§ 202a. — Consolidation of coal leases into logical mining unit.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC202a]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 3A--LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS
SUBCHAPTER II--COAL
Sec. 202a. Consolidation of coal leases into logical mining unit
(1) Approval by Secretary; public hearing; definition
The Secretary, upon determining that maximum economic recovery of
the coal deposit or deposits is served thereby, may approve the
consolidation of coal leases into a logical mining unit. Such
consolidation may only take place after a public hearing, if requested
by any person whose interest is or may be adversely affected. A logical
mining unit is an area of land in which the coal resources can be
developed in an efficient, economical, and orderly manner as a unit with
due regard to conservation of coal reserves and other resources. A
logical mining unit may consist of one or more Federal leaseholds, and
may include intervening or adjacent lands in which the United States
does not own the coal resources, but all the lands in a logical mining
unit must be under the effective control of a single operator, be able
to be developed and operated as a single operation and be contiguous.
(2) Mining plan; requirements
After the Secretary has approved the establishment of a logical
mining unit, any mining plan approved for that unit must require such
diligent development, operation, and production that the reserves of the
entire unit will be mined within a period established by the Secretary
which shall not be more than forty years.
(3) Conditions for approval
In approving a logical mining unit, the Secretary may provide, among
other things, that (i) diligent development, continuous operation, and
production on any Federal lease or non-Federal land in the logical
mining unit shall be construed as occurring on all Federal leases in
that logical mining unit, and (ii) the rentals and royalties for all
Federal leases in a logical mining unit may be combined, and advanced
royalties paid for any lease within a logical mining unit may be
credited against such combined royalties.
(4) Amendment to lease
The Secretary may amend the provisions of any lease included in a
logical mining unit so that mining under that lease will be consistent
with the requirements imposed on that logical mining unit.
(5) Leases issued before date of enactment of this Act
Leases issued before the date of enactment of this Act may be
included with the consent of all lessees in such logical mining unit,
and, if so included, shall be subject to the provisions of this section.
(6) Lessee required to form unit
By regulation the Secretary may require a lessee under this chapter
to form a logical mining unit, and may provide for determination of
participating acreage within a unit.
(7) Required acreage
No logical mining unit shall be approved by the Secretary if the
total acreage (both Federal and non-Federal) of the unit would exceed
twenty-five thousand acres.
(8) Acreage limitations for coal leases not waived
Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the acreage
limitations for coal leases contained in section 184(a) of this title.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, Sec. 2(d), as added Pub. L. 94-377, Sec. 5(b),
Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1086.)
References in Text
The date of enactment of this Act, referred to in par. (5), probably
means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 94-377, which was approved Aug.
4, 1976.
This section, referred to in pars. (5) and (8), is section 2 of act
Feb. 25, 1920, as amended, which is comprised of subsecs. (a) to (d).
Subsecs. (a) and (b) of section 2 are classified to section 201 of this
title, subsec. (c) of section 2 is classified to section 202 of this
title, and subsec. (d) of section 2, as added by section 5(b) of Pub. L.
94-377, is classified to this section.
Codification
Section is comprised of subsec. (d) of section 2 of act Feb. 25,
1920, as added by Pub. L. 94-377. Subsecs. (a) and (b) of said section 2
are classified to section 201 of this title. Subsec. (c) of said section
2 is classified to section 202 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 203, 1272 of this title.
