Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

thereof for the construction and maintenance of public roads or for the support of public schools or other public educational institutions, as the legislature of the State may direct: Provided, That all moneys which may accrue to the United States under the provisions of this Act from lands within the naval petroleum reserves shall be deposited in the Treasury as "Miscellaneous receipts." (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 35, 41 Stat. 450; 30 U. S. C., sec. 191.)

1571. Payment of royalties in oil or gas; sale of such oil or gas.-That all royalty accruing to the United States under any oil or gas lease or permit under this Act on demand of the Secretary of the Interior shall be paid in oil or gas.

Upon granting any oil or gas lease under this Act, and from time to time thereafter during said lease, the Secretary of the Interior shall, except whenever in his judgment it is desirable to retain the same for the use of the United States, offer for sale for such period as he may determine, upon notice and advertisement on sealed bids or at public auction, all royalty oil and gas accruing or reserved to the United States under such lease. Such advertisement and sale shall reserve to the Secretary of the Interior the right to reject all bids whenever within his judgment the interest of the United States demands; and in cases where no satisfactory bid is received or where the accepted bidder fails to complete the purchase, or where the Secretary of the Interior shall determine that it is unwise in the public interest to accept the offer of the highest bidder, the Secretary of the Interior, within his discretion, may readvertise such royalty for sale, or sell at private sale at not less than the market price for such period, or accept the value thereof from the lessee: Provided, however, That pending the making of a permanent contract for the sale of any royalty, oil or gas as herein provided, the Secretary of the Interior may sell the current product at private sale, at not less than the market price: And provided further, That any royalty oil or gas may be sold at not less than the market price at private sale to any department or agency of the United States. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 36, 41 Stat. 451, 30 U. S. C., sec. 192.)

1572. Act applicable to all deposits of coil, phosphate, sodium, oil, oil shale, and gas; perfection of valid claims allowed.-That the deposits of coal, phosphates, sodium, potassium, oil, oil shale, and gas, herein referred to, in lands valuable for such minerals, including lands and deposits described in the joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to permit the continuation of coal mining operations on certain lands in Wyoming", approved August 1, 1912 (Thirty-seventh Statutes at Large, page 1346), shall be subject to disposition only in the form and manner provided in this Act [30 U. S. C., secs. 181-194, 201-208, 211-214, 221, 223–229, 241, 251, 261-263], except as to valid claims existent at date of the passage of this Act and thereafter maintained in compliance with the laws under which initiated, which claims may be perfected under such laws, including discovery. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 37, 41 Stat. 451; Feb. 7, 1927, sec. 5, 44 Stat. 1058; 30 U. S. C., sec. 193.)

1573. Fees and commissions of registers. That, until otherwise provided, the Secretary of the Interior shall be authorized to prescribe fees and commissions to be paid registers of United States land offices

on account of business transacted under the provisions of this Act. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 38, 41 Stat. 451; May 3, 1925, 43 Stat. 1145; 30 U. S. C., sec. 194.)

COAL

1574. Division of land into leasing tracts; offer and award of leases, prospecting permits; notice of proposed lease. That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to, and upon the petition of any qualified applicant shall, divide any of the coal lands or the deposits of coal, classified and unclassified, owned by the United States, outside of the Territory of Alaska, into leasing tracts of forty acres each, or multiples thereof, and in such form as, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, will permit the most economical mining of the coal in such tracts, but in no case exceeding two thousand five hundred and sixty acres in any one leasing tract, and thereafter the Secretary of the Interior shall, in his discretion, upon the request of any qualified applicant or on his own motion, from time to time offer such lands or deposits of coal for leasing, and shall award leases thereon by competitive bidding or by such other methods as he may by general regulations adopt, to any qualified applicant: Provided, That the Secretary is hereby authorized, in awarding leases for coal lands heretofore improved and occupied or claimed in good faith, to consider and recognize equitable rights of such occupants or claimants: Provided further, That where prospecting or exploratory work is necessary to determine the existence or workability of coal deposits in any unclaimed, undeveloped area, the Secretary of the Interior may issue, to applicants qualified under this Act, prospecting permits for a term of two years, for not exceeding two thousand five hundred and sixty acres; and if within said period of two years thereafter, the permittee shows to the Secretary that the land contains coal in commercial quantities, the permittee shall be entitled to a lease under this Act for all or part of the land in his permit: And provided further, That no lease of coal under this Act shall be approved or issued until after notice of the proposed lease, or offering for lease, has been given for thirty days in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the lands or deposits are situated. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 2, 41 Stat. 438; 30 U. S. C., sec. 201.)

1575. Extension of coal prospecting permits.-That any coal prospecting permit issued under the Act entitled "An Act to promote the mining of coal, phosphate, oil, oil shale, gas, and sodium on the public domain", approved February 25, 1920, as amended [30 U. S. Č., sec. 201], may be extended by the Secretary of the Interior for a period of two years, if he shall find that the permittee has been unable, with the exercise of reasonable diligence, to determine the existence or workability of coal deposits in the area covered by the permit and desires to prosecute further prospecting or exploration, or for other reasons in the opinion of the Secretary warranting such extension. (Mar. 9, 1928, sec. 1, 45 Stat. 251; 30 U. S. C., sec. 201a.)

1576. Extension of permits already expired.-Upon application to the Secretary of the Interior, and subject to valid intervening rights and to the provisions of section 1 of this Act [30 U. S. C., sec. 201a], any coal permit that has already expired because of lack of authority under existing law to make extensions may, in the discretion of the

Secretary, be extended for a period of two years from the date of the passage of this Act [30 U. S. C., secs. 201a, 201b]. (Mar. 9, 1928, sec. 2, 45 Stat. 251; 30 U. S. C., sec. 201b.)

1577. Common carriers; limitations of lease or permit. That no company or corporation operating a common carrier railroad shall be given or hold a permit or lease under the provisions of this Act for any coal deposits except for its own use for railroad purposes; and such limitations of use shall be expressed in all permits and leases issued to such companies or corporations, and no such company or corporation shall receive or hold more than one permit or lease for each two hundred miles of its railroad line within the State in which said property is situated, exclusive of spurs or switches and exclusive of branch lines built to connect the leased coal with the railroad, and also exclusive of parts of the railroad operated mainly by power produced otherwise than by steam: And provided further, That nothing herein shall preclude such a railroad of less than two hundred miles in length from securing and holding one permit or lease hereunder. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 2, 41 Stat. 438; 30 U. S. C., sec. 202.)

1578. Inclusion of additional lands in lease.-That any person, association, or corporation holding a lease of coal lands or coal deposits under this Act may, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, upon a finding by him that it will be for the advantage of the lessee and the United States, secure modifications of his or its original lease by including additional coal lands or coal deposits contiguous to those embraced in such lease, but in no event shall the total area embraced in such modified lease exceed in the aggregate two thousand five hundred and sixty acres. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 3, 41 Stat. 439; 30 U. S. C., sec. 203.)

1579. Same; upon showing probability of exhaustion. That upon satisfactory showing by any lessee to the Secretary of the Interior that all of the workable deposits of coal within a tract covered. by his or its lease will be exhausted, worked out, or removed within three years thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior may, within his discretion, lease to such lessee an additional tract of land or coal deposits, which, including the coal area remaining in the existing lease, shall not exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres, through the same procedure and under the same conditions as in case of an original lease. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 4, 41 Stat. 439, 30 U. S. C., sec. 204.)

1580. Consolidation of leases.-That if, in the judgment of the Secretary of the Interior, the public interest will be subserved thereby, lessees holding under lease areas not exceeding the maximum permitted under this Act may consolidate their leases through the surrender of the original leases and the inclusion of such areas in a new lease of not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of contiguous lands. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 5, 41 Stat. 439; 30 U. S. C., sec. 205.)

1581. Noncontiguous tracts in single lease.-That where coal or phosphate lands aggregating two thousand five hundred and sixty acres and subject to lease hereunder do not exist as contiguous areas, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, if, in his opinion the interests of the public and of the lessee will be thereby subserved, to

embrace in a single lease noncontiguous tracts which can be operated as a single mine or unit. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 6, 41 Stat. 439, 30 U. S. C., sec. 206.)

1582. Royalties; annual rentals; term of leases; development and operation. That for the privilege of mining or extracting the coal in the lands covered by the lease the lessee shall pay to the United States such royalties as may be specified in the lease, which shall be fixed in advance of offering the same, and which shall not be less than 5 cents per ton of two thousand pounds, due and payable at the end of each third month succeeding that of the extraction of the coal from the mine, and an annual rental, payable at the date of such lease and annually thereafter, on the lands or coal deposits covered by such lease, at such rate as may be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior prior to offering the same, which shall not be less than 25 cents per acre for the first year thereafter, not less than 50 cents per acre for the second, third, fourth, and fifth years, respectively, and not less than $1 per acre for each and every year thereafter during the continuance of the lease, except that such rental for any year shall be credited against the royalties as they accrue for that year. Leases shall be for indeterminate periods upon condition of diligent development and continued operation of the mine or mines, except when such operation shall be interrupted by strikes, the elements, or casualties not attributable to the lessee, and upon the further condition that at the end of each twenty-year period succeeding the date of the lease such readjustment of terms and conditions may be made as the Secretary of the Interior may determine, unless otherwise provided by law at the time of the expiration of such periods: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may, if in his judgment the public interest_will be subserved thereby, in lieu of the provision herein contained requiring continuous operation of the mine or mines, provide in the lease for the payment of an annual advance royalty upon a minimum number of tons of coal, which in no case shall aggregate less than the amount of rentals herein provided for: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior may permit suspension of operation under such lease for not to exceed six months at any one time when market conditions are such that the lease cannot be operated except at a loss. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 7, 41 Stat. 439; 30 U. S. C., sec. 207.)

1583. Permits to take coal for local domestic needs.-That in order to provide for the supply of strictly local domestic needs for fuel, the Secretary of the Interior may, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe in advance, issue limited licenses or permits to individuals or associations of individuals to prospect for, mine, and take for their use but not for sale, coal from the public lands without payment of royalty for the coal mined or the land occupied, on such conditions not inconsistent with this Act as in his opinion will safeguard the public interests: Provided, That this privilege shall not extend to any corporations: Provided further, That in the case of municipal corporations the Secretary of the Interior may issue such limited license or permit, for not to exceed three hundred and twenty acres for a municipality of less than one hundred thousand population, and not to exceed one thousand two hundred and eighty acres for a municipality of not less than one hundred thousand and not

more than one hundred and fifty thousand population; and not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres for a municipality of one hundred and fifty thousand population or more, the land to be selected within the State wherein the municipal applicant may be located, upon condition that such municipal corporations will mine the coal therein under proper conditions and dispose of the same without profit to residents of such municipality for household use: And provided further, That the acquisition or holding of a lease under the preceding sections of this Act [30 U. S. C., secs. 181, 201, 202-207] shall be no bar to the holding of such tract or operation of such mine under said limited license. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 8, 41 Stat. 440; 30 U. S. C., sec. 208.)

1584. Suspension of rental and extension of lease on suspension of operations and production.-In the event the Secretary of the Interior in the interest of conservation, shall direct or shall assent to the suspension of operations and production of coal, oil, and/or gas under any lease granted under the terms of this Act, any payment of acreage rental prescribed by such lease likewise shall be suspended during such period of suspension of operations and production; and the term of such lease shall be extended by adding any such suspension period thereto: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting existing leases within the borders of the naval petroleum reserves and naval oil-shale reserves. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 39 as added Feb. 9, 1933, 47 Stat. 798; 30 U. S. C., sec. 209.)

PHOSPHATES

1585. Authority to lease land. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to lease to any applicant qualified under this Act any lands belonging to the United States containing deposits of phosphates, under such restrictions and upon such terms as are herein specified, through advertisement, competitive bidding, or such other methods as the Secretary of the Interior may by general regulation adopt. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 9, 41 Stat. 440; 30 U. S. C., sec. 211.)

1586. Amount of land included in lease; surveys.-That each lease shall be for not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land to be described by the legal subdivisions of the public land surveys, if surveyed; if unsurveyed, to be surveyed by the Government at the expense of the applicant for lease, in accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior and the lands leased shall be conformed to and taken in accordance with the legal subdivisions of such survey; deposits made to cover expense of surveys shall be deemed appropriated for that purpose; and any excess deposits shall be repaid to the person, association, or corporation making such deposits or their legal representatives: Provided, That the land embraced in any one lease shall be in compact form, the length of which shall not exceed two and one-half times its width. (Feb. 25, 1920, sec. 10, 41 Stat. 440; 30 U. S. C., sec. 212.) 1587. Royalties; annual rental; term of leases; operation. That for the privilege of mining or extracting the phosphates or phosphate rock covered by the lease the lessee shall pay to the United States such royalties as may be specified in the lease, which shall be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior in advance of offering the same,

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »