§ 241. — Leases of lands.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC241]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 3A--LEASES AND PROSPECTING PERMITS
SUBCHAPTER V--OIL SHALE
Sec. 241. Leases of lands
(a) Authorization; survey; terms, royalties and annual rentals;
readjustments on renewals; rights of existing claimants; fraud
of claimants
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to lease to any
person or corporation qualified under this chapter any deposits of oil
shale, and gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons)
belonging to the United States and the surface of so much of the public
lands containing such deposits, or land adjacent thereto, as may be
required for the extraction and reduction of the leased minerals, under
such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this chapter, as he
may prescribe. No lease hereunder shall exceed five thousand one hundred
and twenty acres of land, to be described by the legal subdivisions of
the public-land surveys, or if unsurveyed, to be surveyed by the United
States, at the expense of the applicant, in accordance with regulations
to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. Leases may be for
indeterminate periods, upon such conditions as may be imposed by the
Secretary of the Interior, including covenants relative to methods of
mining, prevention of waste, and productive development. For the
privilege of mining, extracting, and disposing of the oil or other
minerals covered by a lease under this section the lessee shall pay to
the United States such royalties as shall be specified in the lease and
an annual rental, payable at the beginning of each year, at the rate of
50 cents per acre per annum, for the lands included in the lease, the
rental paid for any one year to be credited against the royalties
accruing for that year; such royalties to be subject to readjustment at
the end of each twenty-year period by the Secretary of the Interior. For
the purpose of encouraging the production of petroleum products from
shales the Secretary may, in his discretion, waive the payment of any
royalty and rental during the first five years of any lease. Any person
having a valid claim to such minerals under existing laws on January 1,
1919, shall, upon the relinquishment of such claim, be entitled to a
lease under the provisions of this section for such area of the land
relinquished as shall not exceed the maximum area authorized by this
section to be leased to an individual or corporation. No claimant for a
lease who has been guilty of any fraud or who had knowledge or
reasonable grounds to know of any fraud, or who has not acted honestly
and in good faith, shall be entitled to any of the benefits of this
section. Not more than one lease shall be granted under this section to
any one person, association, or corporation except that with respect to
leases for gilsonite (including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons) no
person, association, or corporation shall acquire or hold more than
seven thousand six hundred eighty acres in any one State without respect
to the number of leases.
(b) Offer for lease; deposits other than oil shale; questioned validity
because of location; preference rights
If an offer for a lease under the provisions of this section for
deposits other than oil shale is based upon a mineral location, the
validity of which might be questioned because the claim was based on a
placer location rather than on a lode location, or vice versa, the
offeror shall have a preference right to a lease if the offer is filed
not more than one year after September 2, 1960.
(c) \1\ Multiple use principal leases; gilsonite including all vein-type
solid hydrocarbons
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\1\ Two subsecs. (c) have been enacted.
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With respect to gilsonite (including all vein-type solid
hydrocarbons) a lease under the multiple use principle may issue
notwithstanding the existence of an outstanding lease issued under any
other provision of this chapter.
(c) \1\ Offsite leases
(1) The Secretary may within the State of Colorado lease to the
holder of the Federal oil shale lease known as Federal Prototype Tract
C-a additional lands necessary for the disposal of oil shale wastes and
the materials removed from mined lands, and for the building of plants,
reduction works, and other facilities connected with oil shale
operations (which lease shall be referred to hereinafter as an ``offsite
lease''). The Secretary may only issue one offsite lease not to exceed
six thousand four hundred acres. An offsite lease may not serve more
than one Federal oil shale lease and may not be transferred except in
conjunction with the transfer of the Federal oil shale lease that it
serves.
(2) The Secretary may issue one offsite lease of not more than three
hundred and twenty acres to any person, association or corporation which
has the right to develop oil shale on non-Federal lands. An offsite
lease serving non-Federal oil shale land may not serve more than one oil
shale operation and may not be transferred except in conjunction with
the transfer of the non-Federal oil shale land that it serves. Not more
than two offsite leases may be issued under this paragraph.
(3) An offsite lease shall include no rights to any mineral
deposits.
(4) The Secretary may issue offsite leases after consideration of
the need for such lands, impacts on the environment and other resource
values, and upon a determination that the public interest will be served
thereby.
(5) An offsite lease for lands the surface of which is under the
jurisdiction of a Federal agency other than the Department of the
Interior shall be issued only with the consent of that other Federal
agency and shall be subject to such terms and conditions as it may
prescribe.
(6) An offsite lease shall be for such periods of time and shall
include such lands, subject to the acreage limitations contained in this
subsection, as the Secretary determines to be necessary to achieve the
purposes for which the lease is issued, and shall contain such
provisions as he determines are needed for protection of environmental
and other resource values.
(7) An offsite lease shall provide for the payment of an annual
rental which shall reflect the fair market value of the rights granted
and which shall be subject to such revisions as the Secretary, in his
discretion, determines may be needed from time to time to continue to
reflect the fair market value.
(8) An offsite lease may, at the option of the lessee, include
provisions for payments in any year which payments shall be credited
against any portion of the annual rental for a subsequent year to the
extent that such payment is payable by the Secretary of the Treasury
under section 191 of this title to the State within the boundaries of
which the leased lands are located. Such funds shall be paid by the
Secretary of the Treasury to the appropriate State in accordance with
section 191 of this title, and such funds shall be distributed by the
State only to those counties, municipalities, or jurisdictional
subdivisions impacted by oil shale development and/or where the lease is
sited.
(9) An offsite lease shall remain subject to leasing under the other
provisions of this chapter where such leasing would not be incompatible
with the offsite lease.
(d) Considerations governing issuance of offsite lease
In recognition of the unique character of oil shale development:
(1) In determining whether to offer or issue an offsite lease under
subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary shall consult with the
Governor and appropriate State, local, and tribal officials of the State
where the lands to be leased are located, and of any additional State
likely to be affected significantly by the social, economic, or
environmental effects of development under such lease, in order to
coordinate Federal and State planning processes, minimize duplication of
permits, avoid delays, and anticipate and mitigate likely impacts of
development.
(2) The Secretary may issue an offsite lease under subsection (d)
\2\ after consideration of (A) the need for leasing, (B) impacts on the
environment and other resource values, (C) socioeconomic factors, and
(D) information from consultations with the Governors of the affected
States.
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\2\ So in original. Probably should be subsection ``(c)''.
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(3) Before determining whether to offer an offsite lease under
subsection (c) of this section, the Secretary shall seek the
recommendation of the Governor of the State in which the lands to be
leased are located as to whether or not to lease such lands, what
alternative actions are available, and what special conditions could be
added to the proposed lease to mitigate impacts. The Secretary shall
accept the recommendations of the Governor if he determines that they
provide for a reasonable balance between the national interest and the
State's interests. The Secretary shall communicate to the Governor, in
writing, and publish in the Federal Register the reasons for his
determination to accept or reject such Governor's recommendations.
(Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, Sec. 21, 41 Stat. 445; Pub. L. 86-705, Sec. 7,
Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 790; Pub. L. 97-78, Sec. 1(1), Nov. 16, 1981, 95
Stat. 1070; Pub. L. 97-394, title III, Sec. 318, Dec. 30, 1982, 96 Stat.
1999.)
Amendments
1982--Subsecs. (c), (d). Pub. L. 97-394 added subsecs. (c) and (d).
1981--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97-78 substituted ``and gilsonite
(including all vein-type solid hydrocarbons)'' and ``gilsonite
(including all vein-type hydrocarbons)'' for ``native asphalt, solid and
semisolid bitumen, and bituminous rock (including oil-impregnated rock
or sands from which oil is recoverable only by special treatment after
the deposit is mined or quarried)''.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 97-78 substituted ``gilsonite (including all
vein-type solid hydrocarbons)'' for ``native asphalt, solid and
semisolid bitumen, and bituminous rock (including oil-impregnated rock
or sands from which oil is recoverable only by special treatment after
the deposit is mined or quarried)''.
1960--Pub. L. 86-705 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a)
and added subsecs. (b) and (c). Other changes included addition of
native asphalt, solid and semisolid bitumen, and bituminous rock within
the scope of the section, and insertion of the limitation upon such
holdings.
Transfer of Functions
Functions of Secretary of the Interior to promulgate regulations
under this chapter relating to establishment of diligence requirements
for operations conducted on Federal leases, setting of rates for
production of Federal leases, and specifying of procedures, terms, and
conditions for acquisition and disposition of Federal royalty interests
taken in kind, transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 7152(b) of
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare. Section 7152(b) of Title 42 was
repealed by Pub. L. 97-100, title II, Sec. 201, Dec. 23, 1981, 95 Stat.
1407, and functions of Secretary of Energy returned to Secretary of the
Interior. See House Report No. 97-315, pp. 25, 26, Nov. 5, 1981.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in title 10 sections 7421, 7435.
