or more persons, associations, or corporations whenever, in his discretion, the conservation of natural products or the public convenience or necessity may require it or the interests of the United States may be best subserved thereby. All leases operated under such approved operating, drilling, or development contracts, and interests thereunder, shall be excepted in determining holdings or control under the provisions of sections 181-184, 185-188, 189-192, 193, 194, 201, 202-209, 211-214, 223, 224-226, 226-2, 227-229a, 241, 251, 261-263 of this title.

The Secretary of the Interior, to avoid waste or to promote conservation of natural resources, may authorize the subsurface storage of oil or gas, whether or not produced from federally owned lands, in lands leased or subject to lease under sections 181-184, 185-188, 189-192, 193, 194, 201, 202-209, 211-214, 223, 224-226, 226-2, 227-229a, 241, 251, 261-263 of this title. Such authorization may provide for the payment of a storage fee or rental on such stored oil or gas or, in lieu of such fee or rental, for a royalty other than that prescribed in the lease when such stored oil or gas is produced in conjunction with oil or gas not previously produced.

Any

lease on which storage is so authorized shall be extended at least for the period of storage and so long thereafter as oil or gas not previously produced is produced in paying quantities. (As amended June 11, 1960, Pub. L. 86-507, § 1(21), 74 Stat. 201; Sept. 2, 1960, Pub. L. 86-705, § 2, 74 Stat. 781.)

AMENDMENTS

1960-Pub. L. 86-705 generally amended this section and sections 226d and 226e of this title, combining all three sections and subdividing the provisions into subsections (a) to (1) of this section. Among other changes were: the substitution of a fixed 10-year term for a renewable 5-year term for noncompetitive leases, the addition of provisions [subsec. (h)] with respect to the running of time against a lease during a contest of the claim, an increase in the minimum yearly rentals from 25 to 50 cents an acre, and the elimination of provisions that permitted a waiver of second-year and third-year rentals in certain situations.

Pub. L. 86-507 authorized notice of withdrawal to be given by certified mail.

SHORT TITLE

Section 1 of Pub. L. 86-705 provided that Pub. L. 86705, which amended sections 181, 182, 184, 187a, 226, 226-1, 226-2, and 241 of this title, and enacted provisions set out as notes under this section and section 187a of this title may be cited as the "Mineral Leasing Act Revision of 1960."

SAVINGS PROVISION

Section 8 of Pub. L. 86-705 provided that: "No amendment made by this Act [sections 181-184, 185-188, 189192, 193, 194, 201, 202-209, 211-214, 223, 224-226, 226-2, 227-229a, 241, 251, 261-263 of this title] shall affect any valid right in existence on the effective date [Sept. 2, 1960] of the Mineral Leasing Act Revision of 1960."

§ 226-1. Expiration and extension of noncompetitive oil or gas leases; withdrawal of lands from leasing; known and unknown geologic structure of producing fields; cooperative or unit plan leases. (a) Upon the expiration of the initial five-year term of any noncompetitive oil or gas lease which was issued prior to September 2, 1960 and which has been maintained in accordance with applicable statutory requirements and regulations, the record titleholder thereof shall be entitled to a single

extension of the lease, unless then otherwise provided by law, for such lands covered by it as are not, on the expiration date of the lease, withdrawn from leasing. A withdrawal, however, shall not affect the right to an extension if actual drilling operations on such lands were commenced prior to the effective date of the withdrawal and were being diligently prosecuted on the expiration date of the lease. No withdrawal shall be effective within the meaning of this section until ninety days after notice thereof has been sent by registered or certified mail to each lessee to be affected by such withdrawal.

(b) As to lands not within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field, a noncompetitive oil or gas lease to which this section is applicable shall be extended for a period of five years and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. As to lands within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field, a noncompetitive lease to which this section is applicable shall be extended for a period of two years and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities.

(c) Any noncompetitive oil or gas lease extended under this section shall be subject to the rules and regulations in force at the expiration of the initial five-year term of the lease. No extension shall be granted, however, unless within a period of ninety days prior to the expiration date of the lease an application therefor is filed by the record titleholder or an assignee whose assignment has been filed for approval or an operator whose operating agreement has been filed for approval.

(d) Any lease issued prior to September 2, 1960 which has been maintained in accordance with applicable statutory requirements and regulations and which pertains to land on which, or for which under an approved cooperative or unit plan of development or operation, actual drilling operations were commenced prior to the end of its primary term and are being diligently prosecuted at that time shall be extended for two years and so long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. (Pub. L. 86-705, § 4, Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 789.)

§ 226-2. Limitations for filing oil and gas contests.

No action contesting a decision of the Secretary involving any oil and gas lease shall be maintained unless such action is commenced or taken within ninety days after the final decision of the Secretary relating to such matter. No such action contesting such a decision of the Secretary rendered prior to September 2, 1960 shall be maintained unless the same be commenced or taken within ninety days after such enactment. (Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 42. as added Sept. 2, 1960, Pub. L. 86-705, § 5, 74 Stat. 790.)

S$ 226d, 226e. Omitted.

CODIFICATION

Sections were completely amended by Public Law 86705, § 2, Sept. 2, 1960, 74 Stat. 781, and included in section 17 of the Mineral Leasing Act of Feb. 25, 1920. Section 17 of that act is classified to section 226 of this title.

Section 226d, act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 17a, as added Aug. 8, 1946, ch. 916, § 4, 60 Stat. 952, provided for the exchange of leases and fixed royalty rates for the new leases.

Section 226e, act Feb. 25, 1920, ch. 85, § 17b, as added Aug. 8, 1946, ch. 916, § 5, 60 Stat. 952, and amended July 29, 1954, ch. 644, § 1 (4), (5), 68 Stat. 585, permitted the establishment of cooperative or unit plans, setting up procedures for regulating production, approving contracts and preventing waste.

§§ 230–233. Repealed. June 22, 1948, ch. 605, § 3, 62 Stat. 576.

Sections, act Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 249, §§ 1-4, 42 Stat. 1448, authorized issuance of permits or leases of certain lands and oil and gas deposits in Oklahoma, which lands were claimed and possessed in good faith prior to Feb. 25, 1920, required applications for permits and leases to be made within and not after 60 days from and after Mar. 4, 1923, limited the amount of land that could be granted to any one person or corporation, and provided for payment of royalties to the United States.

EXISTING RIGHTS

Section 3 of act June 22, 1948, repealed sections 230— 233 and 234-236 of this title "except as to existing valid rights."

§§ 234-236. Repealed. June 22, 1948, ch. 605, § 3, 62 Stat. 576.

Sections, act Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 249, §§ 5-7, 42 Stat. 1449, 1450, provided for the application of other laws to leases and permits granted under sections 230-233 and 234-236 of this title, and for the disposition of lands and deposits remaining unappropriated and undisposed of, prohibited interference with certain lands in possession of receivers appointed by the Supreme Court, and empowered the Secretary of the Interior to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out and accomplish the purposes of sections 230-233 and 234-236 of this title.

EXISTING RIGHTS

Section 3 of act June 22, 1948, repealed sections 230233 and 234-236 of this title "except as to existing valid rights."

§ 241. Leasing of lands.

(a) Authority; survey; terms, royalties and annual rentals; rights of existing claimants.

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to lease to any person or corporation qualified under this section and sections 181-184, 185-188, 189192, 193, 194, 201, 202-209, 211-214, 223, 224—226, 226-2, 227-229a, 251, and 261-263 of this title any deposits of oil shale, native asphalt, solid and semisolid bitumen, and bituminous rock (including oilimpregnated rock or sands from which oil is recoverable only by special treatment after the deposit is mined or quarried) 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 such sections, 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 develop

ment. 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 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) 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) Multiple use principle leases; native asphalt, solid and semisolid bitumen, and bituminous rock. With respect to 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) a lease under the multiple use principle may issue notwithstanding the existence of an outstanding lease issued under any other provision of sections 181-184, 185-188, 189-192, 193, 194, 201, 202-209, 211-214, 223, 224-226, 226-2, 227-229a, 241, 251, 261-263 of this title. (As amended Sept. 2, 1960, Pub. L. 86-705, § 7, 74 Stat. 790.)

AMENDMENTS

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.

§ 251. Prospecting permits or leases to claimants of withdrawn lands; terms and conditions; fraud of claimants.

ADMISSION OF ALASKA AS STATE Admission of Alaska into the Union was accomplished Jan. 3, 1959, upon issuance of Proc. No. 3269, Jan. 5, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections 1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85-508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 339, set out as notes preceding section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.

Chapter 7.-LEASE OF MINERAL DEPOSITS WITHIN ACQUIRED LANDS

§ 351. Definitions.

ADMISSION OF ALASKA AS STATE

Admission of Alaska into the Union was accomplished Jan. 3, 1959, upon issuance of Proc. No. 3269, Jan. 5, 1959, 24 F.R. 81, 73 Stat. c16, as required by sections 1 and 8(c) of Pub. L. 85-508, July 7, 1958, 72 Stat. 339, set out as notes preceding section 21 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.

Chapter 10.-COAL MINE SAFETY

§ 477. Review by Board.

*

(b) Contents and allegations of application.

The operator shall be designated as the applicant in such proceeding and the application filed by him shall recite the order complained of and other facts sufficient to advise the Board of the nature of the proceeding. He may allege in such application: That danger as set out in such order does not exist at the time of the filing of such application; that violation of section 479 of this title, as set out in such order, has not occurred; that such violation has been totally or partially abated; that the period of time within which such violation should be totally abated, as fixed in the findings upon which such order was based, was not reasonable; that the area of the mine described in such order as the area affected by the violation referred to in such order is not so affected at the time of the filing of such application; or that the mine described in such order is not a gassy mine. The Director shall be the respondent in such proceeding, and the applicant shall send a copy of such application by registered mail or by certified mail to the Director at Washington, District of Columbia.

(i) Contents and form of findings; notification of parties; record.

Each finding and order made by the Board shall be in writing. It shall show the date on which it is made, and shall bear the signatures of the members of the Board who concur therein. Upon making a finding and order the Board shall cause a true copy thereof to be sent by registered mail or by certified mail to all parties or their attorneys of record. The Board shall cause each such finding and order to be entered on its official record, together with any written opinion prepared by any member in support of, or dissenting from, any such finding or order.

(As amended June 11, 1960, Pub. L. 86-507, § 1(22), (23), 74 Stat. 201.)

Chapter 12.-MULTIPLE MINERAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SAME TRACTS

§ 527. Determination of unpatented mining claims. (a) Filing of notice.

Any applicant, offeror, permittee, or lessee under the mineral leasing laws may file in the office of the Secretary of the Interior, or in such office as the Secretary may designate, a request for publication of notice of such application, offer, permit, or lease, provided expressly, that not less than ninety days prior to the filing of such request for publication there shall have been filed for record in the county office of record for the county in which the lands covered thereby are situate a notice of the filing of such application or offer or of the issuance of such permit or lease which notice shall set forth the date of such filing or issuance, the name and address of the applicant, offeror, permittee or lessee and the description of the lands covered by such application, offer, permit or lease, showing the section or sections of the public land surveys which embrace the lands covered by such application, offer, permit, or lease, or if such lands are unsurveyed, either the section or sections which would probably embrace such lands when the public lands surveys are extended to such lands or a tie by courses and distances to an approved United States mineral monument.

The filing of such request for publication shall be accompanied by a certified copy of such recorded notice and an affidavit or affidavits of a person or persons over twenty-one years of age setting forth that the affiant or affiants have examined the lands involved in a reasonable effort to ascertain whether any person or persons were in actual possession of or engaged in the working of such lands or any part thereof, and, if no person or persons were found to be in actual possession of or engaged in the working of said lands or any part thereof on the date of such examination, setting forth such fact, or, if any person or persons were so found to be in actual possession or engaged in such working on the date of

such examination, setting forth the name and address of each such person, unless affiant shall have been unable through reasonable inquiry to obtain information as to the name and address of any such person, in which event the affidavit shall set forth fully the nature and results of such inquiry.

The filing of such request for publication shall also be accompanied by the certificate of a title or abstract company, or of a title abstractor, or of an attorney, based upon such company's, abstractor's, or attorney's examination of the instruments affecting the lands involved, of record in the public records of the county in which said lands are situate as shown by the indices of the public records in the county office of record for said county, setting forth the name of any person disclosed by said instruments to have an interest in said lands under any unpatented mining claim heretofore located, together with the address of such person if disclosed by such instruments of record.

Thereupon the Secretary of the Interior, or his designated representative, at the expense of the requesting person (who, prior to the commencement of publication, must furnish the agreement of the publisher to hold such requesting person alone responsible for charges of publication), shall cause notice of such application, offer, permit, or lease to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which the lands involved are situate.

Such notice shall describe the lands covered by such application, offer, permit, or lease, as provided heretofore in the notice to be filed in the office of record of the county in which the lands covered are situate, and shall notify whomever it may concern that if any person claiming or asserting under, or by virtue of, any unpatented mining claim heretofore located, any right or interest in Leasing Act minerals as to such lands or any part thereof, shall fail to file in the office where such request for publication was filed (which office shall be specified in such notice) and within one hundred fifty days from the date of the first publication of such notice (which date shall be specified in such notice), a verified statement which shall set forth, as to such unpatented mining claim:

(1) The date of location;

(2) The book and page of recordation of the notice or certificate of location;

(3) The section or sections of the public land surveys which embrace such mining claim; or if such lands are unsurveyed, either the section or sections which would probably embrace such mining claim when the public land surveys are extended to such lands or a tie by courses and distances to an approved United States mineral monument;

(4) Whether such claimant is a locator or purchaser under such location; and

(5) The name and address of such claimant and names and addresses so far as known to the claimant of any other person or persons claiming any interest or interests in or under such unpatented mining claim;

such failure shall be conclusively deemed (i) to constitute a waiver and relinquishment by such mining

claimant of any and all right, title, and interest under such mining claim as to, but only as to, Leasing Act minerals, and (ii) to constitute a consent by such mining claimant that such mining claim and any patent issued therefor, shall be subject to the reservation specified in section 524 of this title, and (iii) to preclude thereafter any assertion by such mining claimant of any right or title to or interest in any Leasing Act mineral by reason of such mining claim.

If such notice is published in a daily paper, it shall be published in the Wednesday issue for nine consecutive weeks, or, if in a weekly paper, in nine consecutive issues, or, if in a semiweekly or triweekly paper, in the issue of the same day of each week for nine consecutive weeks.

Within fifteen days after the date of first publication of such notice, the person requesting such publication (1) shall cause a copy of such notice to be personally delivered to or to be mailed by registered mail or by certified mail addressed to each person in possession or engaged in the working of the land whose name and address is shown by an amdavit filed as aforesaid, and to each person who may have filed, as to any lands described in said notice, a request for notices, as provided in subsection (d) of this section, and shall cause a copy of such notice to be mailed by registered mail or by certified mail to each person whose name and address is set forth in the title or abstract company's or title abstractor's or attorney's certificate filed as aforesaid, as having an interest in the lands described in said notice under any unpatented mining claim heretofore located, such notice to be directed to such person's address as set forth in such certificate; and (2) shall file in the office where said request for publication was filed an affidavit showing that copies have been so delivered or mailed.

(As amended June 11, 1960, Pub. L. 86–507, § 1(25), 74 Stat. 201.)

AMENDMENTS

1960--Subsec. (a). Pub.. L. 86-507 inserted "or by certified mail" following "registered mail" in two instances in the last paragraph.

Chapter 14.-ANTHRACITE MINE DRAINAGE AND FLOOD CONTROL

§ 571. Declaration of policy.

It is recognized that the presence of large volumes of water in anthracite coal formations involves serious wastage of the fuel resources of the Nation, and constitutes a menace to health and safety and national security. It is therefore declared to be the policy of the Congress to provide for the control and drainage of water in the anthracite coal formations and thereby conserve natural resources, promote national security, prevent injuries and loss of life, and preserve public and private property, and to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines, in those instances where such work is in the interest of the public health or safety. (As amended Oct. 15, 1962, Pub. L. 87-818, §1(1), 76 Stat. 934.)

AMENDMENTS 1962-Pub. L. 87-818 declared it to be the policy of the Congress "to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines, in those instances where such work is in the interest of the public health or safety."

§ 572. United States contributions to PennsylvaniaAuthority; conditions; limitations.

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in order to carry out the purposes mentioned in section 571 of this title, to make financial contributions on the basis of programs or projects approved by the Secretary to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (hereinafter designated as the "Commonwealth") to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines, in those instances where such work is in the interest of the public health or safety, and for control and drainage of water which, if not so controlled or drained, will cause the flooding of anthracite coal formations, said contributions to be applied to the cost of drainage works, pumping plants, and related facilities but subject, however, to the following conditions and limitations:

(b) Amount of contributions authorized.

The total amount of contributions by the Secretary of the Interior under the authority of this chapter shall not exceed $8,500,000, of which $1,500,000 of the unexpended balance remaining as of July 31, 1962, shall be reserved for the control and drainage of water;

(c) Limitation on use of contribution.

The amounts contributed by the Secretary of the Interior under the authority of this chapter and the equally matched amounts contributed by the Commonwealth shall not be used for operating and maintaining projects constructed pursuant to this chapter or for the purchase of culm, rock, or spoil banks;

(d) Commonwealth responsible for installation and operation of projects.

The Commonwealth shall have full responsibility for installing, operating, and maintaining projects constructed pursuant to this chapter, and shall give evidence, satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior, that it will enforce effective installation, operation, and maintenance safeguards;

(e) Location and operation of projects.

Projects constructed pursuant to this chapter shall be so located, operated, and maintained as to provide the maximum conservation of anthracite coal resources or, in those instances where such work would be in the interest of the public health or safety, to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines, and, where possible, to avoid creating inequities among those mines which may be affected by the waters to be controlled thereby; and

(f) Economic justification for abandoned coal mine projects.

Projects for the sealing of abandoned coal mines or the filling of voids in abandoned coal mines shall be determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be economically justified. The Secretary shall not find any project to be economically justified

1962-Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(2), authorized the Secretary of the Agriculture, in the preamble clause, to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned co mines, in those instances where such work is in the interest of the public health or safety.

Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(3), reserved $1,500,000 of the unexpended balance remaining as of July 31, 1962 for the control and drainage of water.

Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(4), prohibited the use of contributions for the purchase of culm, rock, or spoil banks.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(5), struck out "and" after the semicolon.

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(6), prescribed that projects be so located, operated, and maintained as to seal abandoned coal mines and to fill voids in abandoned coal mines in those instances where such work would be in the interest of the public health or safety. Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(7), added subsec. (f). § 575. Annual reports to Congress by Secretary.

The Secretary of the Interior shall render to Congress on or before the first day of February of each year for four consecutive years, commencing on or before February 1, 1957, a report of the progress and accomplishments of the program provided for by this chapter. The Secretary of the Interior shall, on or before the first day of February of each year after the institution of the program for the sealing of abandoned coal mines or the filling of voids in abandoned coal mines, submit a report to Congress of the actions taken under this chapter. (As amended Oct. 15, 1962, Pub. L. 87-818, § 1(8), 76 Stat. 935.)

AMENDMENTS

1962-Pub. L. 87-818 provided for submission of reports of action taken respecting the sealing of and the filling of voids in abandoned coal mines.

Chapter 15.-SURFACE RESOURCES

§ 602. Bidding; advertising and other notice; conditions for negotiation of contract; report to Congress.

(a) The Secretary shall dispose of materials under this subchapter to the highest responsible qualified bidder after formal advertising and such other public notice as he deems appropriate: Provided, however, That the Secretary may authorize negotiation of a contract for the disposal of materials if

(1) the contract is for the sale of less than two hundred fifty thousand board-feet of timber; or, if (2) the contract is for the disposal of materials to be used in connection with a public works improvement program on behalf of a Federal, State or local governmental agency and the public exigency will not permit the delay incident to advertising; or, if

(3) the contract is for the disposal of property for which it is impracticable to obtain competition. (b) A report shall be made to Congress on January 1 and July 1 of each year of the contracts made under clauses (2) and (3) of subsection (a) of this section during the period since the date of the last report. The report shall—

(1) name each purchaser;