§ 1702. — Definitions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC1702]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 29--OIL AND GAS ROYALTY MANAGEMENT
Sec. 1702. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter, the term--
(1) ``Federal land'' means all land and interests in land owned
by the United States which are subject to the mineral leasing laws,
including mineral resources or mineral estates reserved to the
United States in the conveyance of a surface or nonmineral estate;
(2) ``Indian allottee'' means any Indian for whom land or an
interest in land is held in trust by the United States or who holds
title subject to Federal restriction against alienation;
(3) ``Indian lands'' means any lands or interest in lands of an
Indian tribe or an Indian allottee held in trust by the United
States or which is subject to Federal restriction against alienation
or which is administered by the United States pursuant to section
1613(g) of title 43, including mineral resources and mineral estates
reserved to an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee in the conveyance
of a surface or nonmineral estate, except that such term does not
include any lands subject to the provisions of section 3 of the Act
of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539);
(4) ``Indian tribe'' means any Indian tribe, band, nation,
pueblo, community, rancheria, colony, or other group of Indians,
including the Metlakatla Indian Community of Annette Island Reserve,
for which any land or interest in land is held by the United States
in trust or which is subject to Federal restriction against
alienation or which is administered by the United States pursuant to
section 1613(g) of title 43;
(5) ``lease'' means any contract, profit-share arrangement,
joint venture, or other agreement issued or approved by the United
States under a mineral leasing law that authorizes exploration for,
extraction of, or removal of oil or gas;
(6) ``lease site'' means any lands or submerged lands, including
the surface of a severed mineral estate, on which exploration for,
or extraction or removal of, oil or gas is authorized pursuant to a
lease;
(7) ``lessee'' means any person to whom the United States issues
an oil and gas lease or any person to whom operating rights in a
lease have been assigned;
(8) ``mineral leasing law'' means any Federal law administered
by the Secretary authorizing the disposition under lease of oil or
gas;
(9) ``oil or gas'' means any oil or gas originating from, or
allocated to, the Outer Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian lands;
(10) ``Outer Continental Shelf'' has the same meaning as
provided in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (Public Law 95-
372);
(11) ``operator'' means any person, including a lessee, who has
control of, or who manages operations on, an oil and gas lease site
on Federal or Indian lands or on the Outer Continental Shelf;
(12) ``person'' means any individual, firm, corporation,
association, partnership, consortium, or joint venture;
(13) ``production'' means those activities which take place for
the removal of oil or gas, including such removal, field operations,
transfer of oil or gas off the lease site, operation monitoring,
maintenance, and workover drilling;
(14) ``royalty'' means any payment based on the value or volume
of production which is due to the United States or an Indian tribe
or an Indian allottee on production of oil or gas from the Outer
Continental Shelf, Federal, or Indian lands, or any minimum royalty
owed to the United States or an Indian tribe or an Indian allottee
under any provision of a lease;
(15) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior or his
designee;
(16) ``State'' means the several States of the Union, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the territories and possessions
of the United States, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific
Islands;
(17) ``adjustment'' means an amendment to a previously filed
report on an obligation, and any additional payment or credit, if
any, applicable thereto, to rectify an underpayment or overpayment
on an obligation;
(18) ``administrative proceeding'' means any Department of the
Interior agency process in which a demand, decision or order issued
by the Secretary or a delegated State is subject to appeal or has
been appealed;
(19) ``assessment'' means any fee or charge levied or imposed by
the Secretary or a delegated State other than--
(A) the principal amount of any royalty, minimum royalty,
rental bonus, net profit share or proceed of sale;
(B) any interest; or
(C) any civil or criminal penalty;
(20) ``commence'' means--
(A) with respect to a judicial proceeding, the service of a
complaint, petition, counterclaim, cross claim, or other
pleading seeking affirmative relief or seeking credit or
recoupment: Provided, That if the Secretary commences a judicial
proceeding against a designee, the Secretary shall give notice
of that commencement to the lessee who designated the designee,
but the Secretary is not required to give notice to other
lessees who may be liable pursuant to section 1712(a) of this
title, for the obligation that is the subject of the judicial
proceeding; or
(B) with respect to a demand, the receipt by the Secretary
or a delegated State or a lessee or its designee (with written
notice to the lessee who designated the designee) of the demand;
(21) ``credit'' means the application of an overpayment (in
whole or in part) against an obligation which has become due to
discharge, cancel or reduce the obligation;
(22) ``delegated State'' means a State which, pursuant to an
agreement or agreements under section 1735 of this title, performs
authorities, duties, responsibilities, or activities of the
Secretary;
(23) ``demand'' means--
(A) an order to pay issued by the Secretary or the
applicable delegated State to a lessee or its designee (with
written notice to the lessee who designated the designee) that
has a reasonable basis to conclude that the obligation in the
amount of the demand is due and owing; or
(B) a separate written request by a lessee or its designee
which asserts an obligation due the lessee or its designee that
provides a reasonable basis to conclude that the obligation in
the amount of the demand is due and owing, but does not mean any
royalty or production report, or any information contained
therein, required by the Secretary or a delegated State;
(24) ``designee'' means the person designated by a lessee
pursuant to section 1712(a) of this title, with such written
designation effective on the date such designation is received by
the Secretary and remaining in effect until the Secretary receives
notice in writing that the designation is modified or terminated;
(25) ``obligation'' means--
(A) any duty of the Secretary or, if applicable, a delegated
State--
(i) to take oil or gas royalty in kind; or
(ii) to pay, refund, offset, or credit monies including
(but not limited to)--
(I) the principal amount of any royalty, minimum
royalty, rental, bonus, net profit share or proceed of
sale; or
(II) any interest; and
(B) any duty of a lessee or its designee (subject to the
provisions of section 1712(a) of this title)--
(i) to deliver oil or gas royalty in kind; or
(ii) to pay, offset or credit monies including (but not
limited to)--
(I) the principal amount of any royalty, minimum
royalty, rental, bonus, net profit share or proceed of
sale;
(II) any interest;
(III) any penalty; or
(IV) any assessment,
which arises from or relates to any lease administered by the
Secretary for, or any mineral leasing law related to, the
exploration, production and development of oil or gas on
Federal lands or the Outer Continental Shelf;
(26) ``order to pay'' means a written order issued by the
Secretary or the applicable delegated State to a lessee or its
designee (with notice to the lessee who designated the designee)
which--
(A) asserts a specific, definite, and quantified obligation
claimed to be due, and
(B) specifically identifies the obligation by lease,
production month and monetary amount of such obligation claimed
to be due and ordered to be paid, as well as the reason or
reasons such obligation is claimed to be due, but such term does
not include any other communication or action by or on behalf of
the Secretary or a delegated State;
(27) ``overpayment'' means any payment by a lessee or its
designee in excess of an amount legally required to be paid on an
obligation and includes the portion of any estimated payment for a
production month that is in excess of the royalties due for that
month;
(28) ``payment'' means satisfaction, in whole or in part, of an
obligation;
(29) ``penalty'' means a statutorily authorized civil fine
levied or imposed for a violation of this chapter, any mineral
leasing law, or a term or provision of a lease administered by the
Secretary;
(30) ``refund'' means the return of an overpayment;
(31) ``State concerned'' means, with respect to a lease, a State
which receives a portion of royalties or other payments under the
mineral leasing laws from such lease;
(32) ``underpayment'' means any payment or nonpayment by a
lessee or its designee that is less than the amount legally required
to be paid on an obligation; and
(33) ``United States'' means the United States Government and
any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, the several
States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United
States.
(Pub. L. 97-451, Sec. 3, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2448; Pub. L. 92-203,
Sec. 29(f)(1), as added Pub. L. 100-241, Sec. 15, Feb. 3, 1988, 101
Stat. 1813; Pub. L. 104-185, Sec. 2, Aug. 13, 1996, 110 Stat. 1700; Pub.
L. 104-200, Sec. 1(1), Sept. 22, 1996, 110 Stat. 2421.)
References in Text
Section 3 of the Act of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539), referred to in
par. (3), is not classified to the Code.
``Outer Continental Shelf'' as provided in the Outer Continental
Shelf Lands Act (Public Law 95-372), referred to in par. (10), is
defined in section 1331(a) of Title 43, Public Lands.
Amendments
1996--Par. (7). Pub. L. 104-185, Sec. 2(1), amended par. (7)
generally. Prior to amendment, par. (7) read as follows: `` `lessee'
means any person to whom the United States, an Indian tribe, or an
Indian allottee, issues a lease, or any person who has been assigned an
obligation to make royalty or other payments required by the lease;''.
Pars. (17) to (25). Pub. L. 104-185, Sec. 2(2), added pars. (17) to
(25).
Par. (25)(B). Pub. L. 104-200, substituted ``provisions of section
1712(a)'' for ``provision of section 1712(a)'' in introductory
provisions.
Pars. (26) to (33). Pub. L. 104-185, Sec. 2(2), added pars. (26) to
(33).
1988--Pars. (3), (4). Pub. L. 92-203 inserted ``or which is
administered by the United States pursuant to section 1613(g) of title
43'' after ``alienation''.
Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 104-185 applicable with respect to production
of oil and gas after the first day of the month following Aug. 13, 1996,
see section 11 of Pub. L. 104-185, set out as a note under section 1701
of this title.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Section 29(f)(2) of Pub. L. 92-203, as added by Pub. L. 100-241,
Sec. 15, Feb. 3, 1988, 101 Stat. 1813, provided that: ``The amendment
made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall be effective as if
originally included in section 3 of Public Law 97-451 [this section].''
Applicability of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 104-185 not applicable to any privately owned
minerals or with respect to Indian lands, see sections 9 and 10 of Pub.
L. 104-185, set out as a note under section 1701 of this title.
Termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note
set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular
Possessions.
