc-
tion; 
(4) the Mineral Leasing Act sets for each leasable mineral 
a limitation on the amount of acreage of Federal leases any 
1 producer may hold in any 1 State or nationally; 
(5)(A) the present acreage limitation for Federal coal leases 
has been in place since 1976; 
(B) 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); 
(6) coal producers in Wyoming and Utah are operating 
mines on Federal leaseholds that contain total acreage close 
to the coal lease acreage ceiling; 
(7) the same reasons that Congress cited in enacting 
increases for State lease acreage caps applicable in the case 
of other minerals—^the advent of modem mine technology, 
changes in industry economics, greater global competition, and 
the need to conserve Federal resources—apply to coal; 
(8) existing coal mines require additional lease acreage 
to avoid premature closure, but those mines cannot relinquish 
mined-out areas to lease new acreage because those areas are 
subject to 10-year reclamation plans, and the reclaimed acreage 
is counted against the State and national acreage limits; 
(9) to enable them to make long-term business decisions 
Eiffecting the type and amount of additional infrastructure 
PUBLIC LAW 106-463—NOV. 7, 2000 
114 STAT. 2011 
investments, coal producers need certainty that sufficient acre-
age of leasable coal will be available for mining in the future; 
and 
(10) to maintain the vitality of the domestic coal industry 
and ensure the continued flow of valuable revenues to the 
Federal and State governments and of energy to the American 
E
ublic from coal production on Federal land, the Mineral 
easing Act should be amended to increase the acreage limita-
tion for Federal coal leases. 
SEC. 3. COAL MINING ON FEDERAL LAND. 
Section 27(a) of the Act of February 25, 1920 (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". 
Approved November 7 , 2000. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2300: 
SENATE REPORTS: No. 106-378 (Comm. on Energy and Natural Resources). 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000): 
Oct. 5, considered and passed Senate. 
Oct. 23, considered and passed House.