§ 207. — Conditions of lease.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC207]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 3A--LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS
SUBCHAPTER II--COAL
Sec. 207. Conditions of lease
(a) Term of lease; annual rentals; royalties; readjustment of conditions
A coal lease shall be for a term of twenty years and for so long
thereafter as coal is produced annually in commercial quantities from
that lease. Any lease which is not producing in commercial quantities at
the end of ten years shall be terminated. The Secretary shall by
regulation prescribe annual rentals on leases. A lease shall require
payment of a royalty in such amount as the Secretary shall determine of
not less than 12\1/2\ per centum of the value of coal as defined by
regulation, except the Secretary may determine a lesser amount in the
case of coal recovered by underground mining operations. The lease shall
include such other terms and conditions as the Secretary shall
determine. Such rentals and royalties and other terms and conditions of
the lease will be subject to readjustment at the end of its primary term
of twenty years and at the end of each ten-year period thereafter if the
lease is extended.
(b) Diligent development and continued operation; suspension of
condition on payment of advance royalties
Each lease shall be subject to the conditions of diligent
development and continued operation of the mine or mines, except where
operations under the lease are interrupted by strikes, the elements, or
casualties not attributable to the lessee. The Secretary of the
Interior, upon determining that the public interest will be served
thereby, may suspend the condition of continued operation upon the
payment of advance royalties. Such advance royalties shall be no less
than the production royalty which would otherwise be paid and shall be
computed on a fixed reserve to production ratio (determined by the
Secretary). The aggregate number of years during the period of any lease
for which advance royalties may be accepted in lieu of the condition of
continued operation shall not exceed ten. The amount of any production
royalty paid for any year shall be reduced (but not below 0) by the
amount of any advance royalties paid under such lease to the extent that
such advance royalties have not been used to reduce production royalties
for a prior year. No advance royalty paid during the initial twenty-year
term of a lease shall be used to reduce a production royalty after the
twentieth year of a lease. The Secretary may, upon six months'
notification to the lessee cease to accept advance royalties in lieu of
the requirement of continued operation. Nothing in this subsection shall
be construed to affect the requirement contained in the second sentence
of subsection (a) of this section relating to commencement of production
at the end of ten years.
(c) Operation and reclamation plan
Prior to taking any action on a leasehold which might cause a
significant disturbance of the environment, and not later than three
years after a lease is issued, the lessee shall submit for the
Secretary's approval an operation and reclamation plan. The Secretary
shall approve or disapprove the plan or require that it be modified.
Where the land involved is under the surface jurisdiction of another
Federal agency, that other agency must consent to the terms of such
approval.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, Sec. 7, 41 Stat. 439; Pub. L. 94-377, Sec. 6,
Aug. 4, 1976, 90 Stat. 1087.)
Amendments
1976--Pub. L. 94-377 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a),
substituted provisions limiting the lease term to 20 years and for so
long thereafter as coal is produced annually in commercial quantities
for provision authorizing leases for indeterminate periods upon
condition of diligent development and continued operation except for
strikes, the elements, or casualties not attributable to lessees;
provisions for payment of royalties as determined by the Secretary of
not less than 12\1/2\ per centum of coal value, except as reduced for
coal from underground mining operations for provisions specifying
royalties as stated in the lease, but not less than 5 cents per ton;
provision for rentals as prescribed by regulation for provision setting
rentals as fixed by the Secretary at not less than 25 cents per acre for
the first year, 50 cents for the second, third, fourth and fifth years,
and $1 for each year thereafter, and provision for readjustment of
royalties and terms and conditions after primary period of twenty years
and subsequent ten year intervals for provision for readjustment after
twenty years unless otherwise provided by law, and added subsecs. (b)
and (c).
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 201, 203, 208, 1256, 1272 of
this title; title 10 sections 7421, 7435.
